Lia Klänke

Leah Klenke converted the biggest kick of her career without a senior cap to her name: in the quarterfinal shoot-out against Germany at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Colombia, she stepped up and scored, helping the United States through on their way to a bronze medal. She had come off the bench in every match of that tournament, one of 18 caps she collected for the U-20s across 2023 and 2024.

Before any of that, Klenke was a captain rather than a substitute. She led Albion Hurricanes FC through the Elite Clubs National League and won a WPSL conference championship with the club before moving into college soccer at Notre Dame. Across four years with the Fighting Irish she started all 78 matches she played, contributing five goals and 17 assists, and picked up First-team All-American and First-team All-ACC honours in her final season. She had also been named to the ACC All-Freshman Team at the very start of that run.

Klenke signed with Houston Dash as a free agent after graduating, agreeing a three-year contract, and made her professional debut against San Diego Wave FC. Since then she has continued to add to her U-23 record with the national team, scoring once in five caps, and a senior United States debut remains ahead of her rather than behind.

Away from the pitch, she showed the same range in track and field: in 2021 she swept the 800m, 1600m and 3200m at Texas's TAPPS state championships, a triple crown.