Naomi Girma and Sophia Smith lead the USWNT’s campaign for mental health at the World Cup

The two longtime friends fulfilled their pledge to honor former Stanford teammate Katie Meyer when Smith scored her second goal against Vietnam.

Naomi Girma (left) and Lynn Williams shared a laugh as they arrived at Monday's U.S. team practice in suburban Auckland.Read moreJonathan Tannenwald / Staff

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published July 24, 2023, 11:16 a.m. ET

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — If you were watching at home, the moment on the TV broadcast passed so quickly that you might not have noticed. But for two of the U.S. women’s soccer team’s brightest young stars at the World Cup, it was a moment long in the making.

After Sophia Smith’s second goal against Vietnam was confirmed by a video review, she celebrated with a zip-your-lips gesture. It was a tribute to Katie Meyer, Smith and Naomi Girma’s former Stanford University teammate with whom they won the 2019 national championship. Meyer made that gesture after a penalty shootout save that helped clinch the title, and she tragically died by suicide last year.

The entire women’s soccer world was rocked by Meyer’s passing, and those former teammates were hit especially hard. That Cardinal squad had a slew of other future pros, including Catarina Macario, who would have been on this U.S. squad had she been able to recover from an ACL injury suffered a year ago.

Their determination to honor Meyer’s memory led Girma and Smith to plan ways to drive a conversation around mental health on the world stage. The rest of the U.S. squad got on board right away, with many of them joining Girma and Smith in a powerful social media video published just before the tournament kicked off.

“That was for Katie,” Smith said after the 3-0 win over Vietnam. “Nay and I talked about it before the game — we were like, what could we do for Katie? And that’s pretty iconic what she did. … We just wanted to honor her in every way.”

On Monday, it was Girma’s turn to reflect on what the moment meant to her.

“It’s something that’s really important to me and Soph,” she said in a news conference. “We said if one of us scored — probably her — that we would do that.”

Girma being a centerback and Smith a forward, that line drew hearty laughs from everyone in the room. It helped lighten the mood on what is obviously a serious subject.

“I think we see this as an opportunity to shed light on a lot of things that are important to us, and I think that’s been something that’s at the core of this team for so long,” Girma said. “And for us to come in now and carry on that legacy is something that’s really important to us.”

Girma, 23, and Smith, 22, have been friends since well before they were Stanford teammates. They played on U.S. youth national teams together, forming a bond that stretched from Girma’s home in San Jose, Calif., to Smith’s home in suburban Denver.

So how has it been for Girma to watch Smith hit superstardom on soccer’s biggest stage?

“I mean, I’m just so proud and happy for her,” she said. “We keep each other grounded throughout … If we’re nervous before a game, we’re like, ‘Oh, I’m nervous’ — we’re like, ‘No, it’s OK. You got it.’ Just giving each other a little pep talk. So yeah, I think to see her now taking on the world stage, too, is incredible.”

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