Two USWNT stars gave rather different answers when asked about their futures after the team’s exit from the Women’s World Cup.
Sunday saw the USWNT lose to Sweden in a penalty shootout in the Round of 16 stage of the competition. The Americans had gone into the tournament as the two-time defending champions.
After the match finished goalless at the end of 90 minutes and extra time, a penalty shootout was needed to determine the winner. Sweden would go through thanks to a 5-4 victory, with the last spot-kick needing to be checked by VAR to see if the ball had crossed the line.
The result came as a shock to a number of the players on the USWNT. Alex Morgan, for example, has won the tournament twice in her career for her country.
Julie Ertz is another player who has won the Women’s World Cup twice. Both Ertz and Morgan were part of the team that won the competition in 2015 and 2019.
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However, it seems that both players offered a different reaction when asked about their respective futures. Ertz said that the loss to Sweden was the final time that she would be wearing the jersey.
"Unfortunately this is my last time in this crest," the 31-year-old told ESPN. "The future is in absolutely great hands.
"You know, sometimes you learn the most from your failures, which sucks. But it's part of my career as well.
“I'm so excited for [the USWNT] in the future."
Alex Morgan says she has no plans of retiring from international football just yet (Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Ertz earned more than 100 caps for her country but now looks set to call time on her career for the USWNT. But it’s a different story for Morgan.
The 34-year-old has 210 caps for the USWNT across a career that first began with her international debut in March 2010. And even though Morgan was clearly disappointed with the World Cup exit, she is not thinking about calling time on her career with her country just yet.
When asked by ESPN if she would be retiring, Morgan said: “I’m not planning to hang up my boots anytime soon right now, so it’s just one day at a time now.”
Reflecting on the loss to Sweden, Morgan added: “It’s really hard to swallow this game.
“I felt like in the run of play we did very well, we broke them down really well. We eliminate them in front of our own goal.
“So it’s hard to lose on penalties, but we didn’t put it away in the game, and that’s what happens. We went to penalties when it’s a flip of a coin, and that’s what happens. It’s just a tough one.
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“It’s going to take a while for me to process this day.”
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