United States women’s national team manager Vlatko Andonovski praised Sophia Smith as “special” after the forward scored a first-half brace against Nigeria in her team’s 4-0 victory Saturday.
“First and foremost, this is the best team in the world and in order to play on this team, you have to be one of the best in the world,” Andonovski said.
“She is a special player and she’s certainly developing aspects of her game that she maybe wasn’t special in: ability to pop in pockets or to recognize those pockets and then expose the defense. For us as coaches, we’re happy to see that because it gives us another layer or gives us an opportunity to create strategy in a way that we believe we can expose teams.”
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Smith scored 14 minutes into the match on a more direct play, reading a deflection off a 50-50 ball that the U.S. won at midfield and slotting home her shot 1-v-1 with Nigeria goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie.
Moments before half-time, Smith tallied her second goal in much different fashion. Her finish was the final product of terrific team combination play between Andi Sullivan, Alex Morgan and Emily Fox which saw Fox, the full-back, overlap Morgan to get behind the defense.
Smith now has 10 career goals in just 22 appearances, putting her tied with Michelle Akers for the sixth-fastest to double-digit goals in USWNT history, per ESPN Stats & Information.
“I thought she played incredible and it’s not just a goal that she’s scored but also her movement individually,” Andonovski said of Smith.
“Individual movements are very good but then her movements off of Alex [Morgan] were very precise. We saw a couple of good connections with Alex, a couple good connections with the players that were around.
“She’s becoming not just individually a very good player but she’s also bringing other players in the game and helps them look better on the field.”
Smith has started 12 of the United States’ 13 games this year and has grabbed hold of the starting position on the wing opposite Mallory Pugh. Andonovski started the same 11 players Saturday as the group that defeated Canada 1-0 in July’s CONCACAF W Championship final, and the consistency is beginning to pay off.
“We always talk about, in order for our forwards to get the balls from Lindsey [Horan] and Rose [Lavelle], before anything else they need to help them get on the ball by creating space for them,” Andonovski said. “I thought today the synchronization between the forwards and the midfielders was very good.”
Smith has scored 11 goals for the Portland Thorns this season, two off Morgan’s pace for the NWSL Golden Boot.