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Sunday World
6 days ago
- Sport
- Sunday World
Parents of US nurse allegedly murdered by Irishman attend special tribute to her
Mackenzie Michalski, a 31-year-old American nurse, went missing on November 4 from a nightclub in central Budapest The parents of Mackenzie Michalski who was murdered while traveling in Budapest last November, have attended a special soccer match in her honour. The local Portland Thorns FC paid tribute to the nurse ahead of their Sunday match with Seattle Reign. According to KPTV, her parents, Bill and Jill Michalski flew in from Buffalo, New York, on derby day against Seattle. 'Mackenzie loved Portland and she loved Portland soccer,' Bill Michalski said. Their 31-year-old daughter, who was a neurosurgery nurse practitioner at Providence St Vincent, was a major soccer fan. Jill Michalski said there were humbled and grateful for the Thorns honouring her daughter. 'She lived a humanitarian life of service, but she was also a huge adventurer, traveller, loved to live life large and even she would be completely blown away the way she is being honoured today.' Ahead of the match, Thorns assistant coach Vytas Andriuškevičius presented both parents with a custom jersey. 'It's a very sad story, but to celebrate someone's life and to remember good stories, good memories and then to cheer each other and just to have a moment together, I think it's very special,' Andriuškevičius told KPTV. 'Maybe it becomes the thing that they do yearly, and it's something that we can remind of her, and remember her and remember her stories, and keep her present with us daily.' Mackenzie Michalski lived in Portland for four years, where, Jill Michalski, said they had been 'showered with love'. 'Although this is a celebration for a day, it's still a really difficult time and everyone has gone beyond and above to make us feel comfortable and to just love on us,' she said. Mackenzie Michalski with her parents 'She was always involved in the community, and she loved history, she loved the culture of Portland because it's very unique, coming from Buffalo, New York,' Bill Michalski said. 'She embraced it and she really loved it.' Mackenzie Michalski News in 90 Seconds - August 13th Mackenzie Michalski, a 31-year-old American nurse, went missing on November 4 from a nightclub in central Budapest. Her body was later discovered in a suitcase in a wooded area 140km outside the capital. A 37-year-old Irish man was arrested in connection with her murder after the discovery of her remains. The man, who works in marketing and has not been named, has appealed his ongoing detention. Last April his lawyer, Dr Gyorgy Magyar, said: 'My law firm is defending an Irish citizen who is suspected of the crime of murder committed against a US citizen. 'In relation to the case, I can inform you that the investigation conducted by the police is still ongoing, which is to obtain further expert opinions and evaluate the available evidence. Mackenzie Michalski was killed last November 'The court has extended the detention of our client for two months, against which our office has filed an appeal. The next court decision regarding the extension of the detention is expected in early May.' The man's ongoing incarceration is the second extension Budapest's Metropolitan Prosecution Office has secured in relation to the Irish suspect. He was arrested on suspicion of the murder of Ms Michalski on November 7 after police reviewed CCTV footage from the surrounding area where the young woman was last seen. Ms Michalski, who worked as a nurse in Portland, Oregon, last made contact with friends on the night of Monday November 4 from a nightclub in central Budapest. She was reported missing the next day by her friends after she did not check out of her Airbnb accommodation in the Hungarian capital. According to a statement released by Budapest police, Ms Michalski and the male suspect met at a nightclub in central Budapest on the night of her disappearance before going to another nightclub and later to the man's rented apartment in the city. The same police statement noted that the Irish man maintained that Ms Michalski's death was accidental. According to the police, following Ms Michalski's death, the suspect cleaned his apartment and drove to Lake Balaton, two hours west of Budapest, with Ms Michalski's body placed in the suitcase, before hiding her body in a wooded area. After his arrest, the suspect travelled with police to Lake Balaton to reveal the location of Ms Michalski's body. Mr Magyar previously told a Hungarian media outlet that Ms Michalski's death was 'an accidental act without intention'. Under Hungarian law, a suspect is formally charged after the conclusion of an investigation. In cases of suspected murder or manslaughter, an investigation period can take a number of months, and, in some cases, more than a year to conclude. In an interview with this newspaper earlier this year, Ms Michalski's father said he did not believe his daughter's death was accidental. 'The main thing for us now is to be patient and allow the police to continue to carry out their investigation,' Bill Michalski said. 'Everyone wants to know the details. We have faith in the police investigation, and they are keeping us updated.' Ms Michalski's mother, Jill, added: 'Our daughter was kind, compassionate, independent and adventurous. And she loved to laugh. People ask us how we are doing… all we can say is we are doing as well as we can be.'
Axios
07-08-2025
- Sport
- Axios
NWSL gears up for its first rivalry weekend
The National Women's Soccer League is launching its first-ever rivalry weekend, highlighting some of the sport's most intense matchups. Why it matters: Rivalries are proving to be a powerful force in growing viewership and fan engagement in women's sports — just ask the WNBA. Games involving Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever vs. her college rival Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky have set viewership and attendance records since the pair became professionals last season. Case in point: In April 2024, the NWSL's oldest rivalry — Portland Thorns FC vs. Seattle Reign FC — averaged 200,000 more viewers compared to the two CBS games in which the teams played other opponents. What they're saying: "Rivalries just add an element to [matches] that's personal, and that's what makes it so much fun," NWSL VP of marketing Michelle Haines tells Axios. Here are the league's rivalry matches this weekend (all times in ET): Washington Spirit vs. Gotham FC: noon Saturday, Aug. 9, on ESPN This mid-Atlantic matchup has heated up recently. Washington has had the edge historically, but Gotham's 3-0 win earlier this season following the Spirit's dramatic victory in the 2024 semifinals has kept the tension fresh. Angel City FC vs. San Diego Wave FC: 10pm Saturday, Aug. 9, on ION These two Southern California teams share the distinction of being NWSL newbies, but Los Angeles and San Diego sports fans don't like each other. This has quickly turned into one of the league's most passionate matchups. Portland Thorns FC vs. Seattle Reign FC: 4pm Sunday, Aug. 10, on CBS
The Advertiser
22-07-2025
- Sport
- The Advertiser
Matildas superstar still can't get used to 'insane' cereal box moment
Matildas superstar Mackenzie Arnold is still coming to terms with seeing herself on a cereal box, but she hopes it's a sign that the times are a-changing for women in sport. Arnold has been selected as an "Aussie icon" ambassador for Milo and its new strawberry-flavoured cereal that the goalkeeper actually helped develop. Before she was a world-class goalkeeper, Arnold hadn't seen women in sport given such promotion, but with the onset of the "Matildas effect" following the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia, athletes like her hold influence like never before. Tickets to Matildas games are in demand, the players' own social media accounts have massive followings, contracts now attract higher salaries, and the sporting participation boom inspired by the Matildas in recent years - particularly for girls and women - is well-documented. So it makes sense brands would want to align themselves with top women athletes like Arnold, who is currently playing for US club, Portland Thorns FC. Still, from humble beginnings in the old W-League playing in front of small crowds, to selling out stadiums and becoming a hero to millions of Aussie kids, it's a bit of an adjustment for Arnold to see her face on products at the supermarket. "It's insane," she told The Canberra Times from Portland during a mid-season international break. "Growing up seeing other athletes on cereal boxes, you never really think that's going to be you, and now I get it to do it with Milo as well, which is something I always grew up on - it's pretty surreal to me. "I still don't look at myself as an Australian icon. "Opportunities like this just came after the World Cup, and I think it really showed us, and little girls and boys as well, what actually is possible now. "When I was a kid, I don't really remember women athletes on cereal boxes, so to be that person and hopefully inspire the younger generation after me is really special." Arnold has seen firsthand how the Matildas' march to the Women's World Cup semi-final two years ago was a turning point. "The world has really taken off with women's sport," she said. "You can see at the Euros that are playing at the moment, the amount of exposure they're getting and publicity - it's crazy to see, and I think it's only going to get bigger. "I would have loved to have been a young kid coming through at this stage, for sure. Still got a long way to go, but it's definitely heading in the right direction." In the Arnold household, as a child, the glovewoman used to have arguments with her brother over which flavour was best - chocolate or strawberry. She'd go for a strawberry milkshake and strawberry donut, while he'd go for the chocolate option. Decades later when Arnold was asked by Milo to taste-test the final strawberry flavour that would be used in its limited edition cereal, she was elated. "They sent me some samples and I chose which one I liked," she said. "I've actually given it to some of my teammates in Portland, and they obviously don't know much about Milo, but for them to enjoy it says a lot. "I'm hoping everyone else likes it in Australia as well." Last year, after a four-season stint in England with West Ham United, Arnold joined the Thorns in the USA's NWSL competition. However, injury setbacks have prevented her from playing consistently in the last 12 months. Having overcome triceps and calf injuries, Arnold is now healthy again and gearing up for the Women's Asian Cup in Australia in March. Under new coach Joe Montemurro, Arnold is aiming to lift the Matildas back to world-beating form after a "disappointing" Olympics campaign in Paris. "The Asian Cup is very important for us," she said. "It's another major tournament that we want to win, and then that takes us into the World Cup again the following year. So it's a big couple [of] years. "I've only had one camp with Joe, but from what I experienced, it's going to be a lot more intense. "He knows our Australian players a lot more, and our strengths. I think he's going to take advantage of that style of play we like, make it fast and intense, so we can really go after it. "The Olympics was quite disappointing for us, and we never wanted to finish the tournament like that, especially after the success that we had at the 2023 World Cup. "So we're looking to get back into form now, especially having Joe in. We know that we've got a consistent coach that's going to be there a while, we're going to buy into how he wants to play, and our first test will be the Asian Cup, so it'll be interesting." Arnold expects Australia to get behind the Matildas again when the Asian Cup rolls around, too, which will be a huge advantage for the squad. "You can see how much the home fans helped us at the World Cup and really got us over the line in some of those games that were close," she said. "So we're really excited to have another major tournament back home in front of our fans and hopefully we can do one better than we did at the World Cup and win that for them." Matildas superstar Mackenzie Arnold is still coming to terms with seeing herself on a cereal box, but she hopes it's a sign that the times are a-changing for women in sport. Arnold has been selected as an "Aussie icon" ambassador for Milo and its new strawberry-flavoured cereal that the goalkeeper actually helped develop. Before she was a world-class goalkeeper, Arnold hadn't seen women in sport given such promotion, but with the onset of the "Matildas effect" following the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia, athletes like her hold influence like never before. Tickets to Matildas games are in demand, the players' own social media accounts have massive followings, contracts now attract higher salaries, and the sporting participation boom inspired by the Matildas in recent years - particularly for girls and women - is well-documented. So it makes sense brands would want to align themselves with top women athletes like Arnold, who is currently playing for US club, Portland Thorns FC. Still, from humble beginnings in the old W-League playing in front of small crowds, to selling out stadiums and becoming a hero to millions of Aussie kids, it's a bit of an adjustment for Arnold to see her face on products at the supermarket. "It's insane," she told The Canberra Times from Portland during a mid-season international break. "Growing up seeing other athletes on cereal boxes, you never really think that's going to be you, and now I get it to do it with Milo as well, which is something I always grew up on - it's pretty surreal to me. "I still don't look at myself as an Australian icon. "Opportunities like this just came after the World Cup, and I think it really showed us, and little girls and boys as well, what actually is possible now. "When I was a kid, I don't really remember women athletes on cereal boxes, so to be that person and hopefully inspire the younger generation after me is really special." Arnold has seen firsthand how the Matildas' march to the Women's World Cup semi-final two years ago was a turning point. "The world has really taken off with women's sport," she said. "You can see at the Euros that are playing at the moment, the amount of exposure they're getting and publicity - it's crazy to see, and I think it's only going to get bigger. "I would have loved to have been a young kid coming through at this stage, for sure. Still got a long way to go, but it's definitely heading in the right direction." In the Arnold household, as a child, the glovewoman used to have arguments with her brother over which flavour was best - chocolate or strawberry. She'd go for a strawberry milkshake and strawberry donut, while he'd go for the chocolate option. Decades later when Arnold was asked by Milo to taste-test the final strawberry flavour that would be used in its limited edition cereal, she was elated. "They sent me some samples and I chose which one I liked," she said. "I've actually given it to some of my teammates in Portland, and they obviously don't know much about Milo, but for them to enjoy it says a lot. "I'm hoping everyone else likes it in Australia as well." Last year, after a four-season stint in England with West Ham United, Arnold joined the Thorns in the USA's NWSL competition. However, injury setbacks have prevented her from playing consistently in the last 12 months. Having overcome triceps and calf injuries, Arnold is now healthy again and gearing up for the Women's Asian Cup in Australia in March. Under new coach Joe Montemurro, Arnold is aiming to lift the Matildas back to world-beating form after a "disappointing" Olympics campaign in Paris. "The Asian Cup is very important for us," she said. "It's another major tournament that we want to win, and then that takes us into the World Cup again the following year. So it's a big couple [of] years. "I've only had one camp with Joe, but from what I experienced, it's going to be a lot more intense. "He knows our Australian players a lot more, and our strengths. I think he's going to take advantage of that style of play we like, make it fast and intense, so we can really go after it. "The Olympics was quite disappointing for us, and we never wanted to finish the tournament like that, especially after the success that we had at the 2023 World Cup. "So we're looking to get back into form now, especially having Joe in. We know that we've got a consistent coach that's going to be there a while, we're going to buy into how he wants to play, and our first test will be the Asian Cup, so it'll be interesting." Arnold expects Australia to get behind the Matildas again when the Asian Cup rolls around, too, which will be a huge advantage for the squad. "You can see how much the home fans helped us at the World Cup and really got us over the line in some of those games that were close," she said. "So we're really excited to have another major tournament back home in front of our fans and hopefully we can do one better than we did at the World Cup and win that for them." Matildas superstar Mackenzie Arnold is still coming to terms with seeing herself on a cereal box, but she hopes it's a sign that the times are a-changing for women in sport. Arnold has been selected as an "Aussie icon" ambassador for Milo and its new strawberry-flavoured cereal that the goalkeeper actually helped develop. Before she was a world-class goalkeeper, Arnold hadn't seen women in sport given such promotion, but with the onset of the "Matildas effect" following the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia, athletes like her hold influence like never before. Tickets to Matildas games are in demand, the players' own social media accounts have massive followings, contracts now attract higher salaries, and the sporting participation boom inspired by the Matildas in recent years - particularly for girls and women - is well-documented. So it makes sense brands would want to align themselves with top women athletes like Arnold, who is currently playing for US club, Portland Thorns FC. Still, from humble beginnings in the old W-League playing in front of small crowds, to selling out stadiums and becoming a hero to millions of Aussie kids, it's a bit of an adjustment for Arnold to see her face on products at the supermarket. "It's insane," she told The Canberra Times from Portland during a mid-season international break. "Growing up seeing other athletes on cereal boxes, you never really think that's going to be you, and now I get it to do it with Milo as well, which is something I always grew up on - it's pretty surreal to me. "I still don't look at myself as an Australian icon. "Opportunities like this just came after the World Cup, and I think it really showed us, and little girls and boys as well, what actually is possible now. "When I was a kid, I don't really remember women athletes on cereal boxes, so to be that person and hopefully inspire the younger generation after me is really special." Arnold has seen firsthand how the Matildas' march to the Women's World Cup semi-final two years ago was a turning point. "The world has really taken off with women's sport," she said. "You can see at the Euros that are playing at the moment, the amount of exposure they're getting and publicity - it's crazy to see, and I think it's only going to get bigger. "I would have loved to have been a young kid coming through at this stage, for sure. Still got a long way to go, but it's definitely heading in the right direction." In the Arnold household, as a child, the glovewoman used to have arguments with her brother over which flavour was best - chocolate or strawberry. She'd go for a strawberry milkshake and strawberry donut, while he'd go for the chocolate option. Decades later when Arnold was asked by Milo to taste-test the final strawberry flavour that would be used in its limited edition cereal, she was elated. "They sent me some samples and I chose which one I liked," she said. "I've actually given it to some of my teammates in Portland, and they obviously don't know much about Milo, but for them to enjoy it says a lot. "I'm hoping everyone else likes it in Australia as well." Last year, after a four-season stint in England with West Ham United, Arnold joined the Thorns in the USA's NWSL competition. However, injury setbacks have prevented her from playing consistently in the last 12 months. Having overcome triceps and calf injuries, Arnold is now healthy again and gearing up for the Women's Asian Cup in Australia in March. Under new coach Joe Montemurro, Arnold is aiming to lift the Matildas back to world-beating form after a "disappointing" Olympics campaign in Paris. "The Asian Cup is very important for us," she said. "It's another major tournament that we want to win, and then that takes us into the World Cup again the following year. So it's a big couple [of] years. "I've only had one camp with Joe, but from what I experienced, it's going to be a lot more intense. "He knows our Australian players a lot more, and our strengths. I think he's going to take advantage of that style of play we like, make it fast and intense, so we can really go after it. "The Olympics was quite disappointing for us, and we never wanted to finish the tournament like that, especially after the success that we had at the 2023 World Cup. "So we're looking to get back into form now, especially having Joe in. We know that we've got a consistent coach that's going to be there a while, we're going to buy into how he wants to play, and our first test will be the Asian Cup, so it'll be interesting." Arnold expects Australia to get behind the Matildas again when the Asian Cup rolls around, too, which will be a huge advantage for the squad. "You can see how much the home fans helped us at the World Cup and really got us over the line in some of those games that were close," she said. "So we're really excited to have another major tournament back home in front of our fans and hopefully we can do one better than we did at the World Cup and win that for them." Matildas superstar Mackenzie Arnold is still coming to terms with seeing herself on a cereal box, but she hopes it's a sign that the times are a-changing for women in sport. Arnold has been selected as an "Aussie icon" ambassador for Milo and its new strawberry-flavoured cereal that the goalkeeper actually helped develop. Before she was a world-class goalkeeper, Arnold hadn't seen women in sport given such promotion, but with the onset of the "Matildas effect" following the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia, athletes like her hold influence like never before. Tickets to Matildas games are in demand, the players' own social media accounts have massive followings, contracts now attract higher salaries, and the sporting participation boom inspired by the Matildas in recent years - particularly for girls and women - is well-documented. So it makes sense brands would want to align themselves with top women athletes like Arnold, who is currently playing for US club, Portland Thorns FC. Still, from humble beginnings in the old W-League playing in front of small crowds, to selling out stadiums and becoming a hero to millions of Aussie kids, it's a bit of an adjustment for Arnold to see her face on products at the supermarket. "It's insane," she told The Canberra Times from Portland during a mid-season international break. "Growing up seeing other athletes on cereal boxes, you never really think that's going to be you, and now I get it to do it with Milo as well, which is something I always grew up on - it's pretty surreal to me. "I still don't look at myself as an Australian icon. "Opportunities like this just came after the World Cup, and I think it really showed us, and little girls and boys as well, what actually is possible now. "When I was a kid, I don't really remember women athletes on cereal boxes, so to be that person and hopefully inspire the younger generation after me is really special." Arnold has seen firsthand how the Matildas' march to the Women's World Cup semi-final two years ago was a turning point. "The world has really taken off with women's sport," she said. "You can see at the Euros that are playing at the moment, the amount of exposure they're getting and publicity - it's crazy to see, and I think it's only going to get bigger. "I would have loved to have been a young kid coming through at this stage, for sure. Still got a long way to go, but it's definitely heading in the right direction." In the Arnold household, as a child, the glovewoman used to have arguments with her brother over which flavour was best - chocolate or strawberry. She'd go for a strawberry milkshake and strawberry donut, while he'd go for the chocolate option. Decades later when Arnold was asked by Milo to taste-test the final strawberry flavour that would be used in its limited edition cereal, she was elated. "They sent me some samples and I chose which one I liked," she said. "I've actually given it to some of my teammates in Portland, and they obviously don't know much about Milo, but for them to enjoy it says a lot. "I'm hoping everyone else likes it in Australia as well." Last year, after a four-season stint in England with West Ham United, Arnold joined the Thorns in the USA's NWSL competition. However, injury setbacks have prevented her from playing consistently in the last 12 months. Having overcome triceps and calf injuries, Arnold is now healthy again and gearing up for the Women's Asian Cup in Australia in March. Under new coach Joe Montemurro, Arnold is aiming to lift the Matildas back to world-beating form after a "disappointing" Olympics campaign in Paris. "The Asian Cup is very important for us," she said. "It's another major tournament that we want to win, and then that takes us into the World Cup again the following year. So it's a big couple [of] years. "I've only had one camp with Joe, but from what I experienced, it's going to be a lot more intense. "He knows our Australian players a lot more, and our strengths. I think he's going to take advantage of that style of play we like, make it fast and intense, so we can really go after it. "The Olympics was quite disappointing for us, and we never wanted to finish the tournament like that, especially after the success that we had at the 2023 World Cup. "So we're looking to get back into form now, especially having Joe in. We know that we've got a consistent coach that's going to be there a while, we're going to buy into how he wants to play, and our first test will be the Asian Cup, so it'll be interesting." Arnold expects Australia to get behind the Matildas again when the Asian Cup rolls around, too, which will be a huge advantage for the squad. "You can see how much the home fans helped us at the World Cup and really got us over the line in some of those games that were close," she said. "So we're really excited to have another major tournament back home in front of our fans and hopefully we can do one better than we did at the World Cup and win that for them."
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ex-USWNT midfielder Tobin Heath retires: Broken-foot goals, slugs and building new worlds
Former U.S. women's national team midfielder Tobin Heath has retired from professional soccer, the player announced Thursday. The news comes three years after her final professional appearance and a serious left knee injury that required multiple surgeries. She leaves the game — on the field, at least — as a two-time World Cup winner and two-time Olympics gold medalist with the U.S. women, a two-time NWSL champion with Portland Thorns FC and a three-time NCAA champion with the University of North Carolina. Advertisement But for Heath, the news of her official retirement is almost secondary as she grapples with the long-term impact of her knee injury. She's lost the ability to play the game at even a casual level and with it a part of who she was. 'I had a personal journey back in January that I came to my own acceptance of not playing anymore,' Heath told on Wednesday. 'It was me grieving not being able to play soccer anymore. For me, that was the greatest gift that had ever been given to me and such a core part of my identity and how I express myself and know myself to be.' Heath said she struggles even with running in a straight line. She described the heartbreak of having a ball roll up to her, knowing her ability isn't there anymore — that the way she previously expressed herself in the world was no longer available to her. 'Football is a 360-degree sport, and I can't do it. If I ever would try to do it, it's really sad. So that part is the hardest part,' she said. 'The actual playing of soccer is gone, not even the professional or playing in a World Cup and stuff like that. The actual gift that was given to me when I first started. That gift is gone.' Advertisement What started as a feeling of a pinch in her knee during preparations for the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021) turned into something much more: the discovery of a hole in her knee cartilage and two surgeries, including an eventual cartilage replacement. While Heath was able to play in the Tokyo Olympics, earning a bronze medal with the USWNT in her final major tournament, the rest of her soccer career was hampered by the injury including brief stints at Manchester United and Arsenal, before returning to the NWSL and a handful of final matches with the Seattle Reign. Her final NWSL appearance was August 14, 2022, a 4-1 win over Gotham FC. Heath's USWNT career ends with 181 appearances, 36 goals, 42 assists and 10,171 minutes played. She described an emotional conversation she had with her wife and former teammate, Christen Press, earlier this year. She said she had forgotten how she was as a soccer player, not just in terms of playing ability, but also her personality and competitiveness. 'There was a long period of time where I knew that she would not be signing another professional contract,' Press said in a phone call with on Wednesday. 'It was my job to leave space for her to find that out on her own.' Advertisement For the last three years, Heath always thought she would come back. She had a plan to retire after a lengthy career. She had a plan to evolve as an older player, a desire to mentor the next generation in the locker room. She never expected the 2019 World Cup to be her last one. 'I thought I was literally going to be peeled off the field,' Heath said. Even with months of coming to terms with who she was without kicking a ball, Heath never intended to announce her retirement. It has been three years since her last appearance; she's been plenty busy co-hosting the RE-CAP show with Press, their other endeavors through RE, helping start World Sevens Football and serving as the only woman in FIFA's technical study group for the men's Club World Cup this summer. The absence from playing will also make her eligible for the National Soccer Hall of Fame in the upcoming voting cycle. The USWNT Players' Association informed Heath they wanted to honor her alongside other retired players at their upcoming Players Ball event. These two external prompts, along with some prodding from Press, helped her realize she hadn't actually taken time to close the door to playing. Advertisement In a recording of Thursday's episode of The RE-CAP Show, Heath's emotions are on display as she describes coming to terms with her injury and retirement. Press jokes that if it weren't for her, the retirement celebration wouldn't have come together, while fondly acknowledging that Heath 'really has evolved' by allowing herself this moment. Press adds a brief imitation of Heath: 'I'm a purist. I'm a footballer. I just play to play.' But, as Press reminds Heath, a moment like this is also for her family, for the fans, and most importantly for Heath herself. 'You can see how emotional she is in the episode. She's having this cathartic moment that she didn't want to have because she hates feelings, but she needed to have in order to really have closure,' Press said. 'I was four years old, and I just immediately felt a click as soon as I touched the soccer ball. It was like destiny,' Heath said of her childhood in New Jersey. Advertisement 'Everything that I was obsessed with in football, I had to go out and seek and crave, and create my own pathways,' Heath said. Her parents weren't soccer people; she didn't have a sibling who played. It was something entirely of her own. 'I'm lucky because Jersey is a hotbed for soccer,' she said. 'I was extremely fortunate where I was born, but this was just self-motivated destiny, something inside me, knowing I was supposed to play soccer.' Heath found her way to the University of North Carolina, winning three national championships in her four years, and making her USWNT debut in 2008 while still in college. She nutmegged a Finnish player in one of the first touches of her debut. That same year, Heath earned her first gold medal with the USWNT as the youngest player on the Olympic roster, making three appearances off the bench. Advertisement Heath was drafted first in the 2010 WPS draft, a precursor to the NWSL, by the Atlanta Beat. Her rookie season was mostly a wash after an ankle injury kept her out for most of the season. She was traded to Sky Blue FC for her second season, but by the end of the 2011 season, the league shuttered. She played a single game for the New York Fury in the gap year of 2012 in WPSL Elite, the same summer she and the USWNT picked up a gold medal at the London Olympics. Her next move changed everything. 'That was another click-destiny moment, because I don't know how I ended up in Portland,' Heath said. Ahead of the NWSL's first season, every national team player was given the option to rank their top three preferred teams. As an East Coaster, Heath hadn't even ranked Portland, assuming there was no way she'd be sent there. Instead, U.S. Soccer allocated her to the Thorns, alongside forward Alex Morgan and defender Rachel Buehler. Though she detoured through Paris on a six-month contract with Paris Saint-Germain, she made it to Oregon for the back half of the 2013 season. Advertisement Heath scored the winning goal for the Thorns in the inaugural championship while playing on a broken foot. Thinking back on her career, she focused less on the results of her tenure and more on what her time in Portland revealed. 'It showed what women's sports could be, and that was the beginning of it all. I felt like I was dreaming when I was in Portland. I was dreaming of the world that I wanted to create,' she said. 'It was such a gift to be seen as a professional, to be valued in the craft that I had dedicated my life to.' That level of appreciation and support unlocked something for Heath over a decade ago. Advertisement 'It pushed me on the path of believing what I think women's sports could be,' she said. 'They showed me a value and a worth that I never knew could exist in women's sports, and made me want to fight for it.' On the field, Heath is the player the current generation unanimously crowns the most technical the U.S. has had. She had creativity, a silky touch, an ability to break a defender's ankles and endless nutmegs. Clips of a signature Tobin move went viral after USWNT games. Sometimes that desire to create would get in the way of making the right call on the ball, as coach after coach drilled into her that the willingness to try things didn't have to be abandoned, but harnessed. It wasn't just being able to dribble at players, but serve up a cross or get on the end of one too. Heath scored the final goal in the USWNT's 5-2 romp over Japan in the 2015 World Cup final, adding the final exclamation point in the team's ascension back to the top of the world. Advertisement The memory of who she was as a player was central to Heath's journey to this moment, but Press has also been reflecting on decades of memories over the past few months. She noticed how their memories sometimes differ. 'When (Heath) talks about scoring in a World Cup final, she talks about it from the perspective of dreaming of scoring a World Cup final more than actually having done it,' Press said. 'I think the intensity of professional sports means sometimes that you can't remember. It's been challenging and beautiful and emotional for me to be by her side throughout this process, and try and leave her space to grieve and to refuse to grieve and to be stuck and to have movement, and be supportive of wherever she is on the journey.' The memories of the 2019 World Cup are clearer, though her initial description of how she remembered the USWNT's back-to-back World Cup wins was surprising. 'It was horrible in a lot of ways. It was so much pressure, so many expectations on the footballing side, the pay equity side, so much tension politically,' Heath said. 'If any of us pretended we were in control, we were completely out of control. For me personally, going into that World Cup, I was playing some of the best football of my life. I was poised to have an incredible World Cup. Obviously, contributing to us winning was incredible, and to have it culminate in how it did was beyond control and was complete destiny.' Advertisement The small moments offered a reprieve from the mounting pressure on the team. 'One time, we were eating a salad at a meal,' Press said, barely holding in her laughter as she told the story. She described a moment during the preparations for 2019 when the team trained at Tottenham Hotspur's facilities. 'Everything was grown on the campus, and there was a big slug in her lettuce. Everyone else would have been like, 'This is disgusting!' And she was like, 'This is amazing! So organic!'' The silly moments, the human moments, the surreal moments of that summer all helped keep that team of destiny on track for a win in front of 50,000-plus delirious fans in the Lyon heat, all chanting for equal pay as the USWNT lifted the trophy. That tournament has shaped Heath, and the rest of her teammates forever. 'That's why the whole team is doing what they're doing now,' Heath said. 'You can't feel what we felt leading up to that tournament, during that tournament, when we won. You can't feel that and not believe that you're doing something so f—king important for the world. Advertisement 'You feel that responsibility — and that's what it is — and you want to keep carrying that responsibility as far forward as you can.' When players retire, the first question is, 'What's next?' For Tobin Heath, that question has already been answered in a myriad of ways, but probably not definitively. Not yet. 'We deserve the right to explore because we started this job when we were three years old. We didn't choose, it chose us,' Press said. 'Now, she gets to choose what she does next, whether it's coach, whether it's to be an entrepreneur, whether it's one of the millions of things she wants to do. She's an artist, she's a world builder. What I'm most excited for is to see her try things.' Advertisement That's where projects like World Sevens and the technical study group for the Club World Cup come into play — they're likely not permanent career paths, but explorations of options. Though Heath had to accept that nothing would take the place of football. 'The point is, that space is never going to be filled. I'll have more space for things, but nothing will ever fill that void. I got into cycling, and I'm a maniac, and I crush myself,' she said. 'I don't know if she told you, but she's riding a stage in the Tour de France,' Press said. Heath will ride it a few hours before the pros, a 60-mile stint with plenty of incline. 'She's training for it. And to see her — she can barely run — but to see her using her physicality and trying new things and learning and being at the bottom of something, it's really beautiful.' Advertisement Instead of trying to replace soccer, Heath said she is 'acknowledging and celebrating how awesome and how deeply meaningful that gift was to me, and being able to mourn it.' Thursday marks an ending for Heath, a complicated one. Still, there's a freedom to that door having fully shut behind her, even if she didn't realize it three years ago. The catalyst of 2019 still drives her, as does the dream she saw in Portland. There are other ways to create. 'Right now,' Heath said with her usual smile, 'I feel like I have an abundance of time and energy to really build lots of worlds.' This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Advertisement US Women's national team, Portland Thorns, Manchester United, NWSL, Women's Soccer 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
10-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Ex-USWNT midfielder Tobin Heath retires: Broken-foot goals, slugs and building new worlds
Former U.S. women's national team midfielder Tobin Heath has retired from professional soccer, the player announced Thursday. The news comes three years after her final professional appearance and a serious left knee injury that required multiple surgeries. She leaves the game — on the field, at least — as a two-time World Cup winner and two-time Olympics gold medalist with the U.S. women, a two-time NWSL champion with Portland Thorns FC and a three-time NCAA champion with the University of North Carolina. Advertisement But for Heath, the news of her official retirement is almost secondary as she grapples with the long-term impact of her knee injury. She's lost the ability to play the game at even a casual level and with it a part of who she was. 'I had a personal journey back in January that I came to my own acceptance of not playing anymore,' Heath told The Athletic on Wednesday. 'It was me grieving not being able to play soccer anymore. For me, that was the greatest gift that had ever been given to me and such a core part of my identity and how I express myself and know myself to be.' Heath said she struggles even with running in a straight line. She described the heartbreak of having a ball roll up to her, knowing her ability isn't there anymore — that the way she previously expressed herself in the world was no longer available to her. 'Football is a 360-degree sport, and I can't do it. If I ever would try to do it, it's really sad. So that part is the hardest part,' she said. 'The actual playing of soccer is gone, not even the professional or playing in a World Cup and stuff like that. The actual gift that was given to me when I first started. That gift is gone.' What started as a feeling of a pinch in her knee during preparations for the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021) turned into something much more: the discovery of a hole in her knee cartilage and two surgeries, including an eventual cartilage replacement. While Heath was able to play in the Tokyo Olympics, earning a bronze medal with the USWNT in her final major tournament, the rest of her soccer career was hampered by the injury including brief stints at Manchester United and Arsenal, before returning to the NWSL and a handful of final matches with the Seattle Reign. Her final NWSL appearance was August 14, 2022, a 4-1 win over Gotham FC. Heath's USWNT career ends with 181 appearances, 36 goals, 42 assists and 10,171 minutes played. Advertisement She described an emotional conversation she had with her wife and former teammate, Christen Press, earlier this year. She said she had forgotten how she was as a soccer player, not just in terms of playing ability, but also her personality and competitiveness. 'There was a long period of time where I knew that she would not be signing another professional contract,' Press said in a phone call with The Athletic on Wednesday. 'It was my job to leave space for her to find that out on her own.' For the last three years, Heath always thought she would come back. She had a plan to retire after a lengthy career. She had a plan to evolve as an older player, a desire to mentor the next generation in the locker room. She never expected the 2019 World Cup to be her last one. 'I thought I was literally going to be peeled off the field,' Heath said. Even with months of coming to terms with who she was without kicking a ball, Heath never intended to announce her retirement. It has been three years since her last appearance; she's been plenty busy co-hosting the RE-CAP show with Press, their other endeavors through RE-INC, helping start World Sevens Football and serving as the only woman in FIFA's technical study group for the men's Club World Cup this summer. The absence from playing will also make her eligible for the National Soccer Hall of Fame in the upcoming voting cycle. The USWNT Players' Association informed Heath they wanted to honor her alongside other retired players at their upcoming Players Ball event. These two external prompts, along with some prodding from Press, helped her realize she hadn't actually taken time to close the door to playing. In a recording of Thursday's episode of The RE-CAP Show, Heath's emotions are on display as she describes coming to terms with her injury and retirement. Press jokes that if it weren't for her, the retirement celebration wouldn't have come together, while fondly acknowledging that Heath 'really has evolved' by allowing herself this moment. Advertisement Press adds a brief imitation of Heath: 'I'm a purist. I'm a footballer. I just play to play.' But, as Press reminds Heath, a moment like this is also for her family, for the fans, and most importantly for Heath herself. 'You can see how emotional she is in the episode. She's having this cathartic moment that she didn't want to have because she hates feelings, but she needed to have in order to really have closure,' Press said. 'I was four years old, and I just immediately felt a click as soon as I touched the soccer ball. It was like destiny,' Heath said of her childhood in New Jersey. 'Everything that I was obsessed with in football, I had to go out and seek and crave, and create my own pathways,' Heath said. Her parents weren't soccer people; she didn't have a sibling who played. It was something entirely of her own. 'I'm lucky because Jersey is a hotbed for soccer,' she said. 'I was extremely fortunate where I was born, but this was just self-motivated destiny, something inside me, knowing I was supposed to play soccer.' Heath found her way to the University of North Carolina, winning three national championships in her four years, and making her USWNT debut in 2008 while still in college. She nutmegged a Finnish player in one of the first touches of her debut. That same year, Heath earned her first gold medal with the USWNT as the youngest player on the Olympic roster, making three appearances off the bench. Heath was drafted first in the 2010 WPS draft, a precursor to the NWSL, by the Atlanta Beat. Her rookie season was mostly a wash after an ankle injury kept her out for most of the season. She was traded to Sky Blue FC for her second season, but by the end of the 2011 season, the league shuttered. She played a single game for the New York Fury in the gap year of 2012 in WPSL Elite, the same summer she and the USWNT picked up a gold medal at the London Olympics. Her next move changed everything. 'That was another click-destiny moment, because I don't know how I ended up in Portland,' Heath said. Ahead of the NWSL's first season, every national team player was given the option to rank their top three preferred teams. As an East Coaster, Heath hadn't even ranked Portland, assuming there was no way she'd be sent there. Instead, U.S. Soccer allocated her to the Thorns, alongside forward Alex Morgan and defender Rachel Buehler. Though she detoured through Paris on a six-month contract with Paris Saint-Germain, she made it to Oregon for the back half of the 2013 season. Advertisement Heath scored the winning goal for the Thorns in the inaugural championship while playing on a broken foot. Thinking back on her career, she focused less on the results of her tenure and more on what her time in Portland revealed. 'It showed what women's sports could be, and that was the beginning of it all. I felt like I was dreaming when I was in Portland. I was dreaming of the world that I wanted to create,' she said. 'It was such a gift to be seen as a professional, to be valued in the craft that I had dedicated my life to.' A post shared by RE—INC (@re__inc) That level of appreciation and support unlocked something for Heath over a decade ago. 'It pushed me on the path of believing what I think women's sports could be,' she said. 'They showed me a value and a worth that I never knew could exist in women's sports, and made me want to fight for it.' On the field, Heath is the player the current generation unanimously crowns the most technical the U.S. has had. She had creativity, a silky touch, an ability to break a defender's ankles and endless nutmegs. Clips of a signature Tobin move went viral after USWNT games. Sometimes that desire to create would get in the way of making the right call on the ball, as coach after coach drilled into her that the willingness to try things didn't have to be abandoned, but harnessed. It wasn't just being able to dribble at players, but serve up a cross or get on the end of one too. Heath scored the final goal in the USWNT's 5-2 romp over Japan in the 2015 World Cup final, adding the final exclamation point in the team's ascension back to the top of the world. The memory of who she was as a player was central to Heath's journey to this moment, but Press has also been reflecting on decades of memories over the past few months. She noticed how their memories sometimes differ. 'When (Heath) talks about scoring in a World Cup final, she talks about it from the perspective of dreaming of scoring a World Cup final more than actually having done it,' Press said. 'I think the intensity of professional sports means sometimes that you can't remember. It's been challenging and beautiful and emotional for me to be by her side throughout this process, and try and leave her space to grieve and to refuse to grieve and to be stuck and to have movement, and be supportive of wherever she is on the journey.' Advertisement The memories of the 2019 World Cup are clearer, though her initial description of how she remembered the USWNT's back-to-back World Cup wins was surprising. 'It was horrible in a lot of ways. It was so much pressure, so many expectations on the footballing side, the pay equity side, so much tension politically,' Heath said. 'If any of us pretended we were in control, we were completely out of control. For me personally, going into that World Cup, I was playing some of the best football of my life. I was poised to have an incredible World Cup. Obviously, contributing to us winning was incredible, and to have it culminate in how it did was beyond control and was complete destiny.' The small moments offered a reprieve from the mounting pressure on the team. 'One time, we were eating a salad at a meal,' Press said, barely holding in her laughter as she told the story. She described a moment during the preparations for 2019 when the team trained at Tottenham Hotspur's facilities. 'Everything was grown on the campus, and there was a big slug in her lettuce. Everyone else would have been like, 'This is disgusting!' And she was like, 'This is amazing! So organic!'' The silly moments, the human moments, the surreal moments of that summer all helped keep that team of destiny on track for a win in front of 50,000-plus delirious fans in the Lyon heat, all chanting for equal pay as the USWNT lifted the trophy. That tournament has shaped Heath, and the rest of her teammates forever. 'That's why the whole team is doing what they're doing now,' Heath said. 'You can't feel what we felt leading up to that tournament, during that tournament, when we won. You can't feel that and not believe that you're doing something so f—king important for the world. 'You feel that responsibility — and that's what it is — and you want to keep carrying that responsibility as far forward as you can.' When players retire, the first question is, 'What's next?' For Tobin Heath, that question has already been answered in a myriad of ways, but probably not definitively. Not yet. 'We deserve the right to explore because we started this job when we were three years old. We didn't choose, it chose us,' Press said. 'Now, she gets to choose what she does next, whether it's coach, whether it's to be an entrepreneur, whether it's one of the millions of things she wants to do. She's an artist, she's a world builder. What I'm most excited for is to see her try things.' Advertisement That's where projects like World Sevens and the technical study group for the Club World Cup come into play — they're likely not permanent career paths, but explorations of options. Though Heath had to accept that nothing would take the place of football. 'The point is, that space is never going to be filled. I'll have more space for things, but nothing will ever fill that void. I got into cycling, and I'm a maniac, and I crush myself,' she said. 'I don't know if she told you, but she's riding a stage in the Tour de France,' Press said. Heath will ride it a few hours before the pros, a 60-mile stint with plenty of incline. 'She's training for it. And to see her — she can barely run — but to see her using her physicality and trying new things and learning and being at the bottom of something, it's really beautiful.' Instead of trying to replace soccer, Heath said she is 'acknowledging and celebrating how awesome and how deeply meaningful that gift was to me, and being able to mourn it.' Thursday marks an ending for Heath, a complicated one. Still, there's a freedom to that door having fully shut behind her, even if she didn't realize it three years ago. The catalyst of 2019 still drives her, as does the dream she saw in Portland. There are other ways to create. 'Right now,' Heath said with her usual smile, 'I feel like I have an abundance of time and energy to really build lots of worlds.' (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Photo: Douglas P. DeFelice / Getty Images)
