Reading FC defender confirms visa ahead of final friendly
The 21-year-old signed a new two-year deal after impressing last season, despite relegation from the Championship.
Scoring twice in 28 appearances, the speedy defender is yet to be involved in any warm-up matches due to awaiting visa clearance.
Now this is complete, the Senegal youth international could make his return to the field on Saturday against Swansea City.
Only 10 days remain until the League One campaign gets underway, with Peterborough United visiting Berkshire on August 5 for the Royals’ first third tier match for over 20 years.
He joins the likes of Charlie Savage and Lewis Wing as summer recruits yet to start a pre-season friendly following their arrivals.
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When Sophia Smith isn’t on the pitch for the Portland Thorns and the U.S. women’s national team, she’s probably making her way through a book.
As a kid growing up in Colorado, Smith, who scored twice in the U.S. squad’s 3-0 win over Vietnam in its World Cup opener, wasn’t a reader. The thought of having to read for school put her off it as a hobby, and there were other things to keep her occupied.
After she entered the NWSL in 2020 and became a professional, though, she found herself with more time. So she picked up Colleen Hoover’s “Reminders of Him,” a romance novel about a mother who comes to terms with her troubled past.
From there, books started to feature on her packing lists for road games and U.S. national team camps (usually one for a quick NWSL trip, and two or three for international duty).
“It just makes me happy,” Smith said. “I feel like reading is kind of my escape from reality. It helps my brain get out of the competitive soccer world and into a relaxed mode. Those books do it for me.”
She’s not alone. By several measures — from surging sales to the explosion of BookTok — reading is on the rise again. That holds true for the U.S. squad, which is seeking its third consecutive World Cup title.
For many players, reading is a way to pass the time on long road trips, find a calming escape in high-pressure environments and bond with teammates.
“When you’re out of practice and you’re out of meetings, the last thing you want to do is talk about soccer,” midfielder Ashley Sanchez said. “It is nice to be able to have something in common. Sometimes it’s, like, eight of us reading the same book at the same time.”
A glance at the U.S. roster for the World Cup shows a team with a wide range of ages, backgrounds and experience levels. Their reading interests also stretch across genres: romance, mystery, science fiction, nonfiction, motivational, historical fiction, memoir.
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