Tag: Kelley O’hara

Kelley O’Hara gets standing ovation after long-awaited return for Gotham FC

After nearly five months out with injuries, O’Hara’s return drew big cheers at Red Bull Arena

Kelley O’Hara made her long-awaited return to the pitch Monday night, and fans at Red Bull Arena were delighted to see the U.S. women’s national team legend back in action.

O’Hara received a standing ovation during NJ/NY Gotham FC’s 3-1 friendly loss to Chelsea as she replaced McCall Zerboni.

The action was O’Hara’s first of any kind since March 30, with ankle and knee injuries keeping the veteran on the sideline for Gotham ever since. In May, the 36-year-old announced that she would retire at the conclusion of the 2024 NWSL season.

A pre-game social media post from Gotham revealed that O’Hara would be in uniform against Chelsea. The two-time World Cup winner would enter the match in the 85th minute, with Zerboni handing O’Hara the captain’s armband as the pair hugged at midfield.

There are at least 15 matches ahead for O’Hara before she officially hangs up her boots. The Bats have 10 more NWSL regular-season games ahead, along with four games in the Concacaf W Champions Cup and October’s NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup final.

Gotham, in fourth place on 31 points, is comfortably on course to make the NWSL playoffs. With ninth-place Racing Louisville 15 points further back, it stands to reason that O’Hara will get a shot at winning the NWSL championship for a third time.

Watch the ovation for O’Hara’s return

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Morgan goes on Italian vacation with O’Hara after USWNT Olympic snub

The USWNT striker made the most of some unexpected down time.

Alex Morgan wanted to be in France right now, but it seems like Italy wasn’t a terrible backup option.

Morgan was left off the U.S. women’s national team Olympic roster, ending a ending a run of seven straight major tournaments with the national team.

While the USWNT touched down in France this week ahead of its Olympics opener against Zambia on Thursday, Morgan had some unexpected down time.

The San Diego Wave striker appeared to make the most of it, posting pictures on Instagram of a vacation to Italy alongside her husband Servando Carrasco, former USWNT star Kelley O’Hara and her partner Kameryn Stanhouse.

The group seemed to get plenty of quality boating time in, as well as enjoying city exploration and some of Italy’s gastronomic delights.

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NJ/NY Gotham FC defender O’Hara announced in May that she will retire at the end of the 2024 NWSL season.

While the NWSL takes a break from league play during the Olympics, the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup kicks off on Friday night.

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USWNT great Kelley O’Hara announces she will retire at end of 2024 season

The 35-year-old won two World Cups and one Olympic gold medal in her USWNT career

Kelley O’Hara, one of the pillars of the U.S. women’s national team over the past 15 years, has announced that she will retire at the end of the 2024 NWSL season.

The Gotham FC defender has amassed 160 caps during a decorated USWNT career, winning two World Cups (2015 and 2019) and an Olympic gold medal in 2012.

“It has been one of the greatest joys to represent my country and to wear the U.S. Soccer crest,” O’Hara, 35, said in a U.S. Soccer release. “As I close this chapter of my life, I am filled with gratitude. Looking back on my career I am so thankful for all the things I was able to accomplish but most importantly the people I was able to accomplish them with.”

O’Hara played in four World Cups and three Olympics after making her USWNT debut in 2010. Her final game for the USWNT came in a last-16 defeat to Sweden in the 2023 World Cup.

On the club level, O’Hara has won titles in two different American pro leagues. First, she lifted the WPS with FC Gold Pride in 2010, before also winning the NWSL title with the Washington Spirit in 2021 and Gotham in 2023.

O’Hara began as an attacking player before transitioning to a defender in the early stages of her professional career. At Stanford, O’Hara won the 2009 MAC Hermann Trophy as the top college player in the country after tallying 26 goals and 13 assists in her senior season.

In the last several years of her career, O’Hara has had to battle a number of injuries. She cited the physical toll the sport took on her body as the main reason she’s hanging up her boots.

“I have always said I would play under two conditions: that I still love playing soccer, and if my body would let me do it the way I wanted to,” O’Hara told Just Women’s Sports. “I realized a while back that I was always going to love it, so it was the physical piece that was going to be the deciding factor.”

She added: “I’ve always been like, ‘I gotta put my best foot forward every single day I step on this field’ — which is honestly probably half the reason why I’m having to retire now as opposed to getting a couple more years out of it. I’ve just grinded hard.”

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USWNT roster: Lavelle and O’Hara out, Purce and Vignola in

Angel City left back Vignola becomes the third uncapped player on the USWNT roster

The U.S. women’s national team has announced two roster changes ahead of next week’s friendlies against South Africa.

NY/NJ Gotham FC forward Midge Purce and Angel City FC defender M.A. Vignola have been called into the USWNT, replacing Rose Lavelle and Kelley O’Hara.

Per U.S. Soccer, Lavelle is “still recovering” from a knock suffered playing for OL Reign, but will come to Cincinnati for what the federation says will be “evaluation.” While O’Hara is similarly not fully fit, the federation says she will “remain with her club to continue her progression to full fitness.”

Coming in will be one player with plenty of USWNT experience, and one with absolutely none. Purce has 23 caps, and while she missed out on a World Cup place, she did participate in the SheBelieves Cup this spring. As a wide forward Purce is not an obvious replacement for Lavelle, but interim coach Twila Kilgore’s squad has two other No. 10s in Savannah DeMelo and Ashley Sanchez.

Potential debut for Angel City’s Vignola

Vignola, on the other hand, hasn’t represented her country since playing at the Under-17 level. The 25-year-old, a Cincinnati native, has broken through as Angel City’s starting left back this season after injuries largely kept her off the field in 2022.

She is more or less a like-for-like replacement for O’Hara, but pushing into the mix for playing time will still be difficult. Kilgore has four other fullbacks (Crystal Dunn, Emily Fox, Sofia Huerta, and Casey Krueger) in camp, and three of them can play left back.

Vignola is not the only uncapped player to get a call for this international window. She’s joined by forwards Mia Fishel and Jaedyn Shaw, with the USWNT looking towards the future after a World Cup that ended in disappointing fashion.

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USWNT player ratings: Defensive spine shines in gut-punch penalty kick defeat

The USWNT finally played like themselves, but soccer can be cruel

Soccer has always been a cruel sport, and today it came calling for the U.S. women’s national team.

After three underwhelming performances in the group stage, the USWNT finally looked like themselves against Sweden, bossing one of the best teams in this World Cup.

Unfortunately, they found goalkeeper Zećira Mušović having one of the games of her life, and when she wasn’t making a big save, the errant finishing that has plagued this team appeared again, and the result was a penalty kick elimination after a scoreless 120 minutes.

It was a heartbreaker for the U.S., who missed a shot in the shootout that would have seen them advance, and then had to watch Sweden’s winning kick require a VAR check to reveal that the ball had crossed the line by a nearly imperceptible margin.

Still, when it comes to ratings, this was by some margin the best performance from the USWNT at this World Cup as a team, and for many players as individuals.

As a reminder, here’s the Pro Soccer Wire player rating scale:

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of our staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Carli Lloyd vs. Japan in the 2015 final.

USWNT player ratings: Lack of ideas as U.S. barely survives Portugal

Lots of not-great, and some quite bad!

The U.S. women’s national team, by a margin of about three inches, survived a feisty Portugal side to get through to the knockout round of the World Cup.

That’s about all the good news there is to discuss. The USWNT were totally unable to solve the Portuguese midfield diamond throughout a troubling 0-0 draw, struggling for possession and also lacking chances to break out in transition.

The stats may show the USWNT holding a 17-6 shot advantage, and this is another game in which a U.S. opponent were held without a shot on goal. However, anyone that watched the match would be able to tell you that the Portuguese troubled the U.S. from start to finish, seeing the game’s best chance end with Ana Capeta hitting the post deep in stoppage time.

It was a dispiriting and disappointing showing in which no player really looked like they’d been given a platform to be their best. If the USWNT is to go on and make history as the first team to win three consecutive World Cups, this has to be by far their worst performance of the tournament.

Here’s a breakdown from a game in which no one looked particularly good.

As a reminder, here’s the Pro Soccer Wire player rating scale:

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of our staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Carli Lloyd vs. Japan in the 2015 final.

USWNT player ratings: Smith stands out as U.S. eases past Vietnam in World Cup opener

Smith was at the center of most of the USWNT’s best in their win

It may not have been the blowout some expected, but the U.S. women’s national team started the World Cup off with a 3-0 win over Vietnam.

A first-half brace from Sophia Smith — one goal was clinical, the other needed a fairly hefty slice of luck — set the USWNT on their way. After some missed chances, including an Alex Morgan penalty kick that was saved by Vietnam’s Tran Thi Kim Thanh, Lindsey Horan added the third on an assist from Smith.

In the context of Vietnam’s recent results, including only falling to Germany 2-1, it’s a decent result. It’s also not the rout that fans may have thought was coming, though on another day the goals may have been flowing with just a touch more sharpness from the attacking players.

As a reminder, here’s the Pro Soccer Wire player rating scale:

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of our staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Carli Lloyd vs. Japan in the 2015 final.

O’Hara emotional over Rapinoe retirement: ‘It’s sad to think about’

“We’re trying to just soak up as much Pinoe as we can,” Andi Sullivan added

Kelley O’Hara grew emotional at a press conference on Tuesday when asked about Megan Rapinoe’s impending retirement, saying it’s hard to think about the U.S. women’s national team legend walking away from the game.

Rapinoe announced earlier this month that she would retire following the 2023 NWSL season, making the upcoming World Cup her last.

O’Hara and Rapinoe are both set to play in their fourth World Cup, with the pair looking to win their third overall. Ahead of the USWNT’s opener against Vietnam on Friday, O’Hara reflected on what Rapinoe has meant to the USWNT.

“It’s hard to put into words honestly,” the defender told a press conference. “I know that the world sees the Megan Rapinoe that the world sees. But we get to see her up close and personal.

“Obviously, the Pinoe that the world sees is an incredible person and human and that is her also up close and personal. She brings a sense of humor and lightness, but intensity and empathy and just she’s one of a kind.”

O’Hara then began to grow emotional, adding: “It’s sad to think about this [World Cup] being her last, but she’s done such incredible things for this team and for the world. So to be able to see the up close and personal Pinoe and be close to that has been has been really special. And I hope that we all send her out on a high.”

USWNT midfielder Andi Sullivan added: “Like Kelley said I don’t really think about the team without her. Even as she announced it, she did it with such grace and humor and joy and light. It’s this huge piece of news but for us, it’s just another day. So I think we’re trying to just soak up as much Pinoe as we can.”

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USWNT gives minutes to veterans, Thompson as World Cup roster deadline looms

It’s crunch time for the USWNT coaching staff

With the games out of the way, it’s officially decision time for the U.S. women’s national team.

Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Ireland marked the USWNT’s final friendly before the team announces its 23-player roster for the 2023 World Cup, with the team’s next match — a July 9 clash with Wales in San Jose — coming after their tournament squad has been announced.

Head coach Vlatko Andonovski said before and after Tuesday’s game that this second match against Ireland had been earmarked as a chance for several players to bolster their resumes.

“It wasn’t about the team concept [tonight]. It wasn’t about us as a team. It was more about the individual players and obviously getting minutes to certain players,” Andonovski told reporters following a gritty win settled by Alana Cook’s long-range delivery into the box gliding all the way into the goal just before halftime.

“The things that were missing is not something that worries me. Like I said, it was missing cohesion,” said Andonovski after deploying a significantly less familiar starting eleven than the starter-heavy group that won 2-0 in Austin on Saturday. “It was missing understanding between the players, and we’re not surprised by that, because we knew the miscommunication will happen, or missed pass[es] happen, or a player makes a run and doesn’t get the ball, or makes a run to the left and gets the ball to the right. It’s something that we expect to happen, and it did make the game go a little bit wild at times, because we gave up the ball too quick after we won it.”

Andonovski said that if he had to, he could pick his list of 23 players for the World Cup right now, but added that there’s still time for players to use their club play to change the equation.

That said, spots are apparently extremely limited.

“I feel pretty comfortable [with] where we’re at as a team, and from the decision-making standpoint, there’s a group of players that we’re very comfortable with,” said Andonovski. “We can make [a] decision tonight, but also there’s a group of players that we’re comfortable where they’re at, but they’re still gonna have to fight, and not necessarily fight for [one] spot. It’s now a ‘game on.’ We have about maybe 10-to-12 players that are fighting for six, seven spots.”

Returning vets, plus Thompson’s moment

In St. Louis, Andonovski’s selection included Cook, Casey Murphy, Sofia Huerta, Kelley O’Hara, and Alyssa Thompson from the start. A planned substitution saw Tierna Davidson replace Becky Sauerbrunn in the 29th minute, while Casey Krueger split the 90 minutes with O’Hara evenly at left back.

“We wanted to see the players that haven’t been in the environment for a long time. It’s not just we wanted to see them, but we also wanted to give them minutes so, if and when some of them make the World Cup, their first minutes [back] are not in the World Cup, but they have a chance to compete before they go there,” reasoned Andonovski before naming Tierna Davidson, Casey Kruger, Julie Ertz, and O’Hara as players that specifically applied to.

“There are several players that that we wanted to evaluate, but also we wanted to give them minutes to get some of that rust off,” said the fourth-year USWNT manager. “That’s why it was hard to evaluate the team and team performance in a setting like that, when there are a lot of changes, players that haven’t played together in over a year, year and a half, and players that haven’t even played at all in a year and a half.”

On the other hand, Thompson was a late addition to the squad after Mallory Swanson’s knee injury, and was making just her second international appearance. For Andonovski, there was an element of fairness at play, as the other candidates for the wide attacking roles in the USWNT pool have all had at least one start to work with in recent times.

“We wanted to explore every possible option before we make the final decision and one of those was Alyssa Thompson,” Andonovski said of sorting out his front line after losing an undisputed key part of it. “Before [Swanson’s injury], our forwards have had a chance to start in different games, from Trinity [Rodman] to Lynn [Williams], Midge [Purce], [Megan Rapinone], every wide forward had an opportunity to start a game. We felt like we needed to see Alyssa start a game and give her a chance to showcase her abilities as well.”

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USWNT injury updates: Andonovski speaks on 10 players including Macario and Mewis

The USWNT is missing a lot of key players, and the coach provided updates on almost all of them

The U.S. women’s national team is currently dealing with a lot of injuries.

Some are long term and others are more minor, but many of the USWNT’s most important players over the past several years are presently sidelined.

On Monday after announcing his roster for November friendlies against Germany, USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski offered updates on no less than 10 players who are currently out: eight who are injured and two coming back after giving birth.

Here is a list of the players Andonovski spoke about on a conference call.