Sophia Antonia Smith (Greek: Σοφία Σμιθ; born 18 November 1978) is a retired soccer player 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.
| 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 | |||
College career
editSmith 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. 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
editSmith 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
editSmith 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. 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
editReferences
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. 8 September 2000. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Cornell grad plays for Greece". The Ithaca Journal. 12 August 2004. Retrieved 22 July 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Women's Soccer Get One Final Opportunity". The Cornell Daily Sun. 3 November 2000. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- ^ Davis, Glenn (8 August 2004). "Soccer Notebook: Copa de Tejas leaves lasting memory". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- ^ "Olympic Women's Football Tournaments Athens 2004 – Squad List: Greece (GRE)". FIFA. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- ^ a b Whiteside, Kelly (11 August 2004). "Kicking off a future? ; Greek women want to mimic U.S. success". USA Today. ProQuest 409007858. Retrieved 22 July 2023 – 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