The midfielder is set to be one of the best young players in Canada but she is far from a show off

Morgan Brian slides off her brand new blacked-out cleats and sits down. She has just finished playing her final game for the National Women’s Soccer League’s Houston Dash – who selected the midfielder with the first pick in this year’s draft – before she jets off to California to prepare for the upcoming World Cup in Canada. Her cleats haven’t been released by the manufacturer yet, so they’re a secret, thus the Batman-like appearance. When they hit the market Brian’s cleats will match the cotton candy and neon colored ones that have become commonplace in today’s game. But Morgan prefers simplicity.

“I like them blacked out because it’s so classic,” Brian says. “All you can get are these crazy bright colors. I am just going to keep these.”

That fits Brian’s personality. She’s soft spoken, rarely flashy and is more interested in how her team play rather than her own performance.

“The great thing about Morgan, and this doesn’t get noticed I think, is Morgan is first and foremost a team player. She can transform teams because her whole game is about linking the team together,” says Virginia’s Steve Swanson, who coached Brian for four years at college as well as at the 2012 Under-20 World Cup.”I would say she is like the conductor of an orchestra in many ways in that she has the ability to blend all the different instruments together.”

Brian, 22, is the youngest player on a US team trying to win their first World Cup since 1999. Brian was six when the US hosted one of the most successful Women’s World Cups to date. The crowds swelled as the tournament progressed, and when USA played China in the final more than 90,000 people came out to watch the home team walk away victorious on penalties. Brian is part of the wave of American players who were inspired by those athletes and who have been able to play professionally because of the hard work their predecessors put in for little money.

While the US has always had a fair share of skill players, it’s been known for power, speed and determination. Brian is part of a generation, having watched Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and the great Spain teams, who see the game and make it look easy. At times it appears she isn’t doing very much at all, as if she is gliding through the game.

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“I don’t think the first thing that steps out or stands out to someone is: ‘Oh well, there is a hell of an athlete.’ Even though she is a superior athlete that’s not the first thing that stands out,” Swanson says of Brian. “The first thing that stands out is her soccer skill-set, her ability to manipulate the ball under pressure and her decision making. She’s a soccer player first and foremost.”

Brian grew up on St Simons Island, Georgia. With her local team short of players her own age, she competed alongside older girls. After moving on, her growth as a player was helped by the small-sided games that a group of team-mates and members from the boys team would play. They’d pick up and play on their own three to four times a day on the weekends during their downtime. In those games, Brian and her team-mates had to work in tight spaces. This, along with the work she did with her coaches, made Brian into the player she is today.

By the time Brian was a junior at Virginia, she had become a key player for United States youth teams. She played for the 2008 Under-17 World Cup team as 15-year-old and was a member of the team that won the 2012 Under-20 World Cup in Japan. Her play in college didn’t go unnoticed either. Virginia became a team to watch – they made it to two consecutive College Cup Finals, losing both – with Brian at the heart of the team.

At the end of her senior season Brian was awarded the MAC Hermann trophy, which is given out to the best college player in the country, for the second consecutive year. She joined the likes of Mia Hamm, Cindy Parlow, Christine Sinclair and Kerri Hanks on the list of players to win the trophy twice. She finished her college career with 41 goals and 43 assists in 81 games. But what made Brian stand out was her ability to understand the space on the field. She had impressive numbers, yes, but her movement and ability to read the game elevated the play of her team-mates.

In June of 2013, two weeks after her sophomore year ended, Brian got her first call-up to the senior national team. She was at home, the college soccer season over, when the phone rang. Then coach Tom Sermanni wanted her to come and train with the team. On June 15, Brian got on the field for the final 13 minutes of a friendly against North Korea at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough – the US won, 4-1. Since then, Brian has become a regular with the national team, even after Sermanni was replaced by Jill Ellis.

Brian has made 26 appearances for the USWNT and scored four goals and now she finds herself about to make her World Cup debut. But she’s not worried about herself, of course, because all that matters is the team.

“I think at this point in time our mindset has to change,” Brian says. “Instead of fighting for your spot, it’s this is the World Cup team. For now you’re not trying to fight for a spot. You made the team, and obviously you want to help the team in the best way that you can.”

Brian has been charged with working with Lauren Holliday and Carli Lloyd to link the USWNT up. It’s not an easy task to put on a 22-year-old, especially with the high-standards around her – Holiday and Lloyd are two of USA’s best playmakers and proven veterans of the international game. The microscope will be on Brian to be the missing piece in midfield.

In her last game before leaving for USWNT camp, The Dash lose to the Boston Breakers, 3-2. The Breakers clog the midfield to stifle Brian and Lloyd. They know the Dash want to play through the two USWNT midfielders, and that they’re the heartbeat of the Dash. The plan works. Houston can’t break with speed and Brian and Lloyd struggle to get time and space on the ball. But Brian, even on a tough day, finds a way to change the game.

In the 68th minute, the ball comes to Brian in midfield and she sees her team-mate Jess McDonald making a run in behind the Boston defense. Brian curls a beautifully weighted pass into McDonald’s feet so she can finish the chance and tie the game at 2-2. The pass was perfect, but Brian made it look effortless.