After reuniting with former head coach, defender Alana Cook readies for postseason push in Kansas City

When defender Alana Cook walks out onto the pitch at CPKC Stadium in a Kansas City Current kit for the first time Thursday, she’ll see a familiar face patrolling the technical area: Head Coach and Sporting Director Vlatko Andonovski.

Cook, newly acquired by the Current via a trade with Seattle Reign, played under Andonovski with the United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) from 2019 to 2023.

“Every time I’ve trained with him, I’ve gotten better,” Cook said. “That’s what I was looking for: I wanted to come into training every day and know that I was leaving better –– even one percent better –– than when I started.”

Cook was a member of the 2023 USWNT squad representing the United States at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, held in Australia. Across her international duties, she has accumulated 29 caps, scored a goal and contributed two assists.

“Alana is one of the best players, one of the best defenders in the league,” Andonovski said. “I had an opportunity to work with her on the national team and part of the reason why I wanted her here is because I know the quality that she has."

Cook, a seasoned center back, has spent the previous four seasons with the Reign, winning the NWSL Shield in 2022 and helping Seattle to an NWSL Championship in 2023.

From 2021 to 2023, she started 61 of 61 possible regular season matches, earning NWSL Defender of the Year finalist honors in both 2021 and 2022. She was also named to the NWSL season Best XI those years.

“If I would want my teammates to describe me as anything, it would be reliable,” Cook said. “I would want them to say that they can trust and know that I’m there in the back … the mentality I always have is ‘what can I do to be better for the team and make sure that I’m helping?’”

Before her time in Seattle, Cook traveled across the world to the City of Love, signing in 2019 with Paris Saint-Germain. She took part in 21 league matches, starting 17, and added nine UEFA Champions League appearances.

Cook’s first career goal for the club came at a pivotal moment for PSG. Down 1-0 in a Champions League semifinal against Barcelona, a failed corner kick clearance ricocheted toward the near post, perfectly placed for her to head in the equalizer en route to a 1-1 draw.

She ventured to Paris following a stellar college career at Stanford that included a Pac-12 Defender of the Year award in 2018 and two All Pac-12 First Team selections. She was a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann trophy, awarded annually to the top women’s college soccer player in the country.

“Leaving college, I wanted to kind of take a leap out of my comfort zone, and it felt like the right time to do that.” Cook said of her time in Paris. “So I went to France –– not knowing any French, not really knowing what I was stepping into other than an incredible opportunity to play European soccer, to play in the Champions League –– and kind of figured out what else was there when I got there.”

An appealing new addition to the Current’s back line, the defender joins Kansas City after 84 matches with Seattle across all competitions.

Off the pitch, Cook takes care of her dog Bo, a little chihuahua terrier mix, as well as tending to her plants as a self-described ‘plant mom.’ She also reads as much as she can, takes saxophone lessons and plays the piano. Cook says learning is one of her biggest passions.

Cook will play with the Current for the remainder of the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup before joining the team on its quest for the NWSL Shield when regular season play resumes. Kansas City sits in second place with ten games left to play. Even though Cook is one of the club’s newest arrivals, she can already sense the energy and determination of the squad as Kansas City makes its postseason push.

“When I look back on my career, I would love to come out of it saying, ‘I won shields, I won championships,’” Cook said. “That was my push to come here: knowing that that is a real possibility, and that is something everyone here is united in and striving for.”