USWNT star defender Naomi Girma has learned from veteran leaders like Alex Morgan and Becky Sauerbrunn ahead of this summer's World Cup.
While the USWNT won't have captain Becky Sauerbrunn available for this July's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, it certainly helps that their "next woman up" just so happened to be the first overall pick in 2022's NWSL Draft.
23-year-old defender Naomi Girma, currently of the San Diego Wave, will make her World Cup debut this month. But thanks to veterans like her Wave teammate Alex Morgan — as well as a lifetime of soccer advice from her passionate father — it truly feels as if she were born ready.
Yes, even though she put on her shinguards wrong the first time her friend took her to an organized soccer practice.
"[Her friend Jenna's] grandpa picked us up from the YMCA after school program, and we were getting ready in the car and, yeah, I tried to put my shinguards on outside my socks, which is … what I did." Girma laughed. "And she was like, 'Oh, my God, Naomi, what are you doing?'."
USWNT's Naomi Girma Belongs in the 2023 World Cup
Still finishing a master's at Stanford while moving to San Diego and going pro would be enough to juggle without a heavily-scrutinized international competition on the horizon. Add in the absence of Sauerbrunn, a Team USA Captain, and Girma certainly has her work cut out for her.
Adding a veteran to the roster like Julie Ertz helps, though; Ertz returned from an extended break following the birth of her child, rallied, and was given the go-ahead last month. Girma was energized by her veteran presence, while also learning plenty from Morgan on the NWSL circuit.
Sauerbrunn herself has also tried to keep Girma focused and prepared for the moment the curtain rises this summer.
"She's been great," Girma noted. "I think I learned a lot just playing alongside her. The way she communicates, the way she defends, and the way she leads. The greatest learning is seeing them in action more than anything she could tell me."
That influence will be on display later this month, as Team USA enters a new era without many of their familiar, title-winning stars. Girma will be ready — with her shinguards on.
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Naomi Girma spoke with FanSided on behalf of Rockin' Protein.
