Christen Press To Undergo Knee Surgery For Fourth Time

In an emotional post on Instagram, U.S. forward Christen Press said she will undergo surgery on her knee for the fourth time.

Press, who was not included in the U.S. roster for the Women’s World Cup, said the team’s first game against Vietnam on Saturday will mark 13 months since her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) repair.

The Angel City attacker has not been involved in any of the NWSL matches that her side has played so far this year. She last appeared in the league on June 12, 2022, against Racing Louisville, as she scored one goal and assisted another in that game for her side in their 3-2 win.

“I’ve had three knee surgeries on my road to recovery. Each time, I’ve waited until I thought I was at the last phase of return to share the news about what I’d gone through…but each time, I learned later that I was really at the bottom of a bigger, scarier, higher mountain: another surgery. Some call these setbacks,” Press said on Instagram on Monday.

“But I don’t like that language because it implies there is another path that I should have been on. And those are expectations I do not accept. I am here again, with recent news I need a fourth surgery.”

Press is among a number of key absentees for the U.S., along with Becky Sauerbrunn, Mallory Swanson, Catarina Macario and others, as the team bids for a record third straight title and fifth overall at the July 20-August 20 World Cup.

“Until the roster was announced, there wasn’t a day that passed over the last year that I didn’t believe I could be there. Even after three surgeries,” the 34-year-old forward added.

“Back in February, when my surgeon and physical therapist told me directly, as medical advice, to let go of that dream, I cried. I nodded. And I thought I processed that loss. But, I also decided not to speak that truth into existence. I felt that if I shared that with all of you, I’d be manifesting it into reality. So instead, I stayed quietly hopeful. You never know what could happen, I’d say.”

The forward said the hardest part of her recovery is that she feels misunderstood.

“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,” she added.

“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.”

Press has 64 goals in 155 appearances for the U.S. and was part of their World Cup-winning campaigns in 2015 and 2019.