Sophia Smith becoming USWNT star at 2023 Women’s World Cup

A compliment from Alex Morgan is no light thing, so take note that the most-capped player on the 2023 edition of the U.S. Women’s National Team felt reason to praise Sophia Smith on Saturday.

“She’s THAT girl,” Morgan tweeted, alongside a picture of herself and Smith, following the United States’ 3-0 win over Vietnam in Auckland, New Zealand, to open play in the 2023 Women’s World Cup. “Great team win.”

In a mixed bag of a 90 minutes, Smith was the standout star, announcing herself on the World Cup stage by scoring twice and adding an assist.

She became the youngest American to score multiple goals in a World Cup since Cat Whitehill against North Korea in 2003, and in a squad filled with youngsters who could have been overwhelmed by the moment, Smith proved she was unfazed.

“Being on this team, it just comes with a big target on your back,” Smith, who will turn 23 next month, told reporters. “It comes with pressure, it comes with a big platform. We all know this is nothing new, even the players who haven’t played in the World Cup. We know that. The veterans make sure we know that.”

Smith, who picked up an assist in the team’s pre-tournament friendly against Wales, featured in the SheBelieves Cup and CONCACAF Women’s Championships last year.

Prior to that, she was controversially left off the roster for the Tokyo Olympics two summers ago, in which the USWNT went on to win bronze.

Since then, Smith has more than earned her place on the national team.

She was named MVP of the National Women’s Soccer League in 2022 with the Portland Thorns after she scored 14 goals in 18 league games.

Ahead of the World Cup, Smith was on a similar pace, with 10 goals in 13 matches, plus five assists, bettering her total from 2022.

Smith had taken the rare step of entering the NWSL without spending four years in college.

She left Stanford and was picked first overall in the 2020 draft by the Thorns.

“She had to face some adversity, she had to face some tough times,” USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski told reporters following the win over Vietnam. “I know. I had some tough conversations with her. But from every conversation and every moment, she just rose above it and was better.

“Every time it seemed like she had a setback or she had a tough moment, she took it as an opportunity to grow and get better and that’s why she’s at where she’s at now.”

Smith, looking back on the Olympic snub, sounded very much over it.

“I remember obviously being sad and frustrated,” she told reporters, “but I think it took me a very quick day to get over it. And I realized that the only thing I could do was prove to him why he should have taken me.”

Now she is proving that she should be in the lineup when the World Cup opposition takes a step up.

Vietnam, which made its World Cup debut Friday night, is a team simply happy to be in New Zealand.

The Netherlands, the United States’ opponent on Wednesday in Wellington, can reasonably aim for a result against the Americans.

If the U.S. fails to get three points against the Netherlands, it could set up a do-or-die final game of the group stage against Portugal on Aug. 1, depending on how things shake out.

The USWNT beat the Netherlands, 2-0, in the 2019 World Cup final, a hard-fought match in which neither team got on the board until Megan Rapinoe’s 61st-minute penalty kick.

This time, the prevailing emotion following the win over Vietnam was that the U.S. had played well, but not quite as well as it should have, especially in finishing chances, excepting Smith.

“It was good to just get a game under my belt,” Smith said. “I was feeling all the emotions going into it, not really knowing what to expect.

“So to start off on a good note feels good, and it makes me just more excited for the next game.”