Tierna Davidson is a big loss for the U.S. women’s Olympic soccer team. Here’s why

Five things to know about the steadfast American defender who suffered a knee injury in Sunday’s win over Germany

One of the biggest blows for the U.S. Olympic women’s soccer team on their remarkable run to the knockout stage, was the injury to Tierna Davidson, who has been a rock along the backline for the Americans.

Davidson left Sunday’s 4-1 win following a collision with Germany’s Jule Brand in the 40th minute. She suffered a knee injury so bad that she had to be replaced by fellow defender Emily Sonnett. It’s a massive blow for both the U.S., who have relied on Davidson throughout qualifying and even tougher for Davidson, who has been dominant since a season-ending ACL tear sidelined her in 2022.

Who is Davidson? And why is she so vital to the team’s plans? Ahead of the U.S.’ final game against Australia on Wednesday (1 p.m., Peacock), here are five things to know about her:

She has spent nearly half her life in the USWNT circuit

Davidson, 25, has been on U.S. Soccer’s national team at both the youth and senior levels since 2014. She played for the under-20 youth team for four years (2014-18) and has over 60 appearances for the senior national team since making her debut on Jan. 21, 2018. In doing so, she became the youngest player on the squad that qualified for the 2019 FIFA World Cup.

She wanted to become an astronaut

Davidson, a Stanford graduate took flying lessons and had dreams of working for NASA before pursuing a career in soccer instead. Davidson, who became professional after the 2019 NWSL draft was picked up only after just three years with the Cardinal, forgoing two more years of college eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Says the Korbin Albert saga affected her personally

Davidson, who is openly gay with a fianceé, says that the homophobic posts of teammate Korbin Albert “was a difficulty situation that has obviously affected me personally, given what she was speaking on,” Davidson said on the Good Game podcast. However, Davidson also noted that Albert has “gone through a lot of learning since then and she has to continue to do that,” adding “we all do as humans.” Well said.

Was the top pick in the 2019 NWSL draft...

Typically defenders aren’t top choices, but that’s what Davidson became after forgoing her remaining eligibility at Stanford and declaring for the NWSL draft. She was picked up by the Chicago Red Stars. She’d play out her contract in Chicago before being picked up in free agency by the NWSL’s Gotham FC in January.

... and guided Stanford to a national title

Before being the top pick in the draft, Davidson had momentum stemming from being a major piece in Stanford’s run to the 2017 NCAA Division I championship. In the Final Four, she was on the field when the Cardinal defeated Florida State, 1-0 in the semifinal, before a 4-0 rout of Penn State in the final, finding Davidson collected the award of being named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player.