Social media reacts to Naomi Girma's performance in USWNT win vs. Germany

The United States women’s national soccer team on Tuesday advanced to the gold-medal match of the 2024 Paris Olympics with a 1-0 victory against Germany Tuesday in the tournament’s semifinals.

While it was Sophia Smith who broke a scoreless deadlock in extra time with a long-awaited goal, it was her former Stanford teammate who played just as big of a role in the hard-earned win.

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Naomi Girma is one of the brightest stars in American soccer, on the men’s or women’s side. She has only strengthened that lofty status at the Olympics, where she has anchored a USWNT back line that has allowed just two goals in five matches.

She was brilliant against Germany, routinely stifling potential scoring opportunities and turning away strikers who tried to beat her off the dribble or players who attempted to weave a pass by her. Over the course of the game and after the win was secured, a celebratory audience on social media was more than happy to gush over her performance.

Here’s a sampling of the praise Girma received on social media Tuesday as she helped her team take one step closer to its first Olympic gold medal since 2012:

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Social media reaction to Naomi Girma's performance vs. Germany

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Social media reacts to Naomi Girma's performance in USWNT win vs. Germany