Heather O’Reilly’s return to professional soccer after almost two years was as exciting as it was brief.
The three-time Olympic gold medalist and 2015 World Cup winner was set to join NJ/NY Gotham FC in their international friendly against English visitors Chelsea during the NWSL’s summer pause last month, a rare clash of respective league champions that brought some of the biggest names in women’s football to New Jersey’s Red Bull Arena. But O’Reilly’s signing proved short-lived.
Barely four hours after announcing O’Reilly’s one-day deal as an injury-replacement player, Gotham said the 39-year-old was no longer available for selection.
On the surface, O’Reilly’s signing felt like a marketing ploy: bring back an iconic figure of U.S. women’s soccer to further raise the profile of an already high-profile match. But her signing was, as Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amoros put it, very much a soccer decision.
Forward Heather O’Reilly is no longer available for selection for tonight’s match. https://t.co/jwCOZ6jga9
— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) August 19, 2024
“For us, the health and safety of the players comes first,” Amoros said, “and we literally had no people to play.”
The club was short on players, partly because of injuries and partly…
