Rose Lavelle will tell you with a surprising air of modesty that even after earning 20 caps with the United States Women's national team, starting four of the five games in the CONCACAF championship and scoring the winning goal in the title game, she does not think of herself as having made it with the reigning world champions.

Lavelle also will tell you with all sincerity that she has believed since she was a puny ninth-grader, overlooked by many scouts and coaches, her future included a place on the national team.

MORE: Women's World Cup 2019: Teams, fixtures, dates

She is humbly confident, if that’s a thing.

“I always knew I wanted to play on the national team, and it wasn’t a thing where I was like, ‘Oh, I’m so good, I’m going get there.’ It was just something that I wanted so I was always in my backyard with a ball,” Lavelle told Sporting News. “I don't really know how to describe it, but it's just something where I didn’t even like envision my future without it.

“Even when I was a freshman, 90 pounds and barely getting looked at, it was something that I loved to do. It didn’t feel like something I was chasing after. It was something I felt like was going to happen.”

Oh, it happened. And it looks like it will keep happening in 2019, with the FIFA Women’s World Cup just six months away in France and the Americans opening June 11 against Thailand in Reims. Lavelle, very much in character, acknowledges she is working toward the goal of being part of the roster and part of the lineup, but “there are so many great players so it’s not a given at all. I just want to put myself in the best position to make the roster and hopefully have an impact.”

This past year demonstrated just how gifted Lavelle is as an attacking midfielder. After being named All-Big Ten four times at Wisconsin, three times an All-American, starring with the U-20 national team and becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NWSL draft, she made her national team debut at 21 and scored her first goal a month later.

Then, she injured her hamstring, badly enough that she was told she’d miss four to six weeks. That prognosis turned out to be optimistic by half a month. And soon after returning, she injured it again. Lavelle wound up missing eight months.

MORE: Lavelle among Sporting News' Faces of 2019

It is a measure of her talent, persistence, uncommon skill and burgeoning importance to the USWNT and its new 4-3-3 formation that just a few months after returning last May she became an even more prominent member of the squad.

She appeared as a sub in the first two games of the Tournament of Nations in July and August. In the 4-1 thrashing of Brazil that clinched the championship, she started and scored the initial U.S. goal. Two months later, in the World Cup qualifiers, she was a fixture in the lineup on the right side of midfield, playing with Lindsay Horan in front of defensive midfielder Julie Ertz and behind the established forward trio of Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath.

“The year before she came to Wisconsin, we worked on playing through the midfield because we knew Rose was coming in, and we saw how special she could be,” Badgers coach Paula Wilkins told SN. “We felt that she would open up space for other people because she attracts attention that opens up space for others.

“She does the same thing with the national team.”

A native of Cincinnati who loves the Reds and Xavier Musketeers, Lavelle played for director of coaching Bobby Puppione with Cincinnati United Premier in 2009, primarily at the U-15 and U-16 levels.

“She was always one of the smaller players, but at Cincinnati United we were not judging players on size,” Puppione, now technical director at FC Virginia, told SN. “We were looking for technical ability, soccer IQ. Even though she was small, it wasn’t a disadvantage to her. She didn’t use it as a crutch. Someone who has that soccer sense and soccer skill is going to stand out.”

Wilkins was working as a coach with U.S. Soccer’s Olympic Development Program in the early part of the decade when another coach in the camp told her there was a player trying out on an adjacent field who was worth a look. But that recommendation came with a warning: Rose Lavelle was tiny.

“But she was so quick and able to get around the corner,” Wilkins said.

Lavelle was chosen for the event and played in three games, all around Thanksgiving. Lavelle appeared in the first two and wasn’t impressive. Most of the college coaches scouting the event then went home for the holiday. Wilkins stayed because she was coaching. She saw Lavelle dazzle in the third game. And Lavelle wound up at Wisconsin.

SPORTING NEWS BEST OF 2018

Read our favorite stories from the year in sports

Lavelle’s struggle in those first two games, Wilkins said, was to connect with a dangerous pass after using her skill on the ball to open space for herself. This gradually became a weapon in college, and now it is what makes her exceptional.

“That was something we worked on. We watched film, had a lot of discussions on tactical ideas for her,” Wilkins said. “We talk to kids all the time: Are you coachable? She’s extremely coachable. By the end, she was coming up with her own ideas, and her vision was developing that way.”

Her creativity and vision have made her an ideal option at right midfielder in the 4-3-3. Lavelle can play off Heath or tuck inside and do damage from there. She excels at directing shots inside the frame from the top of the box; her goals against Brazil and Canada were not powerfully struck but still were impossible to stop because she placed them perfectly.

The conversion to a new formation occurred while Lavelle was healing from her hamstring injury, and she worried that it would not be a comfortable move for her. It now looks almost as if it were designed for her.

“I definitely like it now,” she said, after (of course) rejecting the notion that she’s tailor-made to excel in this position. “It just took some getting used to. I’ve never played in a flat three before, but I really like it now and I think it really complements our attacking threats with Tobin, Pino and Alex. They’re such a dangerous group.

“I think the credit goes to the coaches and the other players because they’ve really worked with me and helped make it easier. Playing with JJ (Ertz), I can’t speak enough about her. At times I felt clueless, and having her there next to me constantly in my ear and directing me was so helpful. I think that really makes me feel more confident.”

MORE: USWNT draw for World Cup is tougher than it appears

Wilkins was worried when Lavelle became frustrated upon her return at not immediately performing at the same level.

“I had to remind her, the vision and speed would come back,” Wilkins said. But she added the time off did allow Lavelle to work on building up her strength, something important for a player who stands 5-4 and still wears a lean frame.

Wilkins had little doubt that Lavelle would fit into the USWNT’s new direction.

“Because I think she has a special gift, something they needed,” Wilkins said. “If she stays healthy, she’s a player who can break down defenders if opponents get a lot of numbers behind the ball. She can create chances with little slipped-in balls, can sit in little pockets to draw defenders in and open up bigger areas for other players.”

Although that Thailand game is six months away, and the ultimate dream of playing in a World Cup is near enough to reach it, Lavelle is new enough to her circumstance and has been through enough struggle in her short career to not assume anything.

She is delighted to be enjoying an offseason in which she can spend time working on improving her game, not just improving her health.

“I feel like I finally have downtime to really hone in on all of the skills and areas I want to improve on,” Lavelle said. “So that’s been my main focus, putting all my energy on this offseason. I haven’t really given much thought to looking ahead.

“I still feel like I'm never gonna feel like complacent or comfortable in that environment because I think there's always somebody new. That's the reality of the U.S., is there such a deep pool of talented players that you never kind of take a breath because there's always somebody on your back working to take you spot.

"But when you get in with that group, there are so many good players to play off they make you look good. It's easy to play with them, and it's really fun. So I think once I kind of got my confidence and told myself I belong at this level, then I was able to just enjoy it and play with all these players that I've looked up to. And still look up to.”