In 2024, Naomi Girma Began Crafting Her USWNT Legend | OneFootball

As 2024 comes to a close, SI is recognizing the top performer in each sport—athletes who have excelled on the field through record-breaking or championship performances, or those who have distinguished themselves through significant off-field achievements as well.

Mark down 2024 as the year of Naomi Girma.

Capped by an Olympic gold medal and a preview of life as a future USWNT captain, 2024 was the year the 24-year-old defender grasped the baton from the USWNT’s golden generation following the departure of Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe.

Few have claimed mainstay status on the storied team in such short order quite like Girma—it’s hard to believe that Girma’s first cap with the USWNT came just over two years ago—but this generational talent has proven herself to be the foundation of what manager Emma Hayes is building.

Girma’s inauguration as the USWNT’s lynchpin came at the Paris Olympics with the star center back playing all 600 minutes of the tournament. She led Team USA on an undefeated charge to a gold medal with the Girma-anchored back line only allowing two goals throughout the Games—none came during the knockout stage. It was a cathartic moment for the USWNT, ascending to the top of the podium under a new manager helped dilute any lingering bitterness from its previous major tournament, the 2023 World Cup, where it crashed out in the round of 16 and failed to reach the quarterfinals for the first time. Girma played in every minute of that campaign as well, and has registered seven clean sheets in her 10 Olympic and World Cup appearances.

The cherry on top of Girma’s golden year? Scoring her first two international goals in the USWNT’s October friendly against Argentina in an emphatic response to a preposterous snub from the list of Ballon d’Or nominees.

“She’s the best defender I’ve ever seen,” Hayes said of Girma during the U.S.’s Olympic run. A statement like that can easily be passed off as hyperbole, but Girma lives up to the billing.

Not only is she the best defender, she’s one of the best players in the world right now. A reliable and steady presence on the back line, Girma is rarely caught out of position, possessing an impressive ability to read the field. She boasts a 92% pass completion percentage for NWSL side San Diego Wave and is in the 97th percentile of pass completion percentage per 90 minutes compared to other center backs, per FBref. Elite at distributing out of the back, Girma spurs her side’s attack from deep with impressive on-ball skills. And in an era littered with speedy forwards, Girma is a cheat code, rarely allowing opponents to get in behind thanks to her positioning and speed.

Perhaps most impressive, though, is Girma’s wise-beyond-her-years poise with only three seasons of professional soccer under her belt. Longtime USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher likened the young star to the steady hand of legendary U.S. defender Becky Sauerbrunn: "I think the world of Naomi. I think she plays just with a calmness and a steadiness and she reminds me a lot of Becky, honestly.” High praise from the much-revered keeper.

Girma’s status in the USWNT was formally acknowledged in June when she donned the captain’s armband for the first time after captain Lindsey Horan exited a friendly against South Korea. Girma was just 23 years old. “It was definitely, I think, kind of surreal,” Girma said. “It’s obviously such an incredible honor and I think the legacy of the team and the captains that have been on the national team have been such impactful players and people.”

Girma (left) and the Triple Espresso attacking trio were key to the gold-medal run in Paris. / IMAGO/AFLOSPORT

Girma has embraced the role of torchbearer off the pitch too, helping host a three-day mental health retreat for NWSL players earlier this year as part of her “Create the Space” program with Common Goal. The initiative looks to shift the sport’s culture around mental health at the professional and grassroots levels. Girma has said that she was driven to get involved with the project following the death of her former Stanford teammate and friend Katie Meyer, who died by suicide in March 2022. “This is personal for me, and for everyone who knew Katie,” Girma wrote last year in The Players’ Tribune. “If we have one mission, it’s for young people to feel less alone.” It’s a message Girma has continued to amplify, using her ever-growing platform to progress the sport.

At this stage, it doesn’t feel like an overstatement to call Girma a paradigm shift. Defenders don’t often garner the spotlight and aren’t typically vaunted atop best-of lists, but Girma is so incontestable that she’s managed to break through at a position that isn't known for glitz and glamor. A future “legend of this game,” is how former USWNT star Kelley O’Hara described Girma. “Astonishing” is the word icon Tobin Heath used while singing Girma’s praises. “Rock solid,” said USWNT legend Heather O’Reilly, who knows a little something about being rock solid as the eighth-most capped player in U.S. soccer history. The best of the best insist time and again, without qualification or hesitation, that Girma is a singular talent.

Yet this year Girma also showed herself to be a different kind of superstar. Her unflappability and dependability inspire as much awe as the Triple Espresso’s must-see, goal-scoring fireworks show. Her assuredness and precision demanded respect. The most thrilling part of it all is the world is just getting to know Girma. In what would be a legacy-defining year for most, 2024 feels like just the beginning for a future legend of the game.