Jeff KassoufOct 22, 2025, 01:28 PM ET
- Jeff Kassouf covers women’s soccer for ESPN, focusing on the USWNT and NWSL. In 2009, he founded The Equalizer, a women’s soccer news outlet, and he previously won a Sports Emmy at NBC Sports and Olympics.
CHESTER, Pa. — United States women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes said she is “absolutely bummed” that forward Trinity Rodman is absent from the team’s training camp due to injury, but she is hopeful that Rodman will be back on the field in the coming weeks.
Last week, Rodman was named to her first USWNT roster in six months due to ongoing back injuries and the long break in international play. Hayes said at the time that she was “super excited” to have Rodman back, but hours later, Rodman sprained her right MCL in a match with the Washington Spirit.
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“While she understands these setbacks happen, she’s equally disappointed because she desperately wanted to be here,” Hayes said on Wednesday at Subaru Park ahead of the USWNT’s game there against Portugal on Thursday.
“Fortunately, it’s not too far, and I hope that she’s back in playoff contention and she’ll be back for the next camp.”
Hayes said she is optimistic that Rodman’s injury is “not too bad” and deferred to the Washington Spirit for an official timeline. The NWSL playoffs begin on Nov. 7; Washington has clinched the No. 2 seed.
Spirit head coach Adrian Gonzalez said last week that Rodman’s MCL sprain is a “best [case] scenario” after Rodman left her team’s game on Oct. 14 in tears and was seen on crutches and in a full leg brace after the match.
Rodman has only played for the USWNT once since starring in the squad’s 2024 Olympic gold medal run. She scored six minutes into the April win over Brazil. Her playing time this year for club and country has been severely limited by recurring back pain.
USWNT coach Emma Hayes will be without Trinity Rodman once again for matchups against Portugal and New Zealand. Stuart Franklin – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
“When she came in in April, she really felt she was in a good place, but the reality was, I think so much adrenaline got her through that game in LA, but afterward that reality hit home that there were some issues in her back that were unresolved,” Hayes said last week.
Rodman posted a video to her TikTok account earlier this week making light of her frustration with missing another USWNT camp due to injury. She had just returned to 90-minute form for the Spirit following the NWSL’s summer break.
After the USWNT’s practice on Wednesday, Hayes walked across the parking lot at the Philadelphia Union’s training grounds to watch the U.S. U23 team practice. She said that she would select a player from that group to replace Rodman on the senior team roster for the camp.
A U.S. Soccer spokesperson said the player would not be announced until Friday and would not be available for Thursday’s match.
The U23s are training in Chester this week, which Hayes pointed to as another example of the program adding layers of development.
Rodman will be in attendance for the USWNT’s game against Portugal on Thursday, Hayes said.
Thursday’s game will also feature a ceremony honoring the career of Alex Morgan, who retired last year as a two-time World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist. She ranks fifth in USWNT history with 123 goals scored.
“There was nothing she didn’t achieve,” Hayes said. “She was a player that epitomized everything that this program is about. She’s an unbelievable credit to her family, because her drive, her desire, her determination to prove herself at the highest level is second to none.
“You can’t go anywhere in this country without them talking about Alex Morgan, and I think the sport should show a lot of gratitude to that, because it’s important for our players to be recognizable. She is, without question, in recent times, one of the most recognizable faces in our sport.”
USWNT forward Alyssa Thompson, now 20 years old, said she has “looked up to [Morgan] since I started playing.”
Thompson made a splash transfer from Angel City FC to Chelsea in September in one of the costliest deals in global history. That is the type of world that Morgan and her peers helped create.
“She has meant so much to me and the game,” Thompson said on Wednesday before practice at Subaru Park. “She’s made the game better. I feel like I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in right now if it weren’t for the players that came before me — especially Alex — and them fighting for equality and equal pay.
“I just want to continue her legacy, but thinking about what she did on the field is something that can’t be replicated, which is really cool.”
The USWNT will also honor goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, who is active professionally but retired from international duty last year, on Sunday ahead of their game in East Hartford, Connecticut. The federation made Morgan and Naeher bobbleheads to distribute to fans at each game.
“I love this tradition when we honor our players in retirement,” Hayes said. “I know the fans will all be coming out not just to support us but also to acknowledge what a wonderful career she had. She’s got so many telling moments that were difference-making moments in her career, and the impact she’s had on this team is immeasurable.”
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