Naomi Girma scores first two goals for USWNT in win over Argentina

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — This international window has been all about firsts for the U.S. women’s national team. For Naomi Girma, that came in the form of her first goal on the international stage — and her second.

The U.S. defender took advantage of a ball deflected off Argentinean defender Aldana Cometti, heading it easily through an opening in front of Argentina’s goal. The sold-out crowd of 13,543 inside Lynn Family Stadium erupted as Girma’s goal opened the scoring for the USWNT.

“I’m happy I could get us on the board,” Girma said in her halftime interview. “I’m just looking forward to the second half, so we can hopefully keep breaking them down.”

And that’s exactly what the U.S. did, closing the night with a 3-0 win.

The USWNT ended the first half up 2-0, after an Argentinean own goal in the 44th minute, directed into danger by Girma. It didn’t take long in the second half for the team to resume this momentum, with Girma stunning the crowd again with another header, assisted by Alyssa Malonson. It was Malonson’s first assist for the U.S. in her debut.

Girma was beaming with joy, ending the night with the captain’s armband after Lindsey Horan was subbed off in the 61st minute.

“I was just really surprised and really excited,” Girma said. “I feel like scoring your first goal is always so fun, and I’m always there to celebrate with my teammates. Whenever we score, I’m usually, like, sprinting up the field. So it was fun to score.”

That joy radiated through the team, with teammate Rose Lavelle describing Girma as “literally America’s sweetheart.”

“She is just the best person,” Lavelle said. “So, I think you saw that when she scored, like how excited everyone was for her, and then even more excited for the second goal.”

For head coach Emma Hayes, it’s symbolic of the bonds that have formed on this team.

“You only had to look at her celebration to see (the joy),” Hayes said. “She looked like a teenager, jumping up and down like she just scored a goal in front of all her friends, and honestly, that’s what this team is.”

The Wednesday night match was the final of three friendlies for USWNT in the October international window. The team also won two games against Iceland, ending both with a score of 3-1. The window was also a celebration, marking the first time the U.S. has played together since winning Olympic gold in Paris and serving as a time to honor Kelley O’Hara’s retirement as well as Mallory Swanson, Emily Sonnett and Lavelle’s 100th caps.

Wednesday marked the first time three U.S. players were on the starting roster for their national team debut since March 7, 2001, according to OptaJack.

Those players, Eva Gaetino, Mandy Haught and Malonson, were just three of the seven players who earned their first caps with the national team this month. They joined Hal Hershfelt, Emily Sams, Yazmeen Ryan and Racing Louisville’s Emma Sears, who became only the fourth USWNT player to record a goal and an assist in her debut Sunday.

Heavily rotating the roster was also by necessity to manage player workload for those who now transition back to their NWSL clubs for the final week of the regular season.

To Hayes, the camp went exactly as planned.

“I got out of it what I wanted to get out of it,” she said, “which was a ton of debutants, managed minutes for everyone that’s still in NWSL play, (and) a chance to develop some things that, for us, we set as targets for ourselves on the training pitch.”

While this window was a trial run for several first-time call-ups, the November camp will come with a tougher test across the Atlantic. The team’s next two matches are against European heavyweights England and the Netherlands, on Nov. 30 and Dec. 3.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

US Women's national team, Soccer, NWSL

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