Becky Sauerbrunn for the UWNT. Photo credit: USWNT via Twitter.
The US Women’s National team captain and star centre back, Becky Sauerbrunn released a statement last week to reveal she would miss the upcoming Women’s World Cup this summer due to a foot injury.
The captain voiced, in an emotional statement that, “Heartbroken isn’t even the half of it. But that’s sport for you and that’s life, really”.
— Becky Sauerbrunn (@beckysauerbrunn) June 17, 2023
The upcoming World Cup in Australia and New Zealand was set to be Sauerbruun’s fourth World Cup and most likely her last. The stalwart defender has 216 caps for her country, a number that exhibits just how much of a vital part of this U.S. side she is.
Sauerbrunn was part of the squad that won the World Cup in 2015 and 2019, as well as achieving silver in 2011. She also boasts a 2012 London Olympics Gold and a 2020 Tokyo Olympics Bronze.
The defender currently plays for NWSL club Portland Thorns and suffered her foot injury with her club back in April. She cited that “there’s just too much variability in my return to play timeline” in her social media statement.
Sauerbrunn joins a U.S. injury list of Mallory Swanson, Sam Mewis and Catarina Macario who are all out with respective injuries leading into this major tournament.
Sauerbrunn did highlight that she would be supporting her teammates throughout their campaign and that she was confident they could bring home a fifth trophy.
The USA will face Wales in a pre-tournament friendly on the 9th July before heading off to their base in Auckland. The team will face Vietnam first on the 21st July before playing Netherlands and Portugal to round out Group E.
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