With a brand new coach and a young team, the U.S. women’s national team captured a remarkable fifth gold medal at the Paris Olympics. With their youngest Olympic roster since 2008 and the youngest starting lineup in a gold medal game since 1996, the world is officially on guard.

This team is good. And they will most likely be in contention for the Cup in the years to come. At the heart of this generation’s still-growing potential is San Diego Wave center-back Naomi Girma, whose assured defense and calm ball control set the team’s tempo and inspired Emma Hayes to comment after their second win over Germany: “Look, she’s the best defender I’ve ever seen.”

Girma was officially introduced to the world stage at the 2023 World Cup, where she played every minute for the United States in what would become the team’s worst performance in World Cup history. Despite the result, Girma handled her role with remarkable aplomb, allowing just two shots on target and one goal en route to elimination in the Round of 16. Girma’s performance Down Under caught the world’s attention, prompting Arsenal’s Swedish coach Jonas Eidevall to remark after the team’s loss that she was “…amazing, a world-class talent.”

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At just 23 years old, Girma made her 40th USWNT appearance in last Saturday’s gold medal game and led the United States to its ninth international championship (more than all other countries combined).

Partnered with veteran goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, Girma again played every minute of the tournament, amassing 600 minutes in six games and cementing her reputation as a world-class defensive talent and leader for the next generation.

Defending the path to gold

Forwards often make headlines, especially when they combine to score 10 of the team’s 12 goals—more goals than any other team at the Olympics. But this summer’s gold medal came as much from the USWNT’s defensive prowess as it did from its impressive offensive prowess. A special word must be said for Naeher, who became the first goalkeeper in Olympic history to prevent a shutout in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final of the Games, as well as the first goalkeeper in women’s soccer history to prevent a shutout in both the final of a World Cup (2019) and the Olympics.

But Girma coordinated right in front of her every minute of the tournament, contributing to those statistics. Naeher is a huge fan of Girma, which is not surprising. He says: “I think a lot of Naomi. I think she just plays with calmness and consistency.”

That stoic reliability carried the U.S. from its opening match to the gold medal game this summer, setting records along the way. In its opening match against Zambia, Girma completed 79 of 82 passes and posted a 96.3% passing accuracy rate — the highest average at the Women’s Olympics since 2012. While the team faced myriad challenges over the next five games, Girma maintained that pace of ball security, finishing the tournament with a 95% passing accuracy rate across all games — the highest at the Olympics.

When the team was under pressure, Girma’s defense and possession recovery were just as strong. She led the team with 29 possession recovery attempts and tied with Rodman for the most tackles on the team with six interceptions. Only Crystal Dunn and Korbin Albert trailed her in tackles won.

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Girma’s former teammate at Stanford, Sophia Smith, spoke about the confidence Girma instills in the team: “She’s the best defender in the world. Nobody gets past her. She’s the glue of our team. She really holds everything down. And I know everyone on the field is so confident that when the ball is in the box or close to it, we always get it out. We have Nay back there.”

Mallory Swanson, who led the team with four goals and two assists in the games, echoed that praise.

“When I look at Nay, she’s just consistent,” she said. “She’s consistent. And that’s something you need. And she wins balls, completes passes, creates the tempo in every game, that’s consistent with her. And obviously she’s one of the best center backs in the world, if not the best.”

Leadership for the future

The California-born Stanford USA graduate is a natural leader. Since the Wave selected Girma first overall in the 2022 NWSL Draft, she has demonstrated clear leadership qualities on and off the field at both the club and national levels. In Hayes’ first game as coach last June in Colorado, she acknowledged that leadership potential and showed her confidence in Girma as the future leader of this team. When the USA’s current captain, Lyon midfielder Lindsey Horan, was taken off the field, Hayes instructed Girma to take over the band. Commenting on the decision afterward to the media, Hayes said:

“You saw how I managed the players at Chelsea. When there are no experienced players, I like to develop younger players into leaders.”

In the months that followed, Girma took over the captaincy when Horan was again a substitute, including at this summer’s Olympics. Under the tutelage of Hayes – a coach known for her player development – there is reason to believe that the 23-year-old Girma’s leadership skills will continue to grow.

“I’ve never seen a player as good at the back as she is. She has everything: poise, composure, she defends, she anticipates, she leads. I mean, wow. Unbelievable,” Hayes said of Girma.

Truly incredible. And remarkably, Girma, like many of her teammates, is still at the beginning of her career and on her way to reaching her full potential.