United States women’s national team legend and icon Kelley O’Hara had a bittersweet conclusion to her career as injuries ended her final season early.
She had planned to retire after the 2024 NWSL season, but was forced to hang up her boots in September.
Her club, Gotham FC, announced she was on the season-ending injury list meaning the Bats’ 2-1 victory vs. Houston Dash on Sept. 8 was her O'Hara's final appearance.
Kelley O’Hara made her grand return to the pitch Sunday night for Gotham FC after missing the previous five months battling a knee injury. The home crowd gave the 36-year-old United States women’s national team icon a roaring ovation when she entered the game in the 85th minute during a friendly against Chelsea.
O’Hara is playing in her final NWSL season as she’s announced she will retire at the end of the year. Her last season with Gotham FC hasn’t been a dream final chapter of her career as she’s been sidelined since March.
The United States women’s national team will say goodbye to another star as defender Kelley O’Hara announced her plans to retire at the end of the 2024 NWSL season.
O’Hara goes down as one of the best fullbacks in USWNT history as her 14-year career with the national team saw her win two World Cups and a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics.
Preseason serves as a great window to get rid of the rust and make mistakes to learn from even for veteran players. Gotham FC and USWNT star Kelley O’Hara shared just that on Wednesday in a hilarious video of her getting tackled by a motionless defender.
During NWSL preseason with defending champions Gotham, O’Hara was completely cleaned out by a defender. The good news is that there won’t be any hard feelings due to the fact that one of the players involved in the incident lacks the ability to have feelings.
Kelley O’Hara training dummy incident
The 23-player USWNT squad tasked with achieving an unprecedented World Cup three-peat was revealed by manager Vlatko Andonovski on Wednesday, and despite many obvious selections on the back of a qualifying cycle that grew pretty predictable, a late injury to captain Becky Sauerbrunn has shaken things up.
Based off what we've seen from the Concacaf W Championship and SheBelieves Cup, a USWNT World Cup roster prediction seems like a pretty straightforward exercise — Vlatko Andonovski hasn't been tinkering away with his squads.
However, the dramatic recall of Julie Ertz showed us that certain veterans can't be ruled out with three months of club ball still to be played. There are proven stars returning from longterm injuries who'll be watched closely by the staff, and let's just hope that Mallory Swanson is the only late addition to the casualty list.
By the time the USWNT and Ireland wrap-up their two-match friendly series next Tuesday at CityPark, there'll be less than 100 days before the start of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
So although the U.S. holds a 13-0-0 advantage all-time against the Girls in Green (outscoring them 48 to one in the process), there'll be plenty of internal battles to focus on at Q2 Stadium in Austin on Saturday before the second game in St. Louis three days later.
Before the NWSL and its players signed the league’s first CBA earlier this year, many players had to take side hustles to help support themselves under meager salaries.
The 2022 Concacaf W Championship is just 26 days away, so USWNT manager Vlatko Andonovski has to be close to knowing the final 23-player squad he'll name for the tournament in Mexico — which serves as qualifying for both the 2023 World Cup and 2024 Olympic Games.
But he's not showing his hand yet.
On Monday, Concacaf revealed the provisional rosters for the W Championship, so while the final 23 will have to be selected from this list, the provisional roster for the USWNT includes an all-encompassing 59 names.
The 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup isn’t over yet, but the 2022 NWSL regular season is upon us. While four teams still compete for the first trophy of the season, expansion club Angel City FC hosts the N.C. Courage at 10:30 p.m. ET on Friday night (live on CBSSN) to open what is sure to be an enthralling campaign. That means it’s time for some NWSL predictions.