For most young players, blending into a seasoned team takes time. But not for USWNT‘s prodigy defender Naomi Girma. Being surrounded by the likes of experienced players like Alyssa Naeher who has been with the team for more than a decade now, has helped Naomi perfectly gel into the team. She sang the praises for Alyssa on how she guided her transition into the team and felt fortunate to have someone as good as Alyssa backing her.

The 24-year-old who had a year to remember for winning the prestigious Olympics gold medal in Paris and being nominated for the Best FIFA Women’s Player award, had high praise for her national teammate Alyssa Naeher, who has decided to hang up her boots soon.

While talking to FIFA, Girma said, “Having Alyssa as a guiding voice behind me really helped me transition into the team. Just knowing you have someone so good behind you always makes you feel more confident.”

Like every soccer fan, Nay is also going to miss USWNT’s big wall- “It’s crazy how good she still is going into international retirement! Off the field, she is a great human being. She has embodied what it means to be a US women’s national team player.”

Alyssa Naeher, who is also nominated for the Best FIFA Award in the goalkeeper category for her heroics in the Olympics has been a pillar for the USWNT for almost a decade now. The Chicago Red Stars player has decided to call it a day for the national team while still being available at the club level. A calm player, composed even in the tightest situations and always being there for her teammates has earned her the nickname, ‘Uncle’ from them!

Meanwhile, who will answer the call in goal after Alyssa? Emma Hayes has something to say.

All praises for Alyssa Naeher’s longevity, Coach Hayes addresses who’s stepping up next in the net

Emma Hayes had nothing but genuine applause for Alyssa Naeher, terming her the “Greatest Goalkeeper” the country has ever produced post the team’s 2-1 win over the Netherlands.

“What I did say to her yesterday, in my opinion, she is the greatest goalkeeper this country has ever had for a lot of reasons,” said Hayes on Naeher who made a total of 6 saves while letting the ball go past her only once in her final match for the national team. Alyssa bid farewell to the team with many major laurels to her name including FIFA Women’s World Cup winner in 2015 and 2019, Olympic gold in 2024, bronze in 2020, and CONCACAF Women’s Championship wins in 2018 and 2022 to her name while being named in CONCAFAF W Gold Cup Best XI in 2024.

Emma Hayes appreciated Alyssa’s contribution to the team but also talked about the obvious question, “Who is the next in line?” USWNT would be looking to fill the void and looking at the young talents it would be quite a challenge for them. With plenty of young talents like Casey Murphy, Jane Campbell, and Phallon Tullis-Joyce it would be exciting to see who prospers and becomes the perfect heir.

Hayes added talking about the future, “Over the next year, we’ll have to go through a period of figuring out who the next number one will be. It’s exciting, but it’ll take time”, also hinting at the lack of experience and how the team would tackle this issue.

Emma is quite confident about the squad’s depth looking at the potential replacements and it will be quite interesting to watch who puts in the extra mile and fills the void perfectly.