Claire Hutton interview: Ronaldinho influence, USWNT leadership and Japan test

Claire Hutton interview: Ronaldinho influence, USWNT leadership and Japan test

U.S. women’s national team and Bay FC midfielder Claire Hutton is a keen student of soccer.

She always has been. Although the 20-year-old was born and raised in Upstate New York, her obsession with the sport actually began in a digital location — YouTube.

Growing up, she would spend hours studying her favorite players. She glimpsed magic via the screen. Initially, her favorite players — the ones that left the biggest impressions — were Brazilians, the likes of Marta and Ronaldinho.

“I lived on YouTube,” Hutton tells The Athletic’s Full Time podcast. “I just admired so much his (Ronaldinho’s) love for the game and his smile when he played. I think for me, that brought me a lot of joy and is part of why I fell in love with the game, just seeing other people enjoy it and see how it connects you.”

Since turning professional at the age of 17 in 2023 with the Kansas City Current in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), Hutton has plied her trade as a defensive midfielder. She quickly has risen the ranks of global women’s soccer in that role as an anchor; wise beyond her years, someone who can win tackles, resist the opposition press and, crucially, pass the ball forward and control the tempo of a match.

As Hutton’s position and expertise developed, so did her studies and the types of players that she wanted to emulate.

Over time, the Brazilian ‘Jogo Bonito’ — a phrase in the Portuguese language that translates as ‘the beautiful game’ — was replaced by admiration of the greatest Spanish men’s midfield maestros of the 2010s, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, and the current decade’s example, Rodri.

Of course, no modern player is ever a product of one style. In fact, that’s why one of Hutton’s greatest influences is USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps — someone who, unlike all the others we’ve mentioned, has gone from a YouTube reel to being a real-life teammate.

“She (Heaps) has always been someone I look up to, because I think she’s such a versatile player, which I think is super-important,” Hutton says. “I think it’s really cool when you see players kind of making positions into their own and not fitting in a box. I do think Lindsey is a player like that. She’s going to offer a lot, give what the team needs.”

Beyond sharing the same locker room with the USWNT, Heaps and Hutton have a lot in common.

Both opted to forgo athletic scholarships at the University of North Carolina and turn professional straight out of high school. They both then went on to make their international debuts as teenagers.

Heaps earned her first cap in March 2013, aged 18, in a match Hutton was watching from home, then just seven years old. Hutton would make her USWNT debut in February last year, aged 19. That time, Heaps had a front-row seat for that one, on the substitutes’ bench as the team captain.

“The first time I got called in, I was in a lot more of a… I don’t want to say practice-player position, but I was in more of a role to support the team. So learning how to do that and do it with so much pride for the U.S. and so much respect for all the teammates, coaching staff, everyone was huge for me,” Hutton says.

Fourteen months on from that debut, in a 2-1 win against Australia at the SheBelieves Cup, Hutton has reached 15 caps and scored one goal for the USWNT. She has quickly become one of the squad’s most trusted players under head coach Emma Hayes.

Since that first senior cap, Hutton has amassed 983 minutes for the USWNT, which ranks fourth behind only Sam Coffey (1,062), Emily Sonnett (1,058) and Alyssa Thompson (1,027). In terms of appearances, her total of 15 is only eclipsed by Thompson, Coffey and Ally Sentnor, who all have made 16 since the start of 2025.

Throughout her rise and rise, there has been a steady commentary that Hutton is unfazed by the pressure and responsibility bestowed on her. So much so that, in a 6-0 friendly win against Paraguay in January, with many senior players unavailable for selection, she became the youngest player to ever captain the USWNT, achieving that at the age of 20.

“People like responsibility, so to give them that was only going to add value to their performances, because they care about the team, they care about the crest,” Hayes told the media after that Paraguay game. “Claire’s a future captain in the making, without question. So, what a great learning moment for her to have that situation with all of her peers coming onto the pitch.”

As the spotlight intensifies, Hutton remains grounded and calm — just as she did after Bay FC paid over $1million to transfer her to the California team from Kansas City a few weeks on from that friendly.

Accompanying the hype of being tipped as one of the future leaders of the USWNT is a personal reflection on the mirage of the captaincy. Hutton says: “One player might be wearing the armband, but it doesn’t mean anything. I think putting that band on in LA in January was amazing, but it didn’t change me as a person. It didn’t change me as a soccer player. It just put a label on something that happened. And it also shows that anybody on the field can be empowered to do the responsibilities, take ownership, and perform at their best, no matter what.”

As one leader among many, then, the next test for Hutton and her U.S. teammates comes in the shape of three consecutive home friendlies against Japan over the next week (April 11, 14 and 17). The first of those matches with the newly-crowned Women’s Asian Cup champions will come on Saturday, at PayPal Park, Bay FC’s home stadium in San Jose.

These teams have not met since that SheBelieves Cup in February last year. Japan won 2-1 then, earning just their second-ever 90-minutes victory over the USWNT and in doing so securing the trophy. The defeat, the Americans’ first under summer 2024 arrival Hayes, came three days after Hutton made her international debut against Australia.

She was an unused substitute watching on from the sidelines that day. Now, she is primed to play a vital role as the USWNT faces a stern test on the journey to qualification for the 2027 World Cup finals.

The midfield battles against Japan will surely be electric.

With the likes of Heaps beside her, and Rodri and Iniesta in her mind, Hutton is set to go toe-to-toe with multi-time Ballon d’Or nominee and Manchester City superstar Yui Hasegawa.

“This is a great opportunity for us to show how much we’ve grown in the past year. I know it stings for every single person who was on the field. No one likes to lose,” she says. “For us, that one (being beaten by Japan) cut deeply. So we’re here to show that growth.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

US Women's national team, Bay FC, NWSL, Women's Soccer

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