A poignant reminder in Trinity Rodman's return. Plus: Blockbuster NWSL transfer

New York Times

20 hours ago

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Just when we thought things would slow down, women's soccer continued to deliver. Today:
😮 A blockbuster NWSL transfer
🥹 Rodman's emotional return
🤯 A scoreline you have to see to believe
Welcome to Full Time! Let's rewind to Friday first:
Blockbuster in Kansas City
Even beyond the transfer funds exchanged, which set a new NWSL record, Ally Sentnor's move to the Kansas City Current from Utah is a bona fide blockbuster. The 21-year-old is among the brightest rising stars on the USWNT, able to score audacious goals and help teams move upfield with determination.
Sentnor's move also serves as an incidental referendum on the former NWSL Draft. The league abolished its rookie draft ahead of the 2025 season, with Sentnor being the final No. 1 pick. Eighteen months later, she's already on to another club. This past offseason, college players had an open market to assess their fit and how quickly they'd get first-team minutes rather than having their club careers kick off without control over their destination.
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While Sentnor became the instant face of the Royals, a player with her ambition may have preferred to end up with a more stable club situation and an immediate path to annual contention — a team like Kansas City.
— Jeff Rueter
Two key returns to the pitch
I promise the back to school metaphor won't overstay its welcome in describing the NWSL's return to play after the long summer break. But between the slew of drowsy ties — four to be exact, between Chicago and Gotham, North Carolina and San Diego, Bay and Houston, and Orlando and Utah — and joyful returns of players we haven't seen on the pitch in a while, the parallels were too strong to ignore.
Let's start with Trinity Rodman's epic and emotional first minutes in almost four months, which happened while the Washington Spirit were hunting for a vibe-restoring home dub against the Portland Thorns yesterday.
brb watching this trinity rodman goal on repeat 🔁 pic.twitter.com/nvwZXPUZon
— National Women's Soccer League (@NWSL) August 3, 2025
Farther down the East Coast was another happy-cry moment: The return of Orlando Pride's Simone Charley, who hasn't played in two years after injuring her Achilles tendon on both legs, one in 2023 and one in 2024. She and Brazilian international Luana were removed from the Season-Ending Injury list over the weekend, and Charley immediately went into Impact Player Beast Mode when she subbed on in the 79th minute vs. Utah yesterday, nearly scoring a game winner.
— Tamerra Griffin
Rodman's return was the story of the NWSL this weekend, and it's crucial for a lot of reasons.
Most importantly, of course, is Rodman herself. The 23-year-old clearly went through a very emotional journey over the past few months, getting her body and mind right, grappling not just with recovering from this lingering back injury but understanding how to approach the game as a different player. Her quotes before the match and her reaction after scoring all showed the depth of the situation. It wasn't a new side to Rodman, as we all knew how seriously she takes this sport and the joy she finds in it, but those emotions were bigger than just her.
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She didn't shy away from them either, not on the field or on national TV. We should celebrate Rodman for being willing to be that vulnerable upon her return. We shouldn't have to remind people that these players are human, but a moment like this carries its own power.
From the NWSL point of view, Rodman's return and goal must have earned at least a handful of sighs of relief around the front office. Even as she works to regain full fitness, it's a narrative that has already broken out of the NWSL sphere. Rodman single-handedly guaranteed more coverage coming out of the summer break, even with all the storylines around the international players featured at the Euros, WAFCON and Copa America. Rodman's star power is currently the North Star for the NWSL, driving eyeballs, ratings, ticket sales, merchandise sales … you name it.
Ahead of the Spirit's win over Portland, Rodman promised: 'I'm still gonna be Trin.' She might have made some adjustments to her game, but Sunday's goal proved that even with those changes, she's still the exact same force on the field.
Unbelievable Copa final delivers
Rodman's return may have been the NWSL story of the weekend, but Saturday's Copa América Femenina championship was the match of the summer — an iconic display of the best of South American women's football. After a relentless 120 minutes and seven rounds of penalty kicks, Brazil overcame Colombia to lift its ninth Copa América title, sealing their place once again as the best team on the continent. The final score: Colombia 4 (4) – Brazil. 4 (5).
Yes, you read that right.
The most iconic moments came from 39-year-old Pride star Marta, with the Brazilian legend saving her team in the final minute of stoppage time with a beautiful goal that sent the final into extra time:
MARTA EQUALIZES IN STOPPAGE TIME 🤯
THE LEGEND HERSELF KEEPS BRAZIL ALIVE IN THE 2025 COPA AMÉRICA FEMENINA FINAL!!!! 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/XT29ZWUFcw
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 2, 2025
Then, another Marta goal in extra time upped the stakes, only for Colombia and Spirit midfielder Leicy Santos to respond by scoring off a free kick in the 115th minute, pushing the game into a tense round of penalties.
No matter if they played for Colombia or Brazil, the nine NWSL players who contributed to this historic finale will soon return to the league as heroes. There was Marta, Santos and Orlando's Angelina, but also Kansas City's Lorena, Gotham's Gabi Portilho, Louisville's Ary Borges and Angela Baron, San Diego's Daniela Arias and Utah's Ana Maria Guzman. They'll be offered time off, but it's possible we'll see them sooner than we'd expect (just ask Euros winner and Gotham defender Jess Carter).
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This tournament has us begging for more South American women's football magic. Sure, there were some valuable lessons learned. But we now have some exciting things on the horizon, like Conmebol's inaugural Nations League competition in October. This will serve as the qualifying route for South America's first World Cup, coming to Brazil in 2027.
— Melanie Anzidei
🎧 More on this game on the latest episode of the 'Full Time' podcast.
NWSL pressing to get fans in seats
As the NWSL returns from a midseason break that coincided with a summer packed with international women's tournaments, clubs across the league are rolling out aggressive strategies to win fans back and restore momentum heading into the fall.
With nearly 40 NWSL players starring in global competitions, teams are using that star power to fuel renewed interest at home. Washington is hitting the market with free ticket giveaways for first-time attendees. Gotham is capitalizing on Euro buzz by opening its upper bowl, offering player-themed promos, and piloting a NYC-area bus to its stadium. On the West Coast, Bay FC is chasing attendance records by relocating their game against the Spirit on Aug. 23 to an iconic MLB venue, Oracle Park, while North Carolina leans into summer heat with cooling stations and in-stadium credits.
The playbook is clear: marquee matchups, theme nights, creative promotions and community engagement are the most effective ways to reignite fan enthusiasm post-break.
— Asli Pelit
The NWSL is going with the rivalry weekend theme, though there are truly only three real rivalry games going on this weekend. All three should be a) fun to watch as a neutral, b) important for the standings and c) hopefully full of NWSL Chaos.
Try streaming these games for free on Fubo.
How did she do that?!: Yeah, we're still not over Lucy Bronze playing through the Euros with a broken tibia. Sarah Shephard considers how it was done, and the risks of playing with a major injury.
Good news for Boston: There's no deal in place yet, but there's potential for the Connecticut Sun to make a move up to Boston if the WNBA approves Steve Pagliuca's offer for the team. Pro women's soccer, basketball and hockey (and more) all in Boston within a couple of years? Stay tuned.
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