Browsing: Trinity

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  Jeff KassoufOct 22, 2025, 01:28 PM ET

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  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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  Jeff KassoufOct 17, 2025, 01:16 PM ET

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  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.

United States forward Trinity Rodman has a Grade 1 MCL sprain and will be sidelined for an unspecified amount of time, Washington Spirit head coach Adrian Gonzalez said Friday. There is no timetable for her return.

Rodman is expected to miss the U.S. women’s national team’s upcoming games against Portugal and New Zealand due to the knee injury sustained earlier this week. U.S. Soccer has not announced Rodman’s withdrawal from training camp, and Gonzalez said he could not answer whether she would miss time with the USWNT.

The NWSL playoffs begin in three weeks. Rodman is one the best players in the NWSL and a focal point of the attack for Washington, which recently clinched the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.

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“We are going to take this day by day,” Gonzalez told reporters. “Every player is completely different.”

Rodman’s injury occurred on Wednesday, just a few hours after U.S. Soccer announced her return to the team after a six-month absence, and USWNT head coach Emma Hayes told reporters she was “super excited” to have Rodman back on the roster. Rodman last played for the USWNT on April 5.

“She’s one of the best players in the world, and we’ve had to play without her for more than a year,” Hayes said about Rodman on Wednesday prior to the forward’s injury.

Rodman was helped off the field in tears during Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Mexican side Monterrey in the final game of group play in the Concacaf W Champions Cup. She was unable to put pressure on her right leg. She was later seen on crutches and in a full knee brace.

Trinity Rodman reacts after getting injured and leaving the game in the first half of the Washington Spirit’s game with Monterrey. Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images

“She’s at the facility today starting the rehab; she’s doing good,” Gonzalez added. “The results that we got are the best scenario. Obviously, an injury is not always a good situation. It’s not as bad as it could be. She’s starting now the rehab.

“She has an MCL sprain. It’s not too big, too much, but we need to see how she’s doing every day, start the rehab today, and try to support her in this situation.”

Washington’s victory on Wednesday clinched the Spirit a spot in next year’s semifinals of the regional championship, which serves as qualification to FIFA’s forthcoming world club competitions.

Rodman’s status for the NWSL playoffs is also uncertain. There are two games remaining in the NWSL’s regular season. The playoffs begin on Nov. 7. The NWSL Championship takes place on Nov. 22.

Rodman has dealt with a recurring back injury for over a year. Her appearance for the USWNT in April — when she scored six minutes into a 2-0 win over Brazil — is her lone international cap since the Olympic gold medal game in August 2024.

The Spirit clinched the No. 2 seed in the NWSL playoffs for the second straight season. Last year, Washington finished second in the regular season and runner-up to the Orlando Pride in the NWSL Championship.

Rodman played through back pain during that stretch and said after her team’s loss in the final in November 2024 that it was “not an excuse but I wasn’t the Trin that I wanted to be today” due to her back pain.

“All players are different,” Gonzalez said on Friday. “We are taking care of every player as an individual in terms of how we prepare [for] the weeks, the games, and trying to individualize as much as possible the loads. Obviously, every player has a different background, and we always are taking care of those details.

“Right now, we need to focus on day by day, try to help her to recover, to heal as best as possible, and let’s see how she’s progressing every day.”

The U.S. will play Portugal on Oct. 23 in Chester, Pennsylvania, and again on Oct. 26 in East Hartford, Connecticut. The Americans wrap up the window against New Zealand in Kansas City on Oct. 29.

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Trinity Rodman is set to undergoing testing to determine the extent of a leg injury she suffered in the Washington Spirit’s 4-0 win over Monterrey in Concacaf W Champions Cup group play on Wednesday night.

Spirit head coach Adrián González told reporters after the game Rodman, who was in tears on the field, will get scans done on Thursday.

“We need to wait until tomorrow,” González said. “She’s going to get scanned tomorrow, and we will have more information.”

Per Ella Brockway of the Washington Post, Rodman was unable to put weight on her right leg after an attempted tackle and had to be helped off the field by Washington’s training staff late in the first half.

Another image from the game showed Rodman using crutches with her knee heavily wrapped while going to the locker room at halftime.

The knee injury comes as Rodman was preparing to make her return to the national team. She has dealt with back issues since the Olympics last summer, including one situation in September 2024 while playing for the Spirit when she was taken off the field in a wheelchair.

Rodman did play for Team USA in a match against Brazil on April 5, scoring a goal in the 2-0 victory. The 23-year-old was added back to the U.S. squad on Wednesday for a series of upcoming friendlies against Portugal and New Zealand.

U.S. head coach Emma Hayes said about getting Rodman back on the roster that she was “super excited” to have “one of the best players in the world” returning.

Wednesday’s injury could significantly alter those plans depending on what Rodman’s test results show. She had been playing great for the Spirit with five goals and two assists in her 15 appearances this season.

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