A lot of hindsight and revisionism in that article. Before the tournament here's what ESPN said about the "one dimensional" Smith, who they ranked the third best player.
Leading a generational shift within the U.S. women's national team is Sophia Smith, the young forward who will likely score the bulk of the USWNT's goals. As a striker in club play and primarily a winger for the U.S., Smith's strength is in her confidence and audacity to go at goal. She's not afraid to take on defenders, and she's emerged as a ruthlessly incisive finisher as she has come into form for this World Cup. As she heads to New Zealand, she puts pause on a club season where she is the NWSL's Golden Boot leader with 10 goals in 13 games.
When your one dimension is scoring goals, perhaps that isn't a valid criticism in a sport where a couple of goals usually wins a game?
And yes, we could have the same discussion more or less about Cristiano Ronaldo.
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Last edited by Peter_Spaeth; 08-07-2023 at 05:40 PM.
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