Christen Press has revealed she will need a fourth knee surgery in an emotional post on Instagram, saying she is at “the bottom.”
Press tore her ACL in June 2022 during an NWSL match with Angel City FC. In March, she posted an update on her Instagram account that indicated she was forced to undergo additional surgeries.
There was a more optimistic update from the U.S. national team forward in early May, when she said she was still holding out some hope that she could be fit for the World Cup roster.
Bur more than two months later, the 34-year-old has yet to return to the pitch. On Monday, she said that after previously providing updates when she thought she was nearing a return to the field, this update would be different.
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“I am here again, with recent news I need a fourth surgery. This time, I want to share how I’m doing from the bottom,” Press said.
“This month commences the World Cup. The USWNT’s first game will be exactly 13 months from my ACL repair to the day. Until the roster was announced, there wasn’t a day that passed over the last year that I didn’t believe I could be there. Even after three surgeries.
“Back in February, when my surgeon and physical therapist told me directly, as medical advice, to let go of that dream, I cried. I nodded. And I thought I processed that loss. But, I also decided not to speak that truth into existence. I felt that if I shared that with all of you, l’d be manifesting it into reality. So instead, I stayed quietly hopeful. You never know what could happen, l’d say. Crazier things have occurred, I told friends.”
Press offered a window into her mindset, saying that although she often doesn’t miss playing, it is still her dream to “climb the mountain” and return to the pitch again.
“For me, the hardest part of recovery has been that I feel misunderstood,” she said. “In fact, I feel un-understandable. I’m not anxious to get back on the field. My identity isn’t lost by not playing. Most days, I don’t even miss it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to get back. That I’m not working every second of every day to return to the pitch. That hard past is: I don’t know what it does mean.
“My days are mostly good. I’m working toward my goal. And despite the fact that, on paper, this is an athlete’s recovery-nightmare, I feel in my heart that to climb the mountain — yes, even one more time — is the dream.”
Press has not played for the USWNT since the Olympics in 2021. She has has 155 caps and 64 goals for the U.S. and was part of World Cup-winning teams in 2015 and 2019.
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