Sophia Smith, 2023 World Cup rookies critical to USWNT’s hopes

If Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and the rest of the veterans on the U.S. Women’s National Team are to make history as the first three-peat champions in FIFA World Cup history, they are going to need the infusion of the program’s latest youth movement to help them — and perhaps even lead them — back to the podium.

Fourteen of the 23 members of the diverse squad that will represent the U.S. beginning later this week in Australia and New Zealand are first-time participants in World Cup play.

That precocious group is fronted by 22-year-old Sophia Smith, the spritely attacking player who copped MVP honors last season in the NWSL, the women’s professional league.

Trinity Rodman (yes, that surname should sound familiar), 18-year-old Alyssa Thompson and new starting center back Naomi Girma also will be keys to the top-ranked Americans’ chances to retain the crown.

“We’ve been learning and growing and they’ve been telling us what it takes to go into this tournament and win,” Smith said this month. “It’s not going to be easy. They continue to make that clear to a lot of us young players who’ve never played in a World Cup before.

“We need to be prepared and hear from the veteran players that have been there and done it, to be ready for whatever comes our way.”

The 38-year-old Rapinoe, who announced she will retire after this season, Morgan and defender Kelly O’Hara are on the U.S. roster for a fourth consecutive time dating back to their World Cup debuts in 2011.

Midfielder Julie Ertz and goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher also were on the championship-winning teams of 2015 and 2019.

Center back and captain Becky Sauerbrunn also would be going for the three-peat, but she is out for the tournament with a foot injury.

She will be replaced by Girma, a former NCAA championship teammate of Smith’s at Stanford.

Girma, the daughter of immigrant parents from Ethiopia, and 26-year-old first-timer Alana Cook will start in the middle in front of Naeher.

“These players don’t have the experience Becky has, but they sure have a lot of experience at the position,” U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “They understand the game at a very high level and we actually are very comfortable with the ability they have and the level of expertise they have at the position.

“We think they will be able to handle it very well. We’re very confident in them. They have grown a lot and they keep growing.”

That also is true in the attacking third, with staples Rapinoe and Morgan joined by Smith, the gifted Rodman and Thompson, and 30-year-old first-timer Lynn Williams.

The 18-year-old Thompson’s status was accelerated after star forward Mallory Swanson — who is married to Cubs All-Star shortstop Dansby Swanson — was knocked out of action with a knee injury.

“Alyssa is unpredictable. Her creativity on the field and the things that she does on the field are so hard to track. Because you never know what she’s gonna do,” Andonovski said of Thompson. “She’s very hard to track and prepare for and that’s something that will fit well with the group of forwards she will have around her.

“So I’m not worried about the inexperience,” he added. “In fact, I’m excited about the energy and the enthusiasm that the young players bring. The intensity and the drive, as well. I’m very excited about the group, and I actually think that will be one of our advantages.”

Integrating young players just as the old guard are wrapping up their careers has been a staple of the American program’s unparalleled success.

Rapinoe and Morgan were youngsters alongside veteran stars such as Abby Wambach and Hope Solo, who emerged just as the legendary runs of Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Christine Lilly were ending.

That threesome were key members of the famed 1999 World Cup victory on Brandi Chastain’s converted penalty kick.

“I wasn’t quite alive for the ‘99 World Cup, but as early as I could understand what that meant, I understood,” said Smith, who was born the following year. “But I think that watching videos and documentaries of that team first made me think that could be me. I always was dreaming that one day that would be me.

“Every time I watched this team play, that made me know that this is what I wanted to do.”

Smith also has cited Long Island-bred defender Crystal Dunn and her fellow Coloradan Lindsey Horan as mentors, while positionally, “players like Alex and Pinoe let me know I still have so much to learn.”

The remaining first-timers on the squad are goalies Aubrey Kingsbury and Casey Murphy, defenders Emily Fox and Sofia Huerta, and midfielders Savannah DeMelo, Kristie Mewis, Ashley Sanchez and Andi Sullivan.

The next few weeks could be Smith’s time — along with a few other newcomers — to fully take the torch from the outgoing stars.

“I’m not going to say anything new if I say that she is a great player. It’s obvious,” Andonovski said of Smith. “It’s not a surprise for us that So is going to be one of the forwards that will take the majority of the load in the front line. But we also have to understand that doing well in the league is great. But that’s one thing, and it’s totally different doing it at the international level or in the World Cup.

“But we do believe that So has the quality to do well in this tournament, and we’re excited to see how that goes.”