SC Featured: Naomi (7:10)
For U.S Women’s National Team defender Naomi Girma, the daughter of Ethiopian immigrants, her path to a soccer career, let alone the national team, has been anything but standard. (7:10)
Caitlin Murray, ESPNJul 24, 2023, 05:19 AM ET
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Caitlin Murray is a general editor for ESPN.com. She has reported on and written about soccer for The New York Times, The Guardian, Yahoo Sports, Fox Sports, the Associated Press, and others.
She authored a book about the history of the U.S. women’s national team called “The National Team: The Inside Story of the Women Who Changed Soccer,” which made “best of” lists in Vanity Fair, The Financial Times, NPR and The Los Angeles Times. On Twitter and Instagram, she’s @caitlinmurr.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand – American fans watching back home may have missed it: After Sophia Smith scored her second goal in the United States’ win over Vietnam in their opener of the Women’s World Cup, Smith made a “zip your lips” gesture.
The television cameras did not catch the celebration in full, but it was a gesture to honor former Stanford teammate Katie Meyer, who died by suicide last year, USWNT defender Naomi Girma said Monday.
“We said if one of us scored – probably her [Smith] – then we’d do that,” Girma said. “It’s just another way of honoring her.”
At the 2019 NCAA College Cup, Meyer made the title-winning save in a penalty shootout and then did the lip-zipping celebration, which went viral and was featured on “SportsCenter.” Smith and Girma were on that team.
Meyer died in March 2022, and since then Girma and Smith have used their growing platforms to raise awareness about mental health.
“With a lot of players, us included, speaking out on mental health, we see this as an opportunity to shed light on a lot of things that are important to us,” Girma said.
“That’s been something that’s been at the core of this team for so long and for us to come in now and carry on that legacy is something that’s really important to us.”
She added: “It’s something that’s really important to me and Soph.”
In an interview with “SportsCenter” released Monday, Girma said she wears tape with “KM” written in marker every game to honor her friend.
Meyer, a star player at collegiate level, has been a key figure during this World Cup for her former teammates.
Smith’s second goal in the USWNT’s win over Vietnam was originally ruled offside until a video review overturned the decision, and when the referee announced it was a goal, she did the celebration, but it wasn’t widely broadcast.
“That was for Katie,” Smith said afterward. “Nai and I talked about it before the game. We were like, ‘What can we do for Katie?’ It was pretty iconic what she did in the College Cup, and we just want to honor her in every way.”
Girma, Smith and other members of the national team announced last week that they have partnered with Common Goal – a soccer-focused, pledged-based charitable project – to launch a mental health initiative during this World Cup.
