Defender discusses being nominated for The Best FIFA Women’s Player Award, USA’s successful 2024, Alex Morgan’s legacy and making an impact off the field.
-
Naomi Girma speaks exclusively to FIFA
-
She was part of USA’s gold-medal winning Olympic team
-
Centre-back has been nominated for The Best FIFA Women’s Player award
“She’s the best defender I’ve ever seen.”
Emma Hayes did not hold back in her appraisal of Naomi Girma during USA’s triumphant Women’s Olympic Football Tournament campaign. She added the 24-year-old “has got everything”, highlighting the centre-back’s poise, composure and leadership qualities.
When FIFA relays Hayes’ comments to Girma, it becomes apparent that grace and humility are further virtues possessed by the California-born star.
“It’s really hard to know what to say to that!” she said, laughing. “It’s just an honour to hear those words from Emma. It’s been amazing to play under her and to play with joy. It’s been really fun.”
Girma has been a dominant presence in a USA team which has re-established itself at the sport’s summit in 2024. As well as their Olympic title, the Americans also won the SheBelieves Cup and Concacaf W Gold Cup, and regained top spot on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking. That relentless run of success came on the back of a challenging 2023, when USA suffered a shock last-16 exit at the FIFA Women’s World Cup™.
“Last year was kind of a transition year,” Girma said. “For a lot of us, it was our first time playing in a major tournament. This year, getting the young players confident was big for us. “Emma coming in [ahead of the Olympics], bringing in her playing style and her energy was really big too. We built the belief we could win major games and win major tournaments.”
Girma was one of Paris 2024’s standout performers, playing every minute of USA’s six matches. Her iron will and inspiring authority came to the fore as her team dug deep to record 1-0 victories in all three of their knockout-phase ties.
“I’m extremely proud of that,” she said. “I feel we got better as the tournament went on. I grew up watching the Olympics, so it was really cool to be representing Team USA there. To win gold made it even more special. “As a group, I feel we really meshed well. We hadn’t played together that much, we hadn’t played under Emma that much, but we just had a great energy on and off the field.”
Indeed, Paris 2024 was Hayes’ maiden tournament as USA coach.
“Emma’s a winner,” Girma said. “And that’s something that has been at the core of this team for so many years. To have her come in with that mentality, and to keep pushing us in that direction, was great. “She’s a fun person off the field and she can laugh with us – and then she can be serious when she needs to be. To have that balance in a coach is really cool. It can make competing at a major tournament, which can be stressful, feel a little lighter and take the pressure off a bit.”
For Girma, 2024 has been a year filled with significant milestones. As well as winning multiple titles, she captained her country for the first time, taking the armband when regular skipper Lindsey Horan was off the field.
The San Diego Wave defender also recorded her first senior international goals. After 41 USA appearances without getting on the score-sheet, she netted twice in a 3-0 friendly victory over Argentina in October. Girma was mobbed by her equally-ecstatic team-mates when she celebrated those, and she outlined how that reaction reflects their collective mindset.
“We were all just so excited – and surprised!” she said. “It was so funny. When I scored the second, we were all like, ‘What is going on?!’ With this group, I feel like I’m just spending time and playing soccer with my friends. We’re always there to celebrate each other’s wins.”
“It’s a huge honour to be on the shortlist,” Girma said. “I’m grateful to be thought of in that category, but it doesn’t happen without the team and the performances we’ve had. I always want to acknowledge that.”
Girma’s career has been on a rapidly ascending trajectory ever since she made her senior USA debut in 2022. Fuelling that progress, she explained, is an insatiable hunger to improve.
“That work ethic and determination to keep going and keep getting better – that’s what I love about playing soccer,” she said. “I feel like it’s always been in me, and I don’t think it’s going away.”
Girma is one of three defenders among The Best FIFA Women’s Player nominees, along with England’s Lucy Bronze and Spain’s Ona Batlle.
“We’ll hold it down for the backline!” she said, laughing. “Sometimes we can go under the radar as we’re not the ones scoring goals all the time, but we’re still big parts of the team!”
Girma’s USA team-mate Alyssa Naeher, meanwhile, is in contention for The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper Award. The 36-year-old has recently announced her international retirement, bringing a glittering USA career to a close.
“Having Alyssa as a guiding voice behind me really helped me transition into the team,” said Girma. “Just knowing you have someone so good behind you always makes you feel more confident. “It’s crazy how good she still is going into [international] retirement! Off the field, she’s a great human being. She has embodied what it means to be a US women’s national team player.”
While Naeher will continue to play at club level for Chicago Red Stars, USA legend Alex Morgan categorically hung up her boots in September. Girma built up a close bond with Morgan during their time together at San Diego Wave and the national team, and she paid tribute to the two-time World Cup winner’s “humongous” impact on the game. “Alex has been at the top of women’s soccer for so long and had that spotlight on her for so many years,” Girma said.
“That’s not easy. She’s used that to do so many good things for women’s soccer and women’s sports. “The medals she’s won speak for themselves, of course. But I believe she really changed the game for women’s soccer. I always tell her, ‘I feel very lucky to have become a professional and joined the team when I did, because so many things had already been fought for.’ Now it’s on us to continue her legacy.”
Girma’s influence, too, stretches far beyond her impressive accomplishments on the field. She has spearheaded a new mental health programme called ‘Create the Space’, which supports players and people working in football.
Create the Space held its first major event in January 2024: a four-day retreat in San Diego attended by 20 professional players – one from each National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) club – and 25 youth coaches. It provided a safe platform for them to discuss mental and emotional health issues and how the culture around the sport can be improved.
Girma resolved to set up the initiative after her best friend, former Stanford University team-mate Katie Meyer, died by suicide in 2022.
“After she died, I felt called to do something that could have helped a younger Katie,” said Girma, who worked with football charity Common Goal to construct the programme. “I didn’t want anyone else’s family, friends or communities to have to go through something so tragic.”
The retreat proved a huge success, with attendees hailing its positive effect on their mental health as well as improving their awareness of how they can support others.
“It was very impactful to see how much people felt they needed something like that,” said Girma. “I felt like [as a society] we were talking about mental health, that had become more normalised, but there weren’t that many people taking action. I wanted to do something to help people.
“For the coaches, they learned more about how they can help the kids they coach deal with stress, grief and different things they are going through. And for the pro players, it was about how we can create environments where people feel more supported, have access to what they need, and are able to deal with the daily challenges of being a professional athlete.
“We have a lot more exciting things in the works. Now the goal is like, ‘How can we spread our reach and try to help more people?’”
Of her growing list of achievements, Girma ranks launching Create the Space as one that makes her especially proud. “It all stemmed from losing my best friend, Katie,” she added. “It’s amazing that something like this came from something that was so negative.”
Meyer was one of Girma’s biggest cheerleaders, a constant source of positivity who definitively told her she would become a professional, represent her country and play in the World Cup.
Girma has done all those things, and is now in contention to be recognised as the greatest player on the planet. If she is voted The Best FIFA Women’s Player, her “truest” friend will be one of the first people who comes to mind. “I always feel like she’s with me,” said Girma, who wears wrist tape bearing Meyer’s initials during every game. “I know she would’ve been there in Paris, freaking out when we won gold! I definitely think about Katie in those big moments. I feel like I’m playing for both of us.”
View this post on Instagram
