GOAL sat down with the USWNT midfielder to discuss her rehab, her new purpose and the emotions of seeing your loved ones get their chance.
Sam Mewis is doing okay. She’s still recovering from her knee injury, the one that has kept her out of a U.S. women’s national team jersey for the last two years and will unfortunately see her miss the Women’s World Cup. One knee, multiple surgeries, two years out and, ultimately, one World Cup dream gone up in smoke.
A World Cup is the pinnacle of a player’s career. Mewis has already been to, and won, one, but who wouldn’t want another crack at it? A healthy, in-form Mewis would be a key figure for the USWNT this summer if not for that injury.
That fact, though, doesn’t make accepting it all any easier. Knowing what could have, and should have, been makes moments like this even harder. And Mewis, admittedly, has spent much of the last two years not just rehabbing her knee, but rehabbing her mind due to all of the trouble that injury caused her.
She’ll still be majorly connected to this World Cup, though. Two sisters, one born and one chosen, will be in the USWNT squad this summer, and Mewis will, of course, be watching and cheering, sweating out every result from afar. What comes after that? It’s too soon to tell. But, as the USWNT prepares to defend their World Cup title Down Under this summer, Mewis has accepted her new role, even if it isn’t the one she always dreamed of.
Ahead of the World Cup, GOAL caught up with Mewis to discuss her recovery, the World Cup and her renewed sense of purpose during a challenging time in her playing career.
