Tag: Sydney Leroux

Leroux hails significance of USWNT’s nine Black gold medalists

Nine of the 22 players on the USWNT Olympic roster were Black, triple the number from 2012

Angel City forward Sydney Leroux has hailed the “importance” of the U.S. women’s national team having nine Black players on its gold medal-winning roster, saying that their presence will inspire the next generation.

Leroux was one of just three Black players on the 22-player roster (including alternates) when the USWNT last won an Olympic gold medal in 2012.

This time around, the number of Black USWNT players tripled to include nine of the team’s full 22-player squad for the Paris Olympics.

That included the all-Black front line that came to be known as “Triple Espresso” — Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson. The other six players were Crystal Dunn, Jaedyn Shaw, Casey Krueger, Croix Bethune, Lynn Williams and Naomi Girma.

Those nine players posed for a photo after Saturday’s gold medal game, which the USWNT won 1-0 over Brazil thanks to a goal from Swanson.

Leroux noted the significance of the moment with a post on X, saying: “The importance of this photo. This makes every little girl who looks like them get to say, ‘I can be her because I am her.’”

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‘Was wondering why my neck was a bit stiff’ – Leroux posts video of nasty mid-air collision

This had to hurt

Angel City FC striker Sydney Leroux paid a serious price for some solid defensive work in Saturday’s game against the Kansas City Current.

Leroux rose up to head away a Current corner kick late in the first half at CPKC Stadium, before she was clattered into mid-air by rookie defender Ellie Wheeler.

The veteran forward violently slammed to the turf but somehow managed to pop back up to her feet immediately after a play that looked like it could have sent her to the hospital.

Wheeler was perhaps lucky to only receive a yellow card on the play, which Leroux posted on X with the caption: “Was wondering why my neck was a bit stiff this am…..”

Leroux would enact some measure of revenge five minutes into the second half, as she scored her first goal of the season to cut Kansas City’s lead in half.

The Current would tack on two more goals later in the half, however, ensuring Leroux and Co. would go back to California with some bruises — and a 4-2 defeat.

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‘I didn’t know if I’d wear this jersey again’ – Leroux emotional after scoring on injury return

Leroux scored just 12 minutes into her first appearance in nearly a year

An emotional Sydney Leroux admitted she wasn’t sure if she would ever play for Angel City FC again after she marked her return from injury with a goal.

Leroux was traded to Angel City last summer but made just three appearances for the club before suffering an ankle injury that kept her out for nearly a year.

The striker finally made her return to the pitch against the Chicago Red Stars on Monday night, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute with her team down 2-0. Just 12 minutes later, she got on the end of an Alyssa Thompson cross to halve the deficit in an eventual 2-1 defeat.

It was Leroux’s 40th career NWSL goal, and it made her only the third player in league history to score for six different teams

Speaking to CBS after the game, the 33-year-old held back tears as she admitted she was unsure if she’d be able to return to the pitch.

“Obviously it’s been super emotional,” she said. “I didn’t know if I was going to put on this jersey again. So it was really cool to get out there and score.”

Asked what she was thinking when Thompson got on the ball, Leroux said: “That it’s going to get to me somehow and that I’m going to get there first.”

“I think I owe a lot to the fans,” she added. “I came here last year and I was supposed to make a difference. And I could only play like a game and a half. And so I’m just happy that I could show up today as much as I possibly could.”

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A whole bunch of NWSL players aren’t happy with how they look in FIFA 23

Sydney Leroux said her avatar is “going to scare my children”

For the first time ever, the NWSL has been added to the hugely popular FIFA franchise of video games from EA Sports.

Though that is obviously great news, several NWSL players have been discovering what their video game avatars look like in FIFA 23 — and they aren’t happy.

Some of the inaccuracies could be considered amusing, like Kailen Sheridan being bald (???) when on international duty for Canada, and then returning to her usual hairstyle with the San Diego Wave. Or Janine Beckie and her “fraternal twin.”

But others are a little more troublesome, like Houston Dash defender Caprice Dydasco, who looks to have been whitewashed on the game.

“We insist on immediate action from EA to rectify the offensive and inauthentic portrayals of players of color in FIFA 23, which were released yesterday. The NWSL Players Association, alongside our agent OneTeam Partners, has a dedicated gaming team actively working with EA to resolve this matter,” Meghann Burke, Executive Director of the NWSLPA, told CNN in a statement.

In an unsurprising development, Sydney Leroux was one of the more outspoken players on social media, pointing out that her likeness in FIFA 16 (which featured women’s international teams only) was more accurate than this year’s avatar, which she said is “going to scare my children.”

Amid the criticism, EA Sports released a statement on Friday saying they will “progressively introduce updated representations of athletes in future patches.”

Angel City adds Sydney Leroux in trade with Orlando Pride

ACFC got a much-needed boost for their attack

Angel City FC has given their attack a significant boost, as they’ve completed a trade to bring Sydney Leroux over from the Orlando Pride.

In the deal, Orlando will receive Angel City’s natural first round pick in the 2024 NWSL College Draft, $75,000 in NWSL allocation money, and a potential $10,000 allocation money bonus this year and in 2023 based on Leroux’s performance.

“I am so excited to be a part of Angel City and everything being built with this club,” said Leroux in a press release from Angel City. “The atmosphere I felt playing at the Banc [of California Stadium] on Mother’s Day was unbelievable. It really feels like I’m coming home, between going to UCLA and living in LA. Angel City is truly putting women’s soccer on the map in Los Angeles and it shows if you invest in women, great things will happen. I am excited to be a part of that.”

Leroux, 32, had two goals and an for Orlando this season, as the Pride struggled throughout the spring and suffered the added difficulty of new coach Amanda Cromwell being suspended during an investigation into alleged retaliatory conduct.

In 2019 and 2020, injuries, pregnancy, and Orlando having to miss out on the original Challenge Cup kept Leroux off the field, but she came back with a vengeance in 2021. An 8 goal/2 assist season in which she played in all but one Pride game marked her best season since 2013.

For Angel City, the rationale for the trade is straightforward. Christen Press suffered a torn ACL earlier in June, and when coach Freya Coombe has looked to rest striker Simone Charley, the alternative has often been to push attacking midfielder Savannah McCaskill up as an ad hoc forward due to a lack of attacking depth.

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