The United States women’s national soccer team will have to defend its Olympic gold medal without Sydney Leroux, one of its biggest guns.
Leroux revealed Monday that she and husband Dom Dwyer are expecting their first child. Leroux and Dwyer used Instagram to share photos, which indicate the baby is due in September.
Leroux’s pregnancy rules her out of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2016 NWSL season, in which she would have played for FC Kansas City.
Team USA will begin the Olympic qualifying tournament next month with just Alex Morgan and Christen Press as the forwards who helped win the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup last summer in Canada. Abby Wambach retired at the end of 2015, and Amy Rodriguez also will miss most of the year because she’s pregnant.
Leroux was expected to play a major role for Team USA this year, but her pregnancy will prevent her from doing so.
Life happens.
Thumbnail photo via Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports Images
