Injured striker cut from squad before World Cup debut

The Brazilian women’s soccer team suffered its first loss in the World Cup. Striker Nycole was sidelined late on Monday night with a left ankle injury. Midfielder Angelina, who was on the substitute list and was already with the delegation in Australia, was included in the group of 23 players who will compete in the World Cup.

“Forward Nycole Raysla is excluded from the 2023 Women’s World Cup. The player suffered a sprain in her left ankle during a training game and will not have time to recover. For the vacancy, coach Pia Sundhage has called up midfielder Angelina”, says official statement from the CBF.

Nycole fought against time to recover from an injury to his right ankle, which happened in the game against Chile, the last friendly for Pia Sundhage’s team before the delegation’s trip to Australia. With the intensive work of the medical department, the athlete recovered during the training period in Gold Coast, Australia.

However, last week, in a training match for the Brazilian team, the player suffered an injury again, now on her left foot, and ended up being banned. Before the cut was made official, Nycole left the rally with the rest of the group on crutches and a protective boot on her foot.

Summoned to replace Nycole, Angelina also recovered from injury recently. In the Copa América final, in July 2022, the midfielder suffered a total rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and the lateral meniscus of the right knee, having to undergo two surgeries to correct the injuries and with a period of 10 months for recovery. total.

At the time of the injury, due to the severity and complexity of the recovery, Angelina was considered by many as an athlete who was already out of the World Cup. However, in the middle of the first half of 2023, the OL Reign player from the United States started working in the field and the chance of being able to be in the World Cup increased.

In the weeks that preceded the selection of the Brazilian team, Angelina was part of the group of athletes that Pia called for a period of training at Granja Comary and the athlete was called to make up the list of substitutes for the coach, along with striker Aline Gomes and Defender Tainara. Despite not being in the same position as Nycole, the OL Reign midfielder “beat the competition” with Aline and will now make her World Cup debut.