Rebecca Smith (footballer)

Rebecca Katie Smith (born 17 June 1981) is an international footballer who played for New Zealand.

Rebecca Smith
Personal information
Full name Rebecca Katie Smith
Date of birth (1981-06-17) 17 June 1981
Place of birth Los Angeles, California, United States[1]
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Palos Verdes Breakers
South Bay Gunners
Fram-CQ Soccer Club
1995–1999 Chadwick School
1999–2003 Duke Blue Devils
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2004 Ajax America Women
2004 1. FFC Frankfurt
2005 FSV Frankfurt
2005–2008 Sunnanå SK
2008 Newcastle Jets
2009–2013 VfL Wolfsburg
International career‡
2003–2013 New Zealand 74 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 October 2013

Smith was a World Cup and Olympic footballer captaining the New Zealand women's national football team,[2] and culminating her club career winning The Triple with VfL Wolfsburg as UEFA Champions League, German League, and German Cup Winners up until her retirement in 2013.

Early life

Smith was born in Los Angeles, California to New Zealand parents and attended high school at Chadwick School in Palos Verdes, California and played soccer there during her first year.[3] She lettered in basketball, waterpolo and softball all years at Chadwick. She graduated in 1999 with the highest honor in her class, The Headmaster's Award.[4]

Football career

Smith captained NCAA Div 1 Duke University side and graduated with an Economics and Spanish degree before deciding to pursue her football career abroad, landing a professional contract in Germany with then European Champions, FFC Frankfurt.

Smith then played for the Sunnanå SK in Sweden and then Newcastle Jets in the inaugural W-League in Australia, before being signed by VfL Wolfsburg[5] on 2 February 2009.[6] While at VfL Wolfsburg, Smith helped the club win the coveted Treble (Triple), the Frauen-Bundesliga in 2012–2013, the UEFA Women's Champions League in 2012–2013 with a 1–0 win over Lyon in the finals, and the DFB Pokal as well as the Ladies First Cup in 2013 with a 2–0 win over Barcelona in the finals.

In 2013, she ended her career due to knee problems.[7]

International

Smith made her Football Ferns debut in a 15–0 victory over Samoa on 7 April 2003, and captained New Zealand at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup finals in China,[8] where they lost to Brazil 0–5, Denmark (0-2) and China (0-2).

Smith was also included in the New Zealand squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics where they drew with Japan (2-2) before losing to Norway(0-1) and USA (0-4).[9] Smith's solid performances in New Zealand's rearguard earned her a FIFA Women's World Player of the Year nomination in 2007 and New Zealand Player of the Year in 2007.[10] She was also named Oceania's Player of the Year twice in both 2011 and 2013.

Smith played her 50th international in a friendly against Australia on 12 May 2011.[11]

Smith captained New Zealand for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup finals in Germany.[12]

Smith again captained the New Zealand team that reached the quarter-finals at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[13]

On 18 September 2013, Smith announced her retirement from football.[14]

International goals
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.5 July 2011Rhein-Neckar-Arena, Sinsheim, Germany Mexico1–22–22011 FIFA Women's World Cup

Professional life

Smith is fluent in four languages; English, German, Spanish and Swedish. In 2013, she founded women's football consultancy firm Crux Sports, where she is currently its CEO.[15][16]

FIFA

When Smith retired from football, she transitioned into working at FIFA, managing their women's competitions.[17]

COPA90

Smith joined COPA90, in December 2018 as the Global Executive Director of Women's Game for COPA90.[18]

The Players Podcast

COPA90 launched The Players Podcast, with BBC, which Smith hosts and sits down with some of the biggest players and personalities in the sport and beyond to talk about topics through the lens of football but that go way beyond football.[18][19][20]

Optus Sport

Smith joined Optus Sport's hosting team, for their broadcast of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup which is being co-hosted in Australia and New Zealand. As part of the broadcast, she co-hosts a daily morning show called Daily Kick-Off during the tournament, and provides in-studio punditry for certain matches.[21]

Honours
VfL Wolfsburg
Individual

References
  1. "Rebecca Smith". Sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
  2. "Caps 'n' Goals, New Zealand Women's national representatives". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
  3. "Compass Fall 2011". Content.yudu.com. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  4. "Rebecca "Bex" Smith '99 Leads New Zealand Women's World Cup Team". Chadwickschool.org. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  5. "Bundesliga: Rebecca Smith wechselt zum VfL Wolfsburg". FOCUS Online. 1 February 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  6. "Frauenfuball 1. Bundesliga 2. Bundesligen Nord und Sd Wechselbersicht Winterpause 2009". Fansoccer.de. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  7. "Rebecca Smith und Eve Chandraratne verlassen Wolfsburg". Womensoccer.de. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  8. "New Zealand Squad List, 2007 Women's World Cup". FIFA. Archived from the original on 13 July 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
  9. "Olympic Football Squads Named". New Zealand Olympic Committee. 4 July 2008. Archived from the original on 5 July 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2008.
  10. "Hearn gets Football Ferns' greenlight". Stuff.co.nz. NZPA. 8 June 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  11. "Football Ferns drop first Aussie test". NZ Football. 13 May 2011. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  12. "New Zealand [Women] - Squad Women World Cup 2011 Germany". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  13. "Women". New Zealand Olympic Team. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  14. "Rebecca Smith announces retirement". NZ Football. 13 May 2011. Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  15. Bouchet, Camille (26 August 2019). "Rebecca Smith | The FBA". The-FBA. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  16. "Former New Zealand soccer captain Rebecca Smith on founding women's sports consultancy Crux Sports". www.sportsbusinessjournal.com. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  17. "Soccer: Football Ferns captain announces retirement". NZ Herald. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  18. Rollo, Phillip (12 December 2020). "Football Ferns legend Rebecca Smith goes behind the scenes with the biggest names in the women's game". Stuff. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  19. Burhan, Asif. "BBC And Copa90 Aim To 'Flip The Switch' On Women's Soccer With New Podcast 'The Players'". Forbes. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  20. "COPA90 appoint New Zealand legend Rebecca Smith as Global Executive Director of the Women's Game". Women in Football. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  21. "Optus Sport announces six new faces in FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™ team". sport.optus.com.au. 18 May 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  22. "Rebecca Smith - Player Profile - Football". Eurosport. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  23. "IFFHS WOMAN TEAM - OFC - OF THE DECADE 2011-2020". IFFHS. 31 January 2021.
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