TOP NEWS: Sophia Smith: USA’s Fantastic Olympic Gold ‘Dream Com… read more

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris was nothing short of a whirlwind for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT), who look to be fully back to form after winning the USA a gold medal.

In the women’s tournament, veteran forward Sophia Smith scored three goals for her country, including a critical strike in added extra time during the 1-0 semifinal win over Germany, the 2016 gold medalists.

Smith, the 24-year-old Portland Thorns FC striker, said that she and her teammates had the time of their lives, but she’s happy to be back in the US and back in the thick of NWSL competition.

“Yeah, it was amazing,” Smith said during Tuesday’s virtual interview. “But I’m just happy to be back in Portland.”

One primary goal on the horizon, once and again, is the next FIFA Women’s World Cup. Smith said that the next World Cup is always on the minds of the USWNT, but that snagging the Olympic gold is not only “a dream come true” but a move that offers the USA women a fresh reset.

“I’ve played in one World Cup before,” Smith said of 2023, “and it was not the best experience—because it’s hard when you’re not getting the results you want.”

But the Olympics this summer was, as Smith called it, “an experience that I didn’t want to end. I was having a lot of fun on and off the field.”

After crashing out just after the World Cup’s Group Stage last summer, the USWNT started off strong by winning all three contests in the Paris Olympic tournament’s group stage. The USA led Group B, defeating all three competitors: Germany, Australia, and Zambia. Smith scored two goals in the USA’s second match versus Germany, helping seal a big 4-1 win.

Next, the USA would log two 1-0 extra-time wins in the quarterfinals (versus Japan) and also in the semis (versus Germany again) before beating Brazil in the August 10 Olympic final with another 1-0 score, thanks to a second-half goal by Mallory Swanson.