Naomi Girma: The unheralded defender tapped to lead the USWNT's rebuild

Girma plays as a center back for the USWNT, which means she's often tasked with marshaling the troops to prevent opposition attacks and plan goalscoring opportunities of their own. It's an unheralded role and one that's rarely flashy, but don't be fooled: it's one of the most important jobs on the field. You can see that reflected in the USWNT's post-Cup statistics: while the team had many problems at the World Cup, the defense really wasn't one of them. It conceded just one goal across nearly 400 minutes of play.

There's a lot to fix within the USWNT, but Girma is one of the foundational elements that will survive the shake-up. She's a generational talent who is mature beyond her years--despite being a World Cup rookie, she used her press time to highlight the importance of mental health in sports. She dedicated her performances to her best friend and Stanford teammate Katie Meyer, who passed away just a few short years ago, and convinced Fox Sports to commit 1% of its World Cup broadcasting time toward de-stigmatizing mental health in sports.

"We don't want this to end simply at awareness," Girma wrote in the Players' Tribune. "We want to make sure that young people have the tools to cope with depression, anxiety, stress, and the very bad days, when it feels like the weight of the world is on their shoulders."

As the USWNT struggles through an avalanche of bad press, much of it well beyond the pale of traditional criticism, Girma's mission is as urgent as ever.

Much still needs to happen within U.S. Soccer to unpack the USWNT's early exit. Postmortems will be held, leaders will be dismissed and players will be reshuffled as the team attempts to regain its former glory. But with Girma now transitioning from World Cup rookie to thoughtful leader, the future of the USWNT is in excellent hands.