Summer of Sophia Smith, Take 2: USWNT star crucial for Olympic run as she seeks redemption from 2023 World Cup

It all started so well.

Smith scored a brace against Vietnam while also providing an assist in a 3-0 win in the 2023 World Cup. After months of hype, Smith was immediately living up to it. This was the start she needed in her first international tournament; what would come next?

However, for Smith and the rest of the USWNT, it was all downhill from there.

She failed to score in the USWNT's final two group-stage matches and then played 120 minutes in the Round of 16 clash with Sweden. In the shootout, Smith stepped up ... and missed. She was one of three who failed to convert their spot kicks, leading to the USWNT's stunning elimination

"I just told her, the best players in the world miss PKs," captain Lindsey Horan said after the World Cup loss to Sweden. "It sucks. Absolutely sucks. But you got to remember, this is part of football. You get back up. And it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt, forever. ... Soph will get through it. She's strong. She's strong-willed. And she's one of the best players in the world right now, at her age. She's going to be perfectly fine."

For the first several years of Smith's career, a rocket had been strapped to her back. She'd dominated in the NWSL and, somewhat quickly, rose to prominence with the USWNT thanks to an 11-goal 2022 calendar year. By the time of the World Cup, she was just 21, and that tournament was far and away the biggest setback of her professional career.

For a while, it felt like Smith was wearing the weight of it, too.

"I learned a lot about myself," she told the Women's Game. "I learned how different types of pressures affect me, how I respond to those, what I need to listen to, what I need to let go in one ear and out the other. And just kind of how to navigate the outside world in big tournaments like that."

The months after the World Cup were, at best, up and down.

After missing the September camp altogether, Smith played 14 minutes in one game and 45 in another against Colombia in October. December camp saw her back on the scoresheet against China, but she still didn't look quite herself.

It wasn't until the USWNT's Gold Cup clash with Canada in March that Smith really seemed to rediscover her confidence. She scored in that semifinal match and then, perhaps more importantly, converted a penalty in the ensuing shootout win. It was essentially a signal: the World Cup was behind her.

Since then, she's scored four goals on the road to Paris this summer. She put two past Canada again in the SheBelieves Cup, scoring both of the USWNT goals in a 2-2 draw that ended as a 5-4 shootout win. She then scored against South Korea in June and Mexico in July.

It's starting to feel like she's back.

"I've said it before -- since the World Cup it's been a rollercoaster of emotions," she told ESPN after that Gold Cup turning point. "I'm a goal-scorer and I pride myself in that and so getting that goal for my team in a big moment like this really meant a lot to me.

"But it meant the most to me that I could help this team and progress us forward. A PK is not easy to step up and take one after the last one you took in a big tournament, [you] missed. And ultimately, we came short of what we want to do but I was confident in that moment of taking a PK and it feels good."

The USWNT is entering a new era, and Smith is set to be a key part of it. She's just on piece of the puzzle though, and Emma Hayes is the one assembling it.

Hayes finally took over as USWNT coach this summer after finishing out her duties with Chelsea. Following Vlatko Andonovski's inglorious exit, the federation took a big swing to bring in Hayes, widely seen as one of the best coaches, if not the best, in the game. That's why the U.S. waited. That's why they risked the Olympics a bit to make sure they got her on board.

"Anyone in the soccer world knows Emma Hayes," said Smith. "She's a legend and her resume speaks for itself. We all just trust her. Obviously trust is something you build. What she's done for the game and for the sport, we all trust her and are excited about her. I'm sure we'll learn a lot in the next week. We already have learned a lot in the first few days."

Smith is set to be a key figure at the Olympics, but the USWNT has to make an admission this summer: this group is far from a finished product. It's a young team, one led by several budding stars nowhere near their prime. And, given Hayes' short runway, expectations need to be tempered.

"The goal is to win a gold medal, but right now we have a new coach, we have a new system," Smith said. "The main goal and priority is the process and just learning and adapting and growing and taking each day as a chance to get better and grow with this group.

"We aren't really results-focused right now. It's more process-focused. I think with that results will come. But right now it's just about getting the group together, getting the chemistry going and, yeah, preparing us for the Olympics, but for the future after that, too."

Smith is the USWNT's primary goal hunter, but she's far from the only one. Last summer, Smith was shifted onto the wing to accommodate Alex Morgan at striker. This time around, Smith is part of a triple threat up top that should give anyone the USWNT faces headaches.

On one side is Trinity Rodman, who has taken a massive leap since last year. The Washington Spirit star is playing with confidence, running at and past players with ease during her USWNT appearances in recent months. Rodman, to put it lightly, is a different player than she was last year. Like Smith, she is better prepared for the spotlight.

On the other side is the returning Mallory Swanson. The Chicago Red Stars attacker is all the way back and has put her injury woes behind her. She was robbed of her chance at the 2023 World Cup and, now healthy, she seemed more ready than ever to lead the charge at the 2024 Olympics.

Rodman and Swanson will take pressure off of Smith, which will surely be appreciated. This isn't a one-woman show; it's a unit. All three can change a game and, particularly together, all three are capable of dominating an opponent.

Smith is the best goalscorer of the bunch but, make no mistake, the U.S. could get goals in bunches from all over the field during this Olympic run.

As the Olympics approach, there's synergy between player and team. Both Smith and the USWNT are deeply determined to put last summer behind them, and know that the process has already started. This is a new era, a fresh start, but the lessons remain.

Smith wasn't crowned last summer. Neither was the USWNT. Both player and team fell short of expectations, and that was unequivocally disappointing.

But this summer? It can all be about redemption. Both Smith and the USWNT are ready to prove that they are, in fact, among the best in the world.

"If a team going into the Olympics doesn't have a chip on their shoulder, there's a problem there," Smith said. "This team for so many years has set the standard, has been the best in the world, and that's what we want to continue on. We want to honor what this team has done before us, but we also want to set new standards and just be a different version of this team and be the best in the world."