The United States women’s national team defender Crystal Dunn has said that players had to “compartmentalise everything” on Thursday after a central Auckland shooting left three dead, including the gunman, only a few blocks from the team’s hotel.
“This is very real,” Dunn said. “Our condolences are with the families of the victims. Everyone handles these situations differently so it’s important to give people the space that they need to work through, obviously, the trauma that has occurred today. But just understanding that we’re a unified team and we give people the space that they need. Hopefully today, we’re able to get on the pitch and just have ourselves a kickaround and just try to be connected again on a tough day.”
