“I would kick myself if I retired and hadn’t done that,” said Trinity Rodman earlier while expressing her desire to play overseas at some point in her career. Sure, as alarming as it may sound for her team, the Washington Spirit, or even for the NWSL, the fact remains that every soccer player—game irrespective of gender—has always dreamed of playing in the Mecca of the beautiful sport. The latest to join this bandwagon seems to be Olivia Moultrie, who, in an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, courtesy of a collaboration with Red Bull, shared her aspiration to fulfill this ‘special dream’ of hers.

Yep, that’s how significant of a pull Europe has. Of course, in the case of Olivia, her journey to pro began as early as the age of 15. Having earned a Nike contract in team sports with the Portland Thorns Academy, the growth has been phenomenal for her. As an attacking midfielder, Olivia Moultrie hasn’t spent much time in America’s domestic league. Yet, she aims to spend some time in her career overseas just like every other player, even stalwarts of the sport.

But before doing that, she wants to achieve one of her biggest goals. “I think my biggest goal is I want to be considered the best player in the world,” she told host Andrew Whitelaw on the EssentiallySports exclusive. “Like, I want to be in that conversation. I want to be looked at in that way.”

Olivia Moultrie aims to work so hard toward this goal that it reaches a point where, no matter where she plays, she is seen as a pivotal player. Fortunately, currently enjoying year 19 in life, she still has plenty of time to perfect her craft. While she remains committed to improving, her biggest goal is to hone everything and elevate her game to the highest level. Then again, Olivia realizes that all of these manifestations won’t come so easy.

“There’s a lot in the in-between, obviously, being a part of the national team, winning trophies there,” she said before revealing her ultimate dream. “I’d love to play in Europe and play in the Champions League at some point. That’s like a dream watching that as a little kid…I want to experience that. It’s really special,” she said, adding that even though being a professional for a big NWSL club, her inner child still wants her to fulfill this dream someday.

More than Olivia, we are rather excited to see when she leaves for Europe and, more importantly, which team she chooses. But technically, to recall, it was once a choice that she could’ve made, yet she didn’t!

Olivia Moultrie says no better environment than at Portland Thorns

Given how young Olivia Moultrie decided to pursue the beautiful game, she, along with her family, was pondering a move to Europe. The reason? Lack of opportunities especially in the women’s game in her own nation. “When we decided to make the move, we knew we were going to move somewhere. We had thought about moving to Europe because, at the time, the pathway in terms of young players becoming a professional was more open there,” she said in the EssentiallySports exclusive.

Perhaps since the inception of the beautiful game, Europe has long been one of the biggest talent-churners. Naturally, Olivia considered moving continents in pursuit of the best opportunities. However, she eventually chose to stay with Portland, who came along with an offer that changed everything. How could she snub an opportunity where she could be with her first team from day one, training alongside them? That made her wonder, “What better environment can I get than that?”

While it’s good that things eventually worked out for her, there remains an underlying issue. Even today, players often face difficulties in NWSL regarding opportunity. How soon it can change is something that remains to be seen. Regardless, share your views in the comments.