Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Julie Ertz has retired from professional soccer, she announced on Thursday, a few weeks after the United States women’s national team’s elimination from the 2023 World Cup in a penalty shootout in the Round of 16. The match was the final of Ertz’s career, one that included two senior World Cup titles and 122 appearances for the United States.
“As I’ve gotten older and become a mom, it’s clear the sacrifices of time away from my family no longer seem doable with so many factors at play,” Ertz said in a statement. “These girls gave me a gift I could never repay and I got to live out a dream I wish for everyone: falling in love with a sport you have played your whole life and getting to share it with your son.”
Ertz contemplated the “finality” of her career before, she told The Equalizer prior to the 2023 World Cup. Prior to April, she had not played a competitive game since the Tokyo Olympics in August 2021. A year later, she gave birth to her son, Madden. This past winter, she…
