Lily Yohannes and Alyssa Thompson have arrived at their star turns with the USWNT

There are a few ways to measure who the players of the moment are for the U.S. women’s soccer team.

One is in the box score, as usual: goals, assists, saves, and so on. Another is measured before kickoff, and with a decibel meter.

Most of the time, the winner of that contest is a veteran, and that might happen again when the Americans play Portugal on Thursday at Subaru Park (7 p.m., TNT, Peacock). Sam Coffey is an obvious favorite, as is electric playmaker Rose Lavelle.

But keep an eye — or an ear, in this case — out for two of the U.S. squad’s younger players who are quickly becoming fan favorites. Midfielder Lily Yohannes and winger Alyssa Thompson have all the skills and charisma to be national team mainstays, and their bandwagons are filling up fast.

Yohannes plays club soccer for Europe’s most decorated team, France’s OL Lyonnes (formerly known as Lyon). The 19-year-old from D.C.’s Virginia suburbs joined in July, as OL retooled its squad to seek a record-furthering ninth Champions League title.

She hasn’t needed long to settle in. Last Wednesday, she scored a stunning goal from nearly 45 yards out in her team’s European season opener, a 3-0 win over Austria’s St. Pölten. The play went viral instantly, heightening the anticipation of her first U.S. appearance since June.

» READ MORE: How Lily Yohannes kept cool amid the hype before deciding to play for the USWNT

“So many world class players and such a high standard, high level every day in training,” Yohannes said. “Every day is super-intentional, and you just have to, like, stay switched on every day. And I think that’s something that’s super good for me and for my development to have.”

She has two American teammates at the club, midfielders Lindsey Heaps — the national team’s longtime captain — and Korbin Shrader. Heaps had already taken Yohannes under her wing in U.S. camps, and has done so more now.

“I think she’s just such a quality player and such a footballer,” Heaps said. “And to have her in Lyon, to now be there and learn from all the players that are there, is such a an incredible experience for her. But I think she just fits in our team so well, as she started out.”

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Heaps blazed the trail 11 years ago for American teens who skip college to turn pro in Europe, and Yohannes is one of many who’ve followed her. But even the veteran had to rave about that long-range goal, calling it “absurd when you think about an 18-year-old taking a chance like that.”

Thompson joined Chelsea, England’s biggest team, this summer from the NWSL’s Angel City. The Blues have never won the women’s Champions League, and have never been shy about craving it.

So it turned heads when they not only brought Thompson to London, but did so for a $1.3 million transfer fee — not small by women’s soccer standards, but well below expectations for a 20-year-old.

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She has also started quickly. At the same hour as Yohannes’ goal, Thompson notched a goal and an assist in Chelsea’s 4-0 rout of France’s Paris FC.

“I really wasn’t thinking about leaving Angel City, and then when I got the offer, like, a week before the transfer window, I felt like immediately that I wanted to go,” Thompson said. “I’ve always wanted to play in Europe, and I felt like this opportunity, I don’t know when it would come again, and Chelsea is such an amazing club, known all over the world.”

She could see a big picture beyond soccer, too.

“I was like, I really want to go and experience a different place — I’ve lived in L.A. my whole life,” she said. “I feel like this should be just so good for me, like, as a player, obviously, but as a person too, just developing things that I’ve never had to think about before.”

» READ MORE: USWNT star Tierna Davidson visits Kensington to inspire a new generation of young soccer players

There have also been moments of levity. A reporter from The Athletic got the best answer out of Thompson on the day, asking about off-the-field adjustment.

“They have less AC … I really like it cold when I’m sleeping, so that’s annoying sometimes,” Thompson said, joining a long tradition of Americans lamenting England’s lack of air-conditioning. “And I haven’t tried any of the English food. I don’t like beans in general, so I just wouldn’t try it.”

Neither player is new to the national team at this point, or to its devoted fan base. Yohannes debuted in June of last year (and scored that night too) and has played seven games; Thompson has 22 caps, three goals, and three assists, and was on the 2023 World Cup team.

Thompson narrowly missed making last year’s Olympic squad, but that was always likely to be just a short setback. Now she’s in form, and will likely see a lot of playing time in this month’s games.

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“Alyssa, she fits in seamlessly to to Chelsea’s game,” Heaps said. “She just got her first goal, and I think that’s something that she’s wanted since she’s set foot there in Chelsea. So, very happy for her.”

Tuesday marked the return of the U.S. women to the area for the first time in 3½ years, and also something never seen around here.

For a few minutes in the late morning, the national team and the Union were practicing in the club’s training complex at the same time, with one squad at each end of the three grass fields along Seaport Drive.

» READ MORE: The Union will host a playoff pep rally at City Hall on Thursday afternoon

It was the first time the Union shared the space simultaneously with another professional squad, and it likely won’t be the last.

“The appetite for soccer here is incredible,” said longtime Union captain Alejandro Bedoya, who will attend Thursday night’s game with his daughter. “There’s so much talent when you look at the men’s national team, for the women’s national team, for the Union academy, the players that have come through here. … It’s amazing. And what this sportsplex means, it was a great initiative to get this built.”

The closest previous occasion was earlier this summer, when Chelsea borrowed some of the Union’s fields but did most of their work inside Subaru Park. The nearest thing to an overlap was when the English club invited a few Union reserve squad players to come over from their practice to fill out a scrimmage.

Next year, the complex will be a base camp for one of the teams in the World Cup. But it will be mostly reserved for that, with MLS planning to shut down its schedule during the tournament.

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