World Football

Not all braces are created equally.

USWNT star defender Naomi Girma has become a fixture in the team's starting 11 and is one of the best defenders in the sport, but despite that fact had never scored an international goal. That came to an end on Wednesday night.

The American star scored not one, but two goals in the USWNT's 3-0 drubbing of Argentina.

An Aldana Cometti own-goal provided the game's remaining tally.

Yes, Girma's first goal was aided by a clear miscommunication between Argentina goalkeeper Solana Pereyra and one of her defenders. The second goal was pure class, however, and USWNT fans and pundits alike were thrilled to see Girma open her international account and double it in the same evening, especially in the wake of her Ballon d'Or snub:

Girma is arguably the best center-back the women's game has to offer and helped lead the USWNT to a gold medal this summer, so eyebrows were raised around the sport when she wasn't even named to the Ballon d'Or shortlist of 30 nominees for the women's player of the year award.

USWNT head coach Emma Hayes—who said in August that Girma is "the best defender I've ever seen" in August—referenced the snub on Tuesday while speaking on the Ballon d'Or ceremony and the women's game in general.

"Yes, we could sit here all day and say Girma should be there—which she should—so for that reason, we're still not getting all of those things right in the women's game," she told reporters. "But recognizing the talent of our players on the world stage is something that I know our players are extremely proud of, so really good all round for us."

Hayes won the inaugural Ballon d'Or for best women's coach, while five USWNT players—forward Sophia Smith (fourth in the voting), midfielder Lindsey Horan (fifth), forward Mallory Swanson (sixth), forward Trinity Rodman (ninth) and goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher (17th)—were on the shortlist of 30 nominees. Spain and Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmatí won the award for the second straight year.

Girma was undoubtedly snubbed. She had her own unique response to that disrespect on Wednesday night with her impressive brace.

The United States women's national team concludes its three-game October international window on Wednesday against Argentina at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky.

Emma Hayes' side has produced back-to-back 3-1 wins over Iceland in the last week to move its winning streak to eight games.

Wednesday marks the final USWNT game on home soil in 2024 for the Olympic champions.

The Americans finish up their 2024 slate with a trip to Europe to face England and the Netherlands in late November and early December.

The focus for Wednesday's clash with Argentina will be fine-tuning the many things that have gone right under Hayes and to start a new shutout streak after two straight games with a concession for just the second time this year.

USWNT vs. Argentina Info

Date: Wednesday, 30 October

Start Time: 7 p.m. ET

TV: TNT

Live Stream: Max

Storylines to Watch

The October international window has gone as well as the Americans hoped it would.

They produced three goals in each win over Iceland, and in the process, Hayes handed out some international debuts to a handful of new players called up.

You could argue that the only negative is the concession of one goal in each game against Iceland.

The USWNT entered October with a three-game shutout streak and 12 total clean sheets in 2024.

One of those shutouts came against Argentina in the Concacaf W Gold Cup in February, The Americans won that meeting 4-0.

The USWNT has controlled all three of its matches with South American opposition in 2024. It outscored Argentina, Colombia and Brazil by an 8-0 margin, a stat that goes in line with the program's history against teams from that continent.

The Americans have won 20 of their last 21 games against foes from CONMEBOL, per U.S. Soccer.

More squad rotation is expected from Hayes to keep her players fresh at the end of a rare three-games-in-one-week run of friendly matches.

Sophia Smith and Lynn Williams will likely go back to starting roles up top after appearing as substitutes on Sunday, The same goes for Rose Lavelle in midfield after her night off. Lindsey Horan only played a half at the weekend, so she could go from the beginning in Louisville as well.

Wednesday's game may have the most meaning to forward Emma Sears, who is the only player on the USWNT roster from the NWSL's Racing Louisville. She scored in her first international appearance at the weekend and should receive some minutes in front of her home crowd.

Argentina has not met the high standard of the top teams in the world in 2024. It fell to Brazil 5-1 to go along with its 4-0 loss to the USWNT.

The South Americans are the 33rd-ranked team in the FIFA women's rankings, 32 spots behind the USWNT, who are expected to produce another multi-goal win in this stretch of October friendlies.

Prediction: USWNT 3, Argentina 0

Manchester City's Rodri is the 2024 Men's Ballon d'Or award winner after a phenomenal season.

The midfielder won trophies for both his club and his country this year. He and Manchester City won their fourth-straight Premier League in May before Rodri helped lead Spain to victory at Euro 2024.

While it was a special night for Rodri, it was a frustrating one for Real Madrid's Vinícius Júnior, who was arguably Rodri's biggest challenger for the coveted award. After the snub, fans and teammates of Vinícius voiced their support for the star.

As Rodri took home the Ballon d'Or, Vinícius' Madrid was honored as the team of the year as it won both LaLiga and Champions League last season. Across his time with Madrid and Spain, Vinícius won 74 games in a row from March 2023 to May 2024.

His success with Madrid and Spain led many to believe Vinícius would hear his name called on Monday, but instead, Rodri was awarded his first Ballon d'Or.

According to ESPN, Vinícius refused to travel to Paris after learning he wouldn't take home the award. Eight of his teammates who were nominated for other awards followed him in not attending.

While some fans called his win over Vinícius a snub, Rodri relished taking home one of the most prestigious awards in the game.

"A very special day, for me, my family and my country," Rodri said. "I understand that because I have no social media, people don't know me much. I am just a normal guy. I enjoy the sport, I enjoy my profession. And I try to be a good person. I am a very calm person."

Though he was recognized for his success last season on Monday, Rodri won't get to enjoy the same success this year as he's expected to miss the entire campaign due to surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament.

Manchester United announced it sacked manager Erik ten Hag a day after suffering a 2-1 defeat to West Ham United in the Premier League.

"We are grateful to Erik for everything he has done during his time with us and wish him well for the future," the club said.

Red Devils legend Ruud van Nistelrooy, who joined Ten Hag's staff at the start of the season, will take over as the interim manager.

Sporting CP coach Ruben Amorim "has emerged as the leading contender" to replace Ten Hag, per ESPN's Rob Dawson.

"The Sporting CP coach is aware of the interest, according to the source, as are his club, with United attempting to move quickly to name a new permanent manager after appointing Ruud van Nistelrooy as caretaker manager," Dawson wrote.

Ten Hag's fate was pretty much sealed in the summer, when Manchester United openly courted other candidates before ultimately sticking with him. It's tough for a manager to come back from being undermined to that degree.

The hiring of Van Nistelrooy did Ten Hag few favors, too. In the retired striker, the supporters had a clear alternative they could rally around if United got off to a slow start.

The managerial change is fully justified. Manchester United is 14th in the league table after finishing eighth last season. The club has opened the Europa League with three straight draws as well, so making a deep run in a winnable competition is far from assured.

The question is whether sacking Ten Hag actually solves anything.

The arrival of Jim Ratcliffe as a minority stakeholder seemingly promised change at Old Trafford. Despite only assuming 25 percent of the club's ownership, Ratcliffe and INEOS gained significant control over the football-related decisions.

The early returns of the Ratcliffe era aren't encouraging as it resembles the sort of listlessness and lack of direction that steadily settled under the Glazer family's ownership.

United not only retained Ten Hag but also backed him to the tune of €200 million-plus in transfer spending. Around €60 million of that went to two players (Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui) signed because of their familiarity with the manager from his time at Ajax.

It took Ratcliffe and INEOS nine Premier League matches to decide Ten Hag wasn't the right fit after all. In the meantime, Manchester United watched Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel, two experienced managers linked with the club in the summer, take national team jobs.

Van Nistelrooy will presumably have every opportunity to prove he's worthy of the job on a permanent basis. He should benefit from the fact things can't possibly get much worse than they are right now.

But the underlying problems at Manchester United might be far too large for any one manager to address.

For about 70 minutes, Iceland was causing the United States enough problems to evoke memories of the classic 1990s film D2: The Mighty Ducks, aka the last time a team from Iceland proved to be such a thorn in the side of a group of American athletes.

Indeed, the USWNT trailed Iceland for a huge chunk of Sunday's friendly after Karólína Lea Vilhjálmsdóttir gave the visitors a 1-0 lead 31 minutes into the match.

But Lynn Williams pulled the United States even in the 72nd minute, Lindsey Horan provided the winner just minutes later and Emma Sears made it three in stoppage time, as the Americans beat Iceland for the second straight friendly by a 3-1 margin.

It was the second straight match between the countries that Iceland kept things interesting. During Thursday's friendly, the two countries were tied at a goal apiece until Jaedyn Williams (85th minute) and Sophia Smith (88th minute) gave the United States a 3-1 victory.

This time around, Williams and Horan were the heroes, and social media gave both the duo their flowers:

On paper, the stats will suggest the United States dominated this game. The Americans held 64.7 percent of possession, outshot Iceland by a massive 17-4 margin (5-3 on goal) and held six corners to just one for their counterparts.

But at least through the first half, it didn't feel like a dominant display. Iceland played disciplined and with resolve, and while its lead went against the run of play, it didn't necessarily feel undeserved.

But the United States showed grit of its own, yet again maintaining its composure for the full 90 minutes and finding a way to yet again break down Iceland late in the contest. It is a promising sign to see the United States put together two strong performances off the back of its Olympic gold medal over the summer, even without a full-strength group and some players starting out of position.

The Hayes era has gotten off to about the best start possible. The future for the USWNT appears to be very bright under its new manager.

The MLS' Philadelphia Union announced Saturday that goalkeeper Holden Trent died at the age of 25.

After starring collegiately at High Point University, Trent joined the Philadelphia Union last season.

Although Trent did not appear in any matches for the Union during the 2023 campaign, he did make five starts for Philadelphia Union II, which is the Union's MLS Next Pro league team.

While details of Trent's death were not made public Saturday, Philadelphia Union II head coach Marlon LeBlanc was asked about Trent's status on Friday.

During a press conference, LeBlanc acknowledged a post made on Trent's Instagram Story that stated Trent had been admitted to the intensive care unit at a hospital:

LeBlanc did not provide any information on Trent's condition, but he did offer his prayers and best wishes to Trent and his family.

The Philadelphia Union II are scheduled to play a match against Crown Legacy FC on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET.