United States women’s national team midfielder Sam Coffey is out for the Portland Thorns’ match on Sunday due to an ankle injury, with just over a month remaining until the start of the Olympics.
Coffey left the Thorns’ victory over the North Carolina Courage last weekend in the 36th minute with an apparent injury. She returned to the bench later in the match with a walking boot on her right foot
A Thorns spokesperson told ESPN it was “not a major injury” and the team was “being cautious.”
Coffey was said to be “week to week” with the team aiming to ensure “she’s healthy when she returns to the field.”
USWNT head coach Emma Hayes is expected to name her Olympic roster in the coming weeks, and Coffey has been widely expected to be part of that. It would be the 25-year-old’s first major tournament.
Coffey has emerged as the USWNT’s starting defensive midfielder this year amid a coaching change. She has played in every USWNT match in 2024 and started in eight of the 10 games.
Earlier this year, with interim head coach Twila Kilgore in charge, Coffey started all three knockout-stage games as the USWNT won the Concacaf W Gold Cup. She also started both games in the team’s SheBelieves Cup triumph in April.
Portland plays rival Seattle Reign FC on Sunday. The Thorns will be without Coffey, as well as NWSL leading scorer and USWNT teammate Sophia Smith, who is suspended after earning a second yellow card from the bench late in last weekend’s match.
