M.A. Vignola’s ‘crazy journey’ to first USWNT call-up

M.A. Vignola didn’t have much time to process what she heard on the other end of the call.

“I literally found out the night before we (Angel City FC) were leaving for Chicago,” she said. “I was home, packing, at about 9 p.m. and I was told I made it to the national team.

“I was speechless and I broke down in tears.”

Vignola, who has established herself this season as Angel City FC’s starting left back, went through her first full day of training Tuesday as the USWNT begins preparation for a pair of friendlies against South Africa, starting Thursday in Vignola’s hometown of Cincinnati.

“It’s been a crazy journey,” she said of her first national team call-up since her U-17 days.

Vignola’s professional journey began in Iceland of all places. After completing her college career at Tennessee, Vignola said she knew that she wanted to play professionally right away.

“Iceland, it was kind of a shock,” she said. “After my senior season, I knew I wanted to play overseas, I just didn’t know where. There were a couple of opportunities and once my agent reached out to my coach and said this might be a good opportunity, to see how pro life is. There were a handful of American girls with me, so it was pretty easy to get comfortable.

“Before I was going over there, in the back of my mind I was like, ‘What is this going to be. Are there going to be Vikings everywhere? Was it going to be snowing all the time?’ I didn’t know what to expect, but honestly it was a beautiful city. When we arrived, it was the middle of winter and it was pitch black for about 23 hours of the day. There was a lot of getting used to the culture, the weather, but everyone was very welcoming.”

After two seasons, Vignola returned to the U.S., joining Angel City. She was in fact the second player signed.

However, her season consisted of just two games. Vignola had to undergo hip surgery. The recovery was expected to be three or four months, but it ended up being seven.

“They didn’t know how much work they were going to have to do, until they got in there,” she said of the doctors. “There was more work needed to be done. It was tough to hear coming out of surgery, going from I’ll be ready to go midseason, but that was not the case.

“I took that time to step back and really focus on my mental, take a breath and realize where I’m at and accepting the process. And the best part of it was the help from the Angel City staff and my teammates. They really had my back and I was able to work on the things mentally that I needed to work on.”

Vignola entered this season with a fresh outlook and a hunger to prove herself.

Before she could fully get back to her comfort zone, she also had to deal with an Achilles and ankle injury earlier this season.

“I feel like it (hip surgery) was a blessing in disguise because I feel like it let me take a step back and see what part of the game I need to work on and getting a feel for the league,” she said.

“Coming back into this season, I didn’t really know where I was going to be. I wanted to be starting. I wanted to be the starting left back, that was the goal. So I really put in the work in the offseason once I was cleared.”

Vignola has played in 16 of Angel City’s 19 games, starting 13. In June, Vignola was selected to the NWSL Team of the Month.

“This is really her rookie season,” Angel City interim coach Becki Tweed said. “She didn’t get to play much last year and no one really got to see her true potential.

“I still think she has a ton of room to grow and I think you’re going to see a lot more of her over the next couple of years. This is just the first step in that direction of her international career.”