Sophia Smith (footballer, born 1978)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sophia Antonia Smith[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 18 November 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Houston, Texas, United States | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–2001 | Cornell Big Red | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2004 | Houston Stars | ||
| International career | |||
| 2004 | Greece | 31 (?) | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Sophia Antonia Smith (Greek: Σοφία Σμιθ; born 18 November 1978) is a retired footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in the United States, she was a member of the Greece national team, having previously played for Cornell University and the Houston Stars.
College career[edit]
Smith played for the Cornell Big Red women's soccer team as a striker noted for her speed.[2] During her junior year in 1999, she was the leading scorer on the team, with seven goals and four assists.[3] She lettered for three years, for a college career total of nine goals and seven assists, including two game-winning goals for Cornell.[3] She was unable to return to competition for her senior year due to an invasive knee surgery for a torn ACL, sustained during the previous year's season finale against Yale.[2][4][3]
Club career[edit]
Smith played for the Houston Stars in the Women's Professional Soccer League and the Houston Women's Soccer Association in the United States.[5][6]
International career[edit]
Smith played for Greece in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens as a midfielder, taking a leave of absence from her final semester of law school to train with the national women's team,[7] which automatically qualified for the competition as the Olympic hosts.[3] She was one of eight American players of Greek ancestry on the team who had college soccer experience.[7] Due to the Greek Soccer Federation's sensitivity about players on the team with American-sounding surnames, her jersey simply read "Sophia".[7] On August 11, 2004, she started in Greece's opening match against the United States, which was won 3–0 by Team USA.[3]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Olympic Football Tournaments Athens 2004 – Teams: Greece". FIFA. Archived from the original on 12 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ a b "Aspirations Remain Firm in Face of Injuries". The Cornell Daily Sun. September 8, 2000. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
- ^ a b c d e "Cornell grad plays for Greece". The Ithaca Journal. August 12, 2004. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Women's Soccer Get One Final Opportunity". The Cornell Daily Sun. November 3, 2000. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
- ^ Davis, Glenn (August 8, 2004). "Soccer Notebook: Copa de Tejas leaves lasting memory". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
- ^ "Olympic Women's Football Tournaments Athens 2004 – Squad List: Greece (GRE)". FIFA. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- ^ a b c Whiteside, Kelly (August 11, 2004). "Kicking off a future? ; Greek women want to mimic U.S. success". USA Today. Retrieved 2023-07-22 – via ProQuest.
External links[edit]
- Sophia Smith v. Abby Wambach (Associated Press photo)
- Sophia Smith v. Julie Foudy (Chicago Tribune photo)
- Sophia Smith – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Sophia Smith at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- Sophia Smith at Olympics.com
|  | |
- 1978 births
- Living people
- Women's association football midfielders
- Greek women's footballers
- Greece women's international footballers
- Olympic footballers for Greece
- Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- American women's soccer players
- Soccer players from Houston
- American people of Greek descent
- Sportspeople of Greek descent
- Cornell Big Red women's soccer players