US Soccer Player Suffers Devastating Injury During Ireland Match

The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team suffered a big loss over the weekend. During a match against Ireland on Saturday, forward Mallory Swanson tore her patellar tendon in her left knee. The injury happened in the 40th minute of their team’s 2-0 victory over Ireland after sustaining a challenge from defender Aoife Mannion, per ESPN. The timetable for Swanson’s return is not known, but she will likely miss the 2023 Women’s World Cup which will be held this summer in Australia and New Zealand. 

U.S. team manager Vlatko Andonovski gave an update on Swanson’s condition and revealed she is keeping a positive attitude. “Even before we knew what the injury is when she was walking out, she had this big smile on her face and said, ‘Coach, I’m fine. I’ll be good,’” he said. “When I talked to her after that she was really good and she was very thankful for all the support that she got from the staff, from players, and outside of the environment. She said that all she wants is for the team to be successful and that she’s gonna be our biggest supporter, so very, very good mindset, very good mentality.”

Andonovski also mentioned that the team will need a find a way to move forward if they want to win another World Cup. “It’s not easy, but that’s who she is,” he said about Swanson. “She’s not like that in one place and different in another place. That’s how she’s in the environment. That’s how she is in training, in tough moments. That’s how she is when she’s happy. That rubs off on the rest of the team. So everybody loves her in the environment. But at the same time, we all understand that we have a job to do, [get] past this now, and we’ve got to prepare for the World Cup. We’ve got to do our job.”

Swanson, 24, has been with the U.S. Women’s National Team since 2016 and has scored 32 goals in 88 appearances. She also plays for the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women’s Soccer League and has scored 15 goals in 39 appearances. In December, Swanson got married to Dansby Swanson, shortstop for the Chicago Cubs.