Cook Ready For New Challenge in Move From France to NWSL

On Monday OL Reign announced the signing of defender Alana Cook after agreeing to a permanent transfer with PSG. Cook will join the team after the conclusion of the June FIFA international match window, where she will be with the U.S. Women’s National Team, along with OL Reign teammates Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle.

Cook, who has been playing with Paris Saint-Germain in the French D1 Feminine for the last three seasons, has had a lot of time to learn in France. She chose to forego the 2019 NWSL College Draft and head straight to France out of college, where PSG signed her to three-year deal in January of 2019.

“I think coming into PSG, part of my mission here was sharing their general outlook of wanting to be the best in France, the best in Europe and I think over the two and a half years I’ve been here, that’s what we have been moving towards. With where we are at in the table, obviously going into the last game… if we win, we win the league for I think the first time in PSG’s history on the women’s side”, said Cook.

“I think in terms of that, when I look back, both myself and club have grown in terms of that ambition and the project that we all set out to chase. It feels a bit like coming full circle on the goals I set, and the club set when I first got here,” Cook said, feeling that she will be leaving the club on a positive note.

Cook has been playing soccer since she was a kid, earning two-time NSCAA Youth All-America honors twice. She also captained the U-17 U.S national team in several international friendlies in 2013 and made the jump to the U-20 camp in 2014. The defender guided The Pennington School to the 2013 New Jersey Independent Athletic Association title, scoring eight game-winning goals during the season and earning recognition as the New Jersey Prep Player of the Year. A central defender with skills at both ends of the field, she scored 12 goals and had eight assists as a senior, earning passage to the NSCAA High School All-America Game, and earning Best XI honors for her performance. Cook's club team, the MatchFit Colchesters, captured the 2013 U.S. Youth Soccer National League title and went three years without losing to another New Jersey team.

Following her youth soccer career, Cook played for Stanford University, where she helped the Cardinal claim four straight Pac-12 titles and one national championship in 2017. Cook, team captain her last two years at Stanford, was a two-time All-Pac-12 First Team selection. She was also named as a first team All-America selection as a senior and was named a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist as a junior. Additionally, Cook was also honored as the Pac-12 Defender of the Year in 2018.

“When I first got out here to PSG, my first Champions League game against Chelsea was a big highlight for me. We didn’t end up going through based on away goals and how that worked, but I think coming from the US not having a Champions League there, it was something I only ever watched on TV. It was something my dad and I would watch at home when I was little, so I think it was kind of a surreal moment in terms of being able to play in a game and participate in a tournament that I only ever had seen on TV and never thought it would be something relevant to my soccer career.”

“Another highlight from my time at PSG would be scoring my goal in the Champions League semi-final this year against Barcelona,” Cook added. The aforementioned goal came after PSG went down 1-0 against Barcelona in the Champion’s League semi-final. PSG took a corner kick and Barcelona failed to clear the danger. Cook headed the ball into the back of the net, tying the game 1-1.

Since signing with PSG in January 2019, she has made 21 league appearances and 17 starts for the club, totaling 1,630 minutes played. On Friday, Paris Saint-Germain secured the top spot in the table for the 2020/2021 season, dethroning Lyon after a streak of fourteen consecutive league titles while earning the league title for the first time in the club’s history. In addition to her league appearances for PSG, Cook made nine UEFA Women’s Champions League appearances for the team.

“We are very excited to have Alana joining our team again after her time at PSG,” said OL Reign head coach Farid Benstiti. “It will be good to have her back.”

As OL Reign fans likely remember, Cook had a short stint with OL Reign during the 2020 Challenge Cup, when she joined the team on a short-term loan from PSG. She made 3 appearances for the Reign in the tournament, starting and playing all 90 minutes of those matches.

“I’m extremely excited to be coming back to OL Reign. My first time playing for the Reign over the summer for the Challenge Cup, I really enjoyed myself. The group was amazing, staff and players alike, so I’m just very excited to be getting back in with the group and hopefully get going pretty quickly and get aligned with the goals of the club and the goals of the team.”

Cook continued, “It will also be very exciting to be back in the U.S. and get to play. Having been in Europe, playing anywhere in U.S. seems like playing for home fans and getting to be back around friends and family and back in a more comfortable environment that I’m used to will be fun and allow me to focus a little more on soccer and a little less on off the field growth.”

Another element that Cook is looking forward to with her move to OL Reign is playing in front of a crowd again. “Things have been moving a bit slower in France in terms of having fans, so it is very exciting to have that prospect in the new future. I’ve been watching some of the NWSL games on Twitch and getting to see the full stadiums from afar and it’s very exciting. NWSL fans are very passionate, especially Reign fans, and bring a kind of ambiance to the game so it is very exciting, and I can’t wait to be back in front of fans.”

With OL Reign strengthening its roster through several big signings, including Rose Lavelle, Dzsenifer Marozsán, Sarah Bouhaddi, and Eugénie Le Sommer, Cook is eager to be playing with such a talented group of players.

“Everyone can see that the Reign has an incredibly strong roster and it is only getting stronger as the season is going on, so it is going to be really awesome to play with all of them and my U.S. teammates, Rapinoe and Lavelle, both in the club and national team environment. I think they are awesome players. There’s no shortage of talent and quality on the Reign team, so I am very excited to be joining the group and add some to the dynamic as well.”

Cook was called up to the U.S. Women’s National Team for the upcoming FIFA international window in June, joining OL Reign teammates Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle.

Though Cook will have the opportunity to play with some of her teammates from the USWNT at OL Reign, she will also join some of her former rivals from OL on the Reign squad. Dzsenifer Marozsán, Sarah Bouhaddi, and Eugénie Le Sommer are all on loan from Olympique Lyonnais, PSG’s biggest rival. After a laugh, Cook said, “I’m also excited to play with players of that quality. Having been on the other side of them for a couple years, I’m very aware of how good they are and the qualities they bring to the game, so it’ll be exciting to not have to go against them for once.”