Michael Chow-USA TODAY Sports
World Cup winner and three-time National Women’s Soccer League champion Sam Mewis has retired at age 31 due to a knee problem that has lingered for the past six years, she announced on Friday.
Mewis was a fixture in midfield for the Western New York Flash/North Carolina Courage franchise and she was a starting midfielder for the United States women’s national team in its 2019 World Cup triumph. She was considered one of the best players in the world during her 2020-21 season at Manchester City in England.
All the while, however, she played through knee pain. Mewis has, over the past two years of inactivity, gradually shared more of her struggle publicly. On Friday, she made official what had been coming: playing again was no longer an option.
“With both sadness and clarity, I am retiring from professional soccer,” she said in a statement. “Unfortunately, my knee can no longer tolerate the impact that elite soccer requires. Though this isn’t what I wanted, it’s clear that this is the…
