Sophia Smith was shown a red card in gloriously weird fashion on Saturday night, as the Portland Thorns beat the North Carolina Courage 1-0.
Smith’s first career red card involved not one, but two yellow cards for time wasting — the second of which came in a moment of pure slapstick.
The U.S. women’s national team star had given her side the lead at Providence Park with a 79th-minute penalty kick. With Portland holding onto a late 1-0 advantage, Smith was shown a yellow card in the 89th minute for kicking the ball away when play had been stopped.
Deep into stoppage time, Thorns head coach Rob Gale removed Smith from the match. From there, the weirdness truly began.
A ball went out of play on the sideline, which Smith quickly grabbed and attempted to hide under the bench. The forward clearly knew what she was doing, as she had a mischievous grin on her face as she attempted the soccer version of the hidden ball trick.
Referee Danielle Chesky was not amused by Smith’s antics, brandishing a second yellow card.
Sophia Smith’s 2nd yellow. Both her yellows were for time wasting 😭 pic.twitter.com/JF1yJiTTn4
— Women’s Footy 🏁 (@womenxfootball) June 9, 2024
Portland went on to win 1-0, but Smith will now be suspended for next week’s derby match against the Seattle Reign.
Not only will the Thorns be without Smith (pending appeal), but they may also be missing midfielder Sam Coffey, who was removed from Saturday’s game early with an injury.
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