Julie Ertz gets emotional after crushing loss to Sweden
The U.S. Women’s National Team suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Sweden on Sunday morning at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and star USWNT midfielder Julie Ertz took it extra hard, as her career may be coming to an end.
While lamenting on the team’s crushing penalty-kick ending and missed opportunities, Ertz dropped the bomb that it may be the end of her international playing career, per ESPN.
“We didn’t put anything in the back of the net,” Ertz said. “The penalties was tough as well. It’s just emotional because it’s probably my last game ever. It’s just tough. It’s an emotional time. It obviously sucks. Penalties are the worst.”
Unfortunately, Ertz and her USWNT teammates came up short of their quest for a World three-peat after entering the tournament as the obvious favorite to win it all. The 31-year-old is a two-time World Cup champion, helping the U.S. win titles in 2015 and 2019.
She may be finished with competition following the loss, as she and her husband, NFL tight end Zach Ertz, welcomed a son last summer. She previously stepped away from her NWSL team amidst the pregnancy, and has yet to return to Angel City FC.
The U.S. side ended the tournament on a historically long scoring drought of 238 minutes. They were scoreless against Sweden and Portugal, and hadn’t netted once since the second half of their game against the Netherlands. It was a rare sight for a team who had no trouble scoring 2+ goals in every match of the 2019 edition.
