Sam Mewis ruled out of 2023 NWSL campaign

Ahead of the 2023 NWSL season, the Kansas City Current confirmed Sam Mewis is not expected to feature in the upcoming campaign due to her ongoing injury. 

“Midfielders Sam Mewis and Claire Lavogez, along with defender Mallory Weber remain on the Season Ending Injury list, although Lavogez and Weber are expected to return at some point this season,” the update said.

The midfielder continues to nurse a knee injury she sustained during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, undergoing an initial surgery following the international tournament and a second in January. 

“I don’t have a timeline for my return to soccer,” Mewis said in January, before revealing she would need a third procedure done. 

The player has featured in just two games since the Olympics in the summer of 2021, most recently in a Challenge Cup fixture last March. Now, she remains “focused on her recovery and future.”

“Mewis will be focused on her recovery and future as she works her way back from her progressive injury to her right leg,” the team said in its news release.

“I’ll be starting my rehab at home where my family can support me,” added Mewis in a statement posted to her Twitter account. “I gave everything I had after my last procedure in 2021. This has been a really difficult time for me personally and I’ve been devastated to be away from soccer for so long.”

Internationally, US women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski confirmed earlier she will not take part in the upcoming World Cup this summer in New Zealand and Australia. 

“At this point I don’t want to guess what the time is or if she is going to be back at all,” Andonovski said ahead of the team’s two January friendlies against New Zealand. “With Sam, it’s a long-term injury and at this point, you know, we probably would not go into details for that.”

Her absence is a huge blow to the team, after she played a major role in the 2019 edition of the tournament to inspire the USWNT to its second consecutive trophy. The midfielder started five of the team’s seven matches in France, including the final against the Netherlands.

Overall, Mewis has earned 83 caps with the USWNT in her career, scoring 24 goals.