PARIS, France — Ten seconds: That’s really all the time Tierna Davidson allowed herself to savor her World Cup debut Sunday. The U.S. took down Chile in group play 3-0 and Davidson played all 90 minutes at left back.
But it took 24 years – longer than Davidson has been alive – for a player as young as her to make a U.S. Women’s World Cup starting lineup. The 20-year-old is the first since Tiffany Roberts in 1995 to start a World Cup match for the U.S. And she’s only the sixth player younger than 21 to do so, joining the likes of Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Roberts and Holly Manthei.
“I think maybe the 10 seconds before the game started,” Davidson said. “I was looking around, and the stadium was packed, and there were a couple of chants kind of echoing throughout, and I was kind of like, ‘Oh, wow.’ But then after that, I was like, ‘game time.’” Davidson’s nonchalance is part of what has built her into the kind of player who can make a World Cup debut at 20 years old.
“She’s a very calm, cool customer,” said U.S. head coach Jill Ellis.
But the defender’s left foot was also responsible, at least on a secondary basis, for two-thirds of the U.S.’s scoring on Sunday. That kind of versatility can be tough to keep off a field, too.
Tierna Davidson looked like she had locked up a starting position for the USWNT before she tore an ACL in a college game. She decided for forego the rest of her college career (Stanford) and turn pro after that. She’s been slowly working back into shape. It will be hard to displace Crystal Dunn or Kelly O’Hara as an outside back, but anything can happen. Jill Ellis likes Dunn and O’Hara because she is committed to pushing the outside backs up into the attack. That is a risk against the stronger opponents, who have the speed to punish a gambling defense. Davidson and Ali Krieger are more conventional defenders and may see a lot of time once the competition gets serious. Which it will, starting now. From here on out, the U.S. will be facing teams that are fully capable, on any given day, of beating them.