Who is Sophia Smith? The 2022 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year?
Everything you need to know about the player who won a landslide victory in the 2022 vote.
Have you ever seen a child that chases a dog with a ball? The animal knows that they are being pursued by a young creature, and as such, decides to prance and jog instead of fully focus on outrunning the child at full speed as instantly turning up the gears means the young person has no chance.
Sophia Smith does the football equivalent, holding the ball at such a length that means nobody on the pitch can retrieve it, tapping it with the outside of her right boot at just the right distance away from her body that fools the defender into thinking they can get a touch. And that’s when she pounces.
The defender jumps in and Smith turns up the gears, accelerating away from the player, leaving them in a stretched mess of embarrassment like one person of two putting their arm out to shake hands, only to have to swerve away and pretend they didn’t try. Then, Sophia Smith, now with an extra yard and the problem of the defender dealt with, does what she needs to make any problems on the scoreboard go away.
Forward ‘super humbled’ by award
Of course, Smith did not win the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year award on dribbling along, but it is a delightful aspect of her game. The 22 year-old scored 11 goals for the U.S. in 2022 and started 17 matches - the most in the national team. At club level she scored 14 goals for the Portland Thorns which helped the side win the NWSL title for the third time (she also scored the opener in the final after just 4 minutes).
The vote itself was a landslide victory, with Smith getting 50.8% of the vote, comfortably in front of San Diego Wave forward Alex Morgan, who finished second with 18.4%.
Smith is breaking records in football
“It’s been a very exciting year... being able to grow and develop in the environments with the national team and the Thorns, and being surrounded by such amazing players, players that I have looked up to for so long, has pushed me to become a better player and person, Smith said. Obviously this is surreal, and I’m super humbled.”
The forward also became the youngest ever player to win the NWSL MVP award and she was also named MVP of the NWSL final. She becomes just the fourth player in history to have won both the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year and the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year, along with Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan and Julie Ertz.