USWNT star Julie Ertz announced Monday that she and husband Zach, who plays for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, are expecting their first child together.
The two have been married since March 2017 and celebrated their five-year anniversary last week.
Ertz has been a member of the USWNT since 2013, totaling 116 appearances and tallying 20 goals. She was also a member of the NWSL’s Chicago Red Stars up until she and fellow defender Sarah Gorden were traded to Angel City FC in December.
The trades came on the heels of the Red Stars reaching the NWSL championship final and coach Rory Dames’s resignation amid verbal and emotional abuse allegations.
In early February, the club announced that Ertz was not expected to play during the 2022 season, though ACFC still retains her rights. Ertz has not played in a competitive match since the USWNT’s 2021 Olympic campaign. She played in Tokyo despite suffering a sprained MCL in Chicago’s 2021 regular-season opener in May, and there were questions earlier this year about Ertz’s absence from both ACFC and USWNT camps.
USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski said Ertz’s absence from the USWNT’s camp was a decision made from “the physical standpoint.”
Angel City has gotten off to a rocky start, with Gorden going down with a knee injury prior to the season’s start. In the 2022 Challenge Cup, the club has lost three games and drawn one.