It’s a story as old as time: players come, they endear themselves to the public, and then they retire.
For the U.S. women’s national team it’s happened again, again and again. This time it’s starting goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, who announced she’d be stepping back from international play.
Ask any player and they’ll tell you what Naeher means to the team.
“She’s been such a steady presence on this team,” Tierna Davidson told the media. “To have gotten to know her as a teammate as a player and most importantly as a friend has been such an honor. I think that she brings such a quiet presence of leadership to this team and a sense of comfort for a lot of players so we’ll definitely miss that.”
Naeher joins a long line of USWNT veterans to step away from the team. Last year it was Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz, with Sam Mewis announcing a retirement due to injury.
This year, Kelley O’Hara and Alex Morgan preceded Naeher in retiring. While Naeher will still play with the Chicago Red Stars for at least one more season, her retirement from the USWNT marks one of the final pages in the turning of a chapter for the team.
Every single one of those players had a pivotal role in the team’s 2019 World Cup win. Most are two-time World Cup champions, having helped the team to redemption in 2015 before pure domination in 2019.
They’ve ushered in a new era, which included fighting for equal pay and treatment within U.S. Soccer, and have left a legacy that won’t soon be touched. Ask Naomi Girma and she’ll tell you that “Uncle” – as Naeher is fondly called within the ranks – will have her impact outlive her “by a long time.” So, too, will the others, whose legacy the next generation has been tasked with carrying on while also establishing a legacy of their own.
“They’ve left a legacy of excellence and always pushing the standard,” Girma said of the recent retirees. “They’ve done that year in year out, both on and off the field. Obviously the success they’ve had on the field speaks for itself, but also off the field just pushing the barrier for women’s soccer and women’s sports in general and being advocates for so many people has been so inspirational to me.
“Now, with our generation, we hope to do both: continue to raise that standard on and off the field and try to continue in their footsteps.”
There has been overlap between their generation and the new generation. Players such as Mallory Swanson and Lynn Williams find themselves now as veterans when they were once looking to fill the shoes of players like Rapinoe and Morgan. They’ve been joined by others, such as Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman and Girma. With a gold medal in hand from the Paris Olympics, the new generation has signaled that they’re ready to carry on the torch.
That’s part of the reason that Naeher has said she’s ready to step away. Part accomplishing everything she set out to do and part recognizing that even after she leaves, the team is going to be able to carry on without her.
“I feel very fulfilled with what we’ve been able to do and it takes a lot out of you,” Naeher said ahead of her final two international matches. “Honestly, I think I’ve been somebody that has been…I’ve given everything I’ve had to this team and I don’t do anything halfway. It’s kind of, if you can give 100 percent to it, then keep going. And with that in mind, I kind of just felt like this was the right time coming off of the Olympics, having a year that we had entering into a new cycle, a new stage for this team, it just felt like [I had] kind of given everything I have to give to this team and it just felt like the right time.”
But so many retirements leaves players like Williams and Girma now the leaders of a significantly younger team.
“It’s so funny I feel experienced but also not at the same time,” Williams said, noting that Naeher was her first-ever roommate when she was just 23. The young forward had needed help with a tax form and asked Naeher how to fill it out.
“She was probably like, ‘Who is this stupid young player asking me these stupid questions?’ ” Williams joked.
Now, though, Williams cites her as a longtime friend and sounding board with whom she loves going on coffee dates. It’s the one thing that she says she’s going to miss the most about having Naeher no longer part of the national team.
“But Alyssa, I mean, her on the field presence speaks for itself,” Williams said. “She has had to battle and earn her way up to being keeper No. 1 and since that she has run with it through and through, saving PK after PK, goal after goal. She’s saved us time and time again. … She is an amazing keeper but she’s an even better person. So anybody who gets to come in contact with her, I feel very lucky for them and I feel lucky for myself.”
Williams also cited the wisdom she received from players such as Rapinoe, anything from on-the-field questions to fashion advice.
“Just being that complete teammate can go a long way, so I hope to see myself in that role,” Williams said.
Girma was once one of the younger players on the team, anchoring the back line at the 2023 World Cup at just 23. Making her senior debut in 2022, her ascendency to stardom was quick, becoming the first USWNT defender to win U.S. Soccer Player of the Year in 2023. But now, with a World Cup and an Olympics under her belt, she’s considered a veteran on a team that is rapidly growing with youth talent.
“Definitely feels weird to be called a veteran,” Girma said.
“Throughout this year, I’ve had to grow a lot as a leader, that was something that Emma challenged me with when she first came in,” Girma said. “I’ve had a lot of support and help from other players, I’ve had a lot of great examples of what it seems to be a leader on this team. So I do feel like it kind of developed naturally for me just with getting more experience.
“That development happened naturally, which has been nice. It’s definitely different. But you know, I remember what it was like to be in my first camp. It’s always great to have people guiding you, talking to you, making sure that you understand what’s going on. So if I can be that for someone else, I definitely try to be.”
And perhaps that embodies the legacy of players such as Morgan, Rapinoe, Naeher and countless others the most. The willingness to take players under your wing and shape them into players that can do the same for those that come after them. It’s something that they learned from players before them, and will be passed down for generations to come.
“It did kind of feel like they would be here forever. But I know that’s not possible,” Girma said. “And I think for us, getting to be with them for two years – other players longer – and getting to play underneath them, you kind of inherit some of those qualities and you understand what it takes to be a member of this team and a leader on this team.”