No U.S. women’s national team player has embodied irreplaceability in recent years quite like Julie Ertz. The 31-year-old stepped away after the Tokyo Olympics, giving birth to her first child with husband Zach Ertz in August 2022, and in her absence the team’s midfield struggled. Coach Vlatko Andonovski experimented with several solutions at the No. 6 position, but it’s become clear that the defensive midfield role, as the U.S. sets up now, is made in Ertz’s image.
So when she returned to the USWNT in April, after nearly 20 months away from competitive play, it came as no surprise that Ertz was already being touted as a lock for the World Cup roster. Her signing a one-year deal with NWSL club Angel City FC only solidified that theory. Predictably, Ertz was named to Andonovski’s World Cup roster in June, despite the relatively short return runway, ending the months-long discussion of how the squad would fare at a major tournament without the USWNT veteran.
Ertz, aware of the discourse surrounding her invaluableness, says the conversation was “humbling,” adding that she felt gratitude that people noticed her influence on the sport. This type of recognition only holds more weight as she gets older, she says.
