Pajiba Logo
film / tv / celeb / substack / news / social media / pajiba love / about / cbr
film / tv / politics / news / celeb

Pajiba 10 For Your Consideration: The Amazing Christen Press

By Lord Castleton | Celebrity | December 22, 2020

a3a7b60fed81eda91efad84a73db3944.jpg
Image sources (in order of posting): USWNT, CP blog

In my quest to fill the Pajiba world with the most amazing women’s soccer players, I humbly suggest my favorite player in the world, Christen Press.

She’s a phenom.

Now, I’ve written many times about how much I love the 2019 US Women’s National Soccer Team, and that they’re my favorite team of all time, and how you could just root for every player without remorse or having to swallow things like “I know she has a DUI but she’s a great player” or “I know what she said about gay marriage wasn’t aligned with me, but…”

There was none of that. They were just wonderful and awesome.

It was a heady time to be a fan of futbol.

Since then, we’ve seen the Olympics get bumped and watched as some long-time fixtures of the team possibly age out. There’s some rumored doubt around names like Carli Lloyd, Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris as to whether or not they’ll be on the Olympic squad in 2021, which features a smaller roster than the World Cup team.

4e1a18e708572fea9a7d3300b7750763.jpg

But in that time, for the past half decade, really, Christen Press has been announcing her presence with authority. A long-time backup who couldn’t get on the field because of the immense talent in front of her, she began to force the issue with her play. She’d substitute into the game in the second half and immediately bury one in the twine and everyone would ask why isn’t she starting? All she does is score!

And she kept doing it, no matter the level, no matter the league. She’s that rare player who is a clear and present danger to score from anywhere, at any time. Right now, I don’t think there’s a more feared sniper in the women’s game anywhere on the planet.

I remember a game vs Japan this year where she just turned on a dime and chipped it over the head of the Japanese goal keeper, who she noticed was cheating out. You don’t even see her peek at the goalie, it’s just turn and chip. That’s just insane touch. And her two goals against Costa Rica this year were a thing of jaw-dropping technical prowess.

In fact, she was so dominant in 2020 that she won the Golden Ball award during the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament, being recognized as the tournament’s best player.

1205150833.jpg.0.jpg

In college, she won the award for top player in the country in college and still holds the Stanford records for career goals and assists. Ho hum. She was also the first American woman to earn the golden boot as top scorer in the Swedish league.

SPO.051619.USWNT4533245324532453.jpg

But okay! She’s a good sportsballer. Big fuckin’ whoop. We Pajibans have more discriminating taste. Someone knocking around an inflatable bladder barely moves the needle!

The pedigree of being a Stanford grad notwithstanding, during her early years, through 2015, she kept an amazing blog where she wrote about her life, her travels and her experiences playing soccer around the world. She’s legit smort.

IMG_2825.JPG

IMG_2752.JPG

IMG_0420.JPG

su457-9475-96743-5768745698732547265.jpg

Like many athletes, she’s voraciously clean-living, but unlike many of her US teammates, she doesn’t do a lot of swearing in public. It gives her this sort of winning, wholesome vibe, never seen more than in this clip that I adore.

I mean, come on. What a gust, indeed. Who says that?

She’s also an entrepreneur, co-owner of a women-owned clothing line and just an unflappable, shining ray of sunshine.

106647190-1596549489513-re-inc_founders.jpg

No matter what you read, no matter where you go, you’ll never hear a negative word uttered about Christen Press. She is universally beloved, admired and respected - by teammates and opponents alike. She’s the owner of a rescue dog and kicked off PETA’s 2016 “Adopt Don’t Shop” campaign. She’s also a constant contributor to a great number of different charities and youth sports organizations.

DSC_0326.JPG

DSC_0331.JPG

Is she in a relationship with teammate Tobin Heath or are they just besties? I honestly don’t know but I think Tobin is a goddamn delight in her own right, so whatever it is is cool.

Talent_Photo_4-800x535.jpg

I’m sure I speak for all of their fans when I say that they’re both an inspiration and a joy to watch, to follow and to root for, and there’s basically no better ambassador for America than Christen Press.

christen-press-us-womens-national-soccer-team-member-and-gaia-herbs-superfan.jpg

SOC_Press_requests_twitter4.jpg

1.jpg

And now we come to the reason for this piece. The one terrible thing about Pressy: it’s nearly impossible to find bad pictures of her.

Friends, Pajibans, Thirsty-Ones. I give you, the stunning, the radiant, the one and only, Christen Press.

21ddcb83727ac2b4a38fb3738314e280.jpg

500c7920-fe8d-11ea-a5e5-3386f2b1e489.jpg

1200px-Christen_Press.jpg

51716_isi_presschristen_NWSL_ED_ACK20160507110.jpg

61117_isi_presschristen_USWNTBS061117140.jpg

140323_0220.jpg

TPT150501_126.jpg

Chile-US-Soccer_26697619_357287-1.jpg

cp75-93874938.jpg

NL__4631.jpg

neymar2634026936.jpg

TPT150501_012.jpg

USWNT_Christen-Press_1.jpg

ZTSS4RL3O5A5HDBV6IVPGMNVZA.jpg

TPT150501_333.jpg

QKEZHVDLGVAONDCZTE5RJJWBTY.jpg




More Like This