Since joining the U.S. National Team in 2013, Christen Press has been a prolific scoring threat for the stars and stripes. She's scored 19 goals and has seven assists in just 35 games. If Alex Morgan is forced to miss any time with an injured knee, Press will be called upon to be the team's top scorer.
At one time in her career, that thought would have frightened the former Stanford and current Chicago Stars star. But now, Press feels comfortable with herself and her game, and is ready to play.
MORE: World Cup 2015 location, host city | USA faces Group of Death | 10 athletes to watch
Here's more to know about Press:
1. Soccer, and life, haven't always been the easiest for her:
Press had a scintillating college career at Stanford from 2007-2010, breaking school records for career points (183), goals (71), assists (41) and shots (500), but that success didn't immediately follow her in the professional ranks.
“I moved across the country for my first year of professional soccer, from California to Florida," Press said recently. “I found out, in February, that the league (I was playing in) had actually folded. It had been my plan to get a year of experience and gain some recognition from the national team, but that all crumbled in a moment. In an email I was unemployed."
Even though she was fabulous in college, Press didn't enjoy the game back then.
"I remember playing in college especially," she said. "I cried in almost every game I played. I just felt so much stress and pressure that I was letting everyone down if I didn't score a goal or win the game. I carried that weight with me into every game."
MORE: USA's final roster set | World Cup winners | World Cup tickets
2. Everything changed when she moved to Sweden:
Press made her debut for Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC in the Damallsvenskan in April, 2012, and scored two goals in her debut. She impressed. So much, in fact, that she moved on to Tyresö FF, the Swedish Damallsvenskan champions, in early 2013.
"(After our league collapsed) I moved all the way to Sweden, and had this fresh start as a human being," she said. "I could be whomever I wanted, and could get away from the perceptions people had of me, and the things I didn't like about myself.
"When I started playing in Sweden, there was nobody watching. No one knew who I was, so I was just playing for the love of the game. And after my first season, my coach came up to me and said of all the people you're the one who smiles the most on the field, and that was the biggest compliment I ever received."
GET TO KNOW THE TEAM: Hope Solo | Alex Morgan | Sydney Leroux | Abby Wambach
3. She is highly intelligent:
Press double-majored in communication and psychology, and was named to the ESPN Academic All-America first team during her senior year at Stanford. Aside from soccer, she has written a well-received blog for SoccerAmerica.com and updates her own website at footballschristenpress.blogspot.com. She's also done freelance writing for several magazines.
She lived in Madrid for three months during the winter quarter of her junior year of college — where she took classes only in Spanish — and taught English to Spanish-speaking kindergartners. Press is fluent in Spanish and can also speak some Swedish.