Every USA soccer fan watched in silence as the game against Germany reached overtime on Tuesday. Team USA hadn’t recovered from the horrors of the past since the last time they won gold was in 2012. Will they have to face another disappointment? The answer was no. And much credit for it goes to Sophia Smith. In such a tough moment, Smith held onto her nerves and scored a goal against Germany that helped the red, white, and blue take an unassailable lead. And the voices of victory again engulfed the atmosphere. Taking cognizance of the same balling personalities such as Dawn Staley, and Paige Bueckers jumped in joy which also echoed the sentiments of a million Americans.

Staley took to the social media networking platform X to amplify the message that Team USA was going for the gold. “@USWNT LET’S FREAKING GOOOOO FOR THE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!,” Staley stated.

Notably, Smith had won hearts as the 4x gold medal winners looked to end their dry spell. And that too against a country that had won the gold medal in 2016. Team USA star Mallory Swanson made a brilliant pass to Smith who made sure that the assist counted. Taking note of the opportunity, Smith deceived Germany’s Felicitas Rauch and advanced towards the goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger. While Berger jumped towards Smith, the latter kicked the ball in the goal which helped Team USA secure a 1-0 lead.

The last time Smith had proved useful for her team was during the 2024 SheBelieves Cup when she had scored two goals in the final. The match had gone onto the penalty shootout which had Team USA proving their mettle. Similarly, the 23-year-old had scored another goal against Canada during the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup, which brought her to the limelight in the mainstream media. And with this performance on Tuesday, she justified her selection in the Olympics. Meanwhile, Paige Bueckers too had a much similar reaction to Staley.

Paige Bueckers lauds Team USA

As for the University of Connecticut Huskies star Paige Bueckers, she too tweeted- “LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO @USWNT.” Looks like Bueckers is watching the Olympics as intently as Staley. Though Bueckers didn’t declare for the WNBA draft which negated all her chances of making it to the team in this year’s Olympics, nonetheless she supported her country as a fan when it was needed the most.

Bueckers also retweeted a snap of Smith celebrating after the win that was originally shared by the USA Women’s soccer national team’s handle. Surely, Bueckers is utilizing the best of her time in cheering for her compatriots.

Hopefully, Bueckers and Staley will get more chances to cheer for their team as the USA will battle against the winner of Spain vs Brazil for gold. Hopefully, this will be a turning point in USA’s soccer as more budding athletes will pick up the sport.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.