Five years after her World Cup debut, Tierna Davidson is finally a locked-in USWNT starter

HARRISON, N.J. — When a then-20-year-old Tierna Davidson made the 2019 U.S. women’s soccer World Cup team, it caused a bit of a stir.

When she then started the Americans’ second group game of that tournament — and took their corner kicks, an honor usually bestowed on a veteran — it was a sign to watch her.

Plenty of people already had, since Davidson made her senior U.S. debut the year before. The Stanford product had long been seen as a big-time centerback prospect, and it didn’t take long for her to start showing why: steely play, a cerebral demeanor, and being left-footed when many centerbacks aren’t.

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So it was no surprise that Davidson remained a U.S. regular heading into the 2021 Olympics, where she started four games. At that point, she seemed a natural heir to the lineage of U.S. centerbacks who played shutdown defense so the attacking superstars could flourish.

In March 2022, that upward path turned sideways. Davidson suffered an ACL tear, and didn’t play another game for a year and five days.

When she finally returned, it didn’t take her long to look like her old self, including in an April 2023 national team game that was one of the last before the World Cup. But it wasn’t enough to make the tournament. Vlatko Andonovski preferred moving Julie Ertz to centerback and taking Alana Cook as depth.

This year, Davidson is back on the big stage. She’s on the Olympic team, is starting under new manager Emma Hayes, and seems primed to stay there.

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Davidson’s omission from the World Cup team surprised some outsiders — and stung her, after how hard she’d worked to get back in the race.

“I mean, of course it does,” she said. “You work day in and day out to make these big rosters, to be able to represent the team, to go to these tournaments. So yeah, of course it did.”

She added that she wasn’t “entirely surprised” and “understood the reality of the situation.” But it would only be natural to feel that pain and perhaps even for it to linger.

“It is always difficult when you want something so badly and you don’t get it,” she said. “But that’s also part of the game.”

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It felt crystallized in late June of that year, when Davidson was at Red Bull Arena as a visitor with the Chicago Red Stars for Gotham FC’s World Cup send-off game. The home team hosted a ceremony for both teams’ departing players from a range of countries, eight of them in all.

Davidson could only watch, and many also knew what could have been.

Nine months later, she was back at Red Bull Arena, this time on the other side of the field. Davidson was one of Gotham’s quartet of big offseason signings, along with U.S. colleagues Crystal Dunn, Rose Lavelle, and Emily Sonnett.

And out of all of them — plus incumbents Lynn Williams, Midge Purce, and Spanish World Cup champion Esther González — Davidson has been the team’s most frequent captain this year. That’s another sign of her mix of tangibles and intangibles.

“I feel very proud of myself for the journey that I’ve been on, really, the past two years,” Davidson said. “I’m proud of where I am right now, but I’m also proud of every day that’s happened over the past few years. It’s something that hasn’t been easy for me, but it’s part of the journey, it’s part of the job, it’s what you sign up for when you decide to become a professional athlete.”

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Davidson’s case to start is bolstered by who starts next to her. She’s known Naomi Girma not just since they were Stanford teammates (though they didn’t play together), but in growing up in the same part of the Bay Area. That makes for obvious chemistry, and Davidson’s left-side role complements Girma’s on the right.

In fact, there were quite a few calls before the World Cup to have Davidson and Girma be the starter as soon as possible.

But for all that went wrong in New Zealand and Australia, Andonovski’s back line bet mostly didn’t. The Americans gave up just one goal in their four games Down Under, and Girma shot to stardom.

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Now the time for a Davidson-Girma partnership seems to have finally arrived. It’s taken long enough, but it’s far from too late with Davidson 25 years old and Girma 24.

“I have waited for it for a long time — I think a lot of people have,” Davidson said. “I feel like our partnership is very natural. I really enjoy playing with her. She’s such an intelligent and calm player, and I feel like we think similarly.”

Girma is just as excited.

“It’s been awesome,” she said. “She’s a great player, she’s a great leader, she’s a great communicator on the field, so playing with her has been great. And I think this year, getting to get a run of games together has been really nice leading into the tournament, being able to train together [and] build those relationships.”

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Times listed are Philadelphia time. All of NBC’s video streaming of the Olympics is available free with pay-TV provider authentication at NBCOlympics.com, or via subscription on Peacock.

Thursday, July 25: Group stage vs. Zambia at Nice, France (3 p.m., USA Network, Universo, Peacock)

Sunday, July 28: Group stage vs. Germany at Marseille, France (3 p.m., USA Network, Telemundo 62, Peacock)

Wednesday, July 31: Group stage vs. Australia at Marseille (1 p.m., E!, Universo, Peacock)

Saturday, Aug. 3: Quarterfinal at Paris if group winner (9 a.m., E!, Telemundo 62, Peacock); Marseille if runner-up (1 p.m., Telemundo 62, Peacock); or Lyon (11 a.m., E!, Universo, Peacock) or Nantes (3 p.m., English TBD, Universo, Peacock) if a third-place qualifier

Tuesday, Aug. 6: Semifinal at Lyon if group winner or runner-up (E!, Universo, Peacock); or Marseille if a third-place qualifier (3 p.m., English TBD, Universo, Peacock)

Friday, Aug. 9: Bronze-medal game at Lyon (9 a.m., USA Network, Telemundo 62, Peacock)

Saturday, Aug. 10: Gold-medal game at Paris (11 a.m., USA Network, Telemundo 62, Peacock)

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