Naomi Girma’s first years of playing football took place in “a place where mistakes were allowed to happen”. Two decades after starting to discover the sport at “Maleda Soccer” gatherings in San Jose, California, Girma won a gold medal. Regarding Girma’s performance at the Paris Olympics, United States coach Emma Hayes said after the semi-finals: “She’s the best defender I’ve seen. Ever.” The midfielder has played all six of the US team’s matches and you would be hard-pressed to recall a single mistake from the 24-year-old. Even the statistics of two fouls committed in nearly 10 hours on the field are not reliable.Both were penalized by Moroccan referee Bouchra Karboubi in the semi-final against Germany.

Naomi Girma Golden Girma Hoodie

On 50 minutes, deep in the German half, Girma clearly beat Nicole Anyomi to the ball. Girma was violently attacked from behind and hit in the hip by the German striker but Karboubi blew the whistle on Girma for a violation. The replay was fascinating because of the way Girma kept his balance after Anyomi’s attack and jumped into position to play the ball. Clearly an error on Anyomi’s part and probably deserves a warning for reckless play. But Karboubi may have been fooled because Anyomi was the one who fell to the ground.