Midfielder Amandine Henry arrived in LA last week and has been in training with the team after recovering from a mild calf injury that kept her off France's World Cup squad. AngelCity.com sat down with her after training on Tuesday to ask how she's fitting into the team.
You just had your first full training with the team. How are things going?
I'm feeling great. It's very hot today, but the team was good to play with and very welcoming. It's also nice to be reunited with Clarisse, who I know from the French national team.
You were in Portland for two years. Why come back to the United States now?
I really like the NWSL. I like the mentality here, which is more competitive than in the French league. I also like American culture, both on and off the pitch.
When I heard coming to LA was a possibility, that was like a dream come true. I've seen it in movies and on TV, obviously. The other day I got to go for a walk in Santa Monica and Venice Beach. And I've also seen the stadium and the amazing fan support, so that's exciting.
What do you want to accomplish here?
For this year, I really want to qualify for the playoffs and hopefully to win. I have a lot of experience as a player, so I want to contribute that to the team. I want to write history with this team—it's a new club, so we have to win to do that!
The team doesn't have a lot of room for error if they want to make the playoffs—they're four points out of sixth place right now with six games remaining. What's it like to join at this point in the season?
I know that the first half of the season was a little rocky but they've had a string of results recently. We have to keep up the momentum, because there's not much wiggle room when it comes to making the playoffs, so we have to take advantage of this rhythm the team has gotten into in order to qualify. Anything after that is like a bonus. The results from the season don't matter once you're in, which I think will be liberating.
How have you found the locker room so far?
Well, I've only been here five days, but they've been very nice, very welcoming. Everybody has been trying to speak some French, and I've been speaking as much English as I can.