Ballon d’Or misses mark with timing … again. Plus, a breakout USWNT star?

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Hopefully, you’re being celebrated today. Emily Olsen here with Jeff Rueter and Meg Linehan. We’re on the road, too. Steph Yang is on her way home from the U.S. game in Nashville, while Melanie Anzidei has landed in Louisville for the final U.S. game of the window — welcome to Full Time!

We also recommend you listen to “Full Time Review,” where we recap the weekend’s NWSL action in 15 minutes or less every Monday.

It’s still an international window. If you somehow missed that, don’t worry, the Ballon d’Or organizers did too.

On Monday, actress Natalie Portman presented Barcelona and Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmatí with a second consecutive Ballon d’Or, an annual award presented by the magazine of France Football since 1956 … to men. Women have only been included in the award, which says it names the bests in the soccer world, since 2018. And we’d like to celebrate Steph, who was the U.S. women’s representative in voting.

But once again, the award ceremony was held during a women’s international break, which meant that many of the nominated players and coaches were unable to attend.

Chelsea and England defender Lucy Bronze chose to miss the ceremony despite her nomination so that she wouldn’t jeopardize her international standing. She explained her decision to ITV Football this week:

And she’s not alone. Only eight of the 30 nominees on the women’s side attended the ceremony this year (seven did so last year).

While the men also get to honor the best young player, goalkeeper and top scorer, there aren’t equivalent distinctions for women. There has also been criticism of the shortlist of players through the years. This year, USWNT’s top defender, Naomi Girma, was left off the list. Despite helping lead the U.S. to a gold medal at the Olympics, she was not among the five U.S. players nominated.

Four of the U.S. players nominated (Alyssa Naeher, Lindsey Horan, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith) are in Louisville preparing for a game against Argentina on Wednesday, while the fifth, Trinity Rodman, continues to work back from injury. U.S. head coach Emma Hayes, who won for coach of the year, was also unable to celebrate in Paris.

While the October window was designated as a time to celebrate the USWNT’s gold medal, it’s also the perfect time for Hayes to test out younger, and at times newer, faces. The U.S. coach preemptively cautioned that change was coming and style of play could be “choppy,” but turns out there was little to worry about. The players are getting up to speed with ease. 

Angel City FC forward Alyssa Thompson, 19, returned to the lineup and scored her first goal for the U.S. against Iceland on Thursday, while two other newbies stepped up Sunday. Steph was at the Americans’ 3-1 win over Iceland in Nashville:

“The U.S. struggled against Iceland in the first half of their second friendly, and not every configuration looked smooth (particularly the Sam Coffey-Korbin Albert-Olivia Moultrie midfield). But the players responded well to halftime changes, including Racing Louisville rookie Emma Sears, who came on and recorded an assist and goal in her debut. On the other end of the pitch, defender Emily Sams had a good debut, even as the team shifted to three in the back to get more aggressive going forward.”

The U.S. closes the window against Argentina on Wednesday in Louisville.

Given the proud litany of stars who have played for the USWNT, being the fourth player in program history to notch any achievement is a full-fledged milestone. On Sunday, Sears did just that with her goal and assist in her debut.

So, who is Sears?

When Racing Louisville head coach Bev Yanez announced she’d miss a match in July after her miscarriage, the instant reaction from the NWSL community was sympathy and support. But her decision to share that news with the public reaches far beyond the NWSL.

Miscarriages are isolating for many reasons — even while they are far more common than most realize. Yanez, through sharing her story, found out that so many others have experienced the same pain. She opened up a conversation by sharing, and it has carried on with fans in Louisville and across NWSL stadiums as people seek her out to share their own struggles.

Yanez opened the conversation with me as well. My wife Marjorie and I had found out we were pregnant at the end of June after months of trying. We had our first scans. We could see the fluttering of a tiny, just-formed heart on the screen. Right after I got back from the Olympics, we went in for our first OB-GYN appointment. They tell you they want to be wrong when they’re looking so desperately for a heartbeat, but they weren’t.

We knew, after it happened, that we weren’t alone. We had space to grieve, and we had friends who supported, distracted and loved us — but there was no world where we could pretend like it hadn’t happened. (Marjorie wrote an entire essay.)

The work of normalizing discussions and education around pregnancy loss is ongoing, and Yanez has stepped up once again — leading a fundraiser with Racing and Kentucky Fertility Institute to support the national infertility nonprofit Resolve, and sharing her story.

A quartet of bona fide contenders headlined this year in NWSL, but the regular-season finale will shift the spotlight to the middle of the table. Here’s Jeff Rueter on where to fix your gaze this weekend:

Holding on to summer: KC Current took home their first trophy of the season with a 2-0 win over Gotham FC in the Summer Cup final. If you’re confused, it’s OK — it’s not supposed to make sense. The league’s inaugural competition with Liga MX Femenil mostly played out during the Olympic break, but for some reason, the final was played last Friday. You’ll never guess who scored both goals … (yes, of course, it was Temwa Chawinga).

Wild Friday night: England faced Germany in a particularly chaotic friendly on Friday, with the Germans going up three goals on the Lionesses in 30 minutes. The game ended 4-3 in Germany’s favor as both teams look toward Euro 2025 preparations.  broke it down on today’s “Full Time Review.”

Coaching changes: In NWSL, the Utah Royals secured their head coach through 2027, signing interim Jimmy Coenraets to the full-time role. Meanwhile, Arsenal Women might be close to signing their next manager.

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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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