USWNT star Christen Press reveals why the last six months have been 'the best of her life' despite ACL injury hell

Press has endured a traumatic last two years, since tearing her ACL in a match against Racing Louisville. Now, the Angel City FC star is back on the training pitch, having undergone four separate surgeries, and missed out on the USWNT squad for the 2023 World Cup.

Despite her arduous setbacks - she says she had to "grieve" after missing the opportunity to play at the World Cup - Press insists that the past six months have been positive, as she has undergone what some would call post-traumatic growth.

Press told The Athletic: “Before, you called me a diva, and now I’m delightful. It’s not going to be like that; that’s not what life is. But I will say, the last year of my life — maybe even shorter, the last six months — have been the best of my life because of the space that my ACL created for me to heal as a human. I’m still on that journey, and I intend to stay on that journey.”

She added: “Getting that role in the team where I can be happy and joyful and chasing excellence, really appreciating what I’m doing and what I’m able to do.

“Because if I go back, and I go back and feel the same way that I did about soccer and winning and scoring, then that will feel like a bigger failure than not making it back at all.”

Press is starting to kick a football on a daily basis again and will hope to return to competitive action soon. Angel City play Houston Dash this weekend.