Lynn Williams made a triumphant return for the U.S. women’s national team in Wednesday’s 4-0 win against New Zealand.
The 29-year-old forward had not played for the USWNT since last February, but she did not miss a step in her first game back. What does her return mean for the team as it prepares for the 2023 World Cup?
What had kept her off the roster?
In March 2022, Williams tore her hamstring in the Kansas City Current’s opening match of the NWSL Challenge Cup.
“The [doctors] said that my tendon has probably been hanging off slightly for the past couple of years and it was too much,” she said.
She spent the next 10 months working her way back from injury before she was named to the roster for the USWNT’s January trip to New Zealand.
How did she play vs. New Zealand?
While Williams started the match on the bench, she came on in the 67th minute for Mallory Swanson, who also shined in the win. Just seven minutes later, she headed a cross from Trinity Rodman past New Zealand goalkeeper Erin Nayler. The goal was the 15th of her career but her first since October 2021.
“It feels amazing, but I give it to my teammates — they’ve been there with me through the whole way and supporting me and being like, ‘You’ve got…
