Spanish striker Esther González should ‘take a bow’ for adding to NWSL’s international appeal

The ability to step away from a profession to attend to a family is a privilege in any industry — and in women’s football, where players have historically been so underpaid that few could seriously consider such a luxury, all the more so.We do not need to know the specific factors that drove the decorated Spanish forward Esther González’s decision to step away from Gotham FC to appreciate what she brought to the National Women’s Soccer League in the three years she spent there.Esther was an entertaining, crafty goalscorer who had a magical way of showing up in some of Gotham’s biggest games. She embraced the role of a villain, taunting opponents with earned bravado to bring texture to a league that could still do with more good-natured pettiness.(It takes a certain degree of audacity to point to your own jersey number after scoring a goal at Audi Field, home of the Washington Spirit — let alone in a semifinal match, as Esther did, even if Gotham ultimately lost the game on penalties.)Gotham striker Esther Gonzalez never shied away from celebrating her goals. (Brad Smith / Getty Images)Add in her more tangible achievements: a 2023 World Cup trophy with Spain, and two NWSL Championships, a Concacaf W Champions Cup and a Challenge Cup with Gotham, plus a handful of Spanish trophies with the clubs she played with at the start of her career. The response to her mutual contract termination with Gotham, announced Monday by the club, is clear.In this week’s “Three Words,” a weekly column that takes key players, teams, and moments in global women’s soccer and boils them down to three words, we give her her flowers.Esther González, take a bow.Gotham’s announcement of Esther’s signing on Aug. 23, 2023 — three days after winning the World Cup with Spain — was, in hindsight, the dawn of a new era for the NWSL’s international class. The transfer took place seven months before the league increased the number of international roster spots afforded to each club from five to seven, allowing a minimum of 28 more players from outside the U.S. to join the league.