USWNT, Angel City star Christen Press to undergo fourth knee surgery
United States women's national team star and Angel City FC forward Christen Press shared Monday that she'll undergo a fourth surgery on her right knee to help repair the ACL she tore in June 2022.
"Some call these setbacks, but I don't like that language because it implies there is another path that I should have been on," Press wrote on social media. "And those are expectations I do not expect."
Press went on to give insight on her last year-plus ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, which is set to begin Thursday. She still had hopes of playing on the United States team several months after her injury, but she learned earlier in 2023 that she wouldn't be able to play in the tournament.
Press wrote that while she wasn't able to "manifest" a return in time to play for the World Cup, she has "trust" that she's at a spot where she's supposed to be.
Still, there have been elements of her recovery that have been tough to come to grips with.
"For me, the hardest part of recovery has been that I feel misunderstood," Press wrote. "In fact, I feel un-understandable. I'm not anxious to get back on the field. My identity isn't lost by not playing. Most days, I don't even miss it. But that doesn't mean I don't want to get back. That I'm not working every second of every day to return to the pitch. That hard part is: I don't know what it does mean.
"My days are mostly good. I'm working toward my goal. And despite the fact that, on paper, this is an athlete's recovery-nightmare, I feel in my heart that to climb the mountain — yes, even one more time — is the dream."
There's no available timeline on what Press' return will look like.
The 34-year-old was on the USWNT's last two World Cup rosters — and part of the subsequent back-to-back wins. She scored a goal during the 2015 tournament and scored a goal in the United States' semifinal during the 2019 tournament.
Press has scored 64 career goals in 155 caps with the national team.
