Sophia Smith: USA’s next torch carrier with a World Cup ‘legacy’ to preserve | OneFootball
Where Sophia Smith goes, confidence follows. Take for example the viral Michael Jordan-esque, shoulder-shrug celebration of her goal four minutes into last year’s National Women’s Soccer League Championship. The goal clinched her team, Portland Thorns, a third NWSL title and secured Smith the MVP game trophy to cap off her MVP season.
“I just did it,” Smith said after the match. “There’s been a lot of people who don’t think that I deserve to win MVP. So that was a little bit of, you know, that’s that.”
Smith enters the 2023 Women’s World Cup as arguably the United States’ best player right now. She continues to live up to the lofty expectations of being a generational forward capable of changing the game on her own. Now, she shoulders the burden of translating that league form to her first major international tournament.
Smith is undeterred. “I think my role going into this tournament, it’s going to be big, and I love that,” Smith said upon being named to the USA roster in June. “I love the spotlight, I love pressure, I love it all.”
Statistically, Smith’s prowess is obvious. After scoring 15 goals last season, Smith has netted 10 just past the halfway mark of this campaign. Her five assists are the second-most in the NWSL, and her 15 total goal contributions are five more than the next closest player. According to American Soccer Analysis, Smith’s goals-added (g+) metric nearly doubles that of the next most valuable player in the league.
There is more to Smith than goals and stats, however. Amazing things happen when she gets on the ball – the type of how-did-she-do-that moments that can change games and, potentially, World Cup destinies. Smith’s USA teammates describe her game as “unstoppable”, “unpredictable” and “deadly”.
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