Gotham FC defender Bruninha returned to match action for the first time since February in Saturday’s 2-0 road defeat to San Diego Wave FC.
The 24-year-old full-back played for 13 minutes against the Wave after recovering from a hamstring injury. The Brazil international had been sidelined since she appeared in Gotham’s February 1 third-place game victory over AS FAR in the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup.
Gotham is short on options at both right and left full-back after Kayla Duran was ruled out for the remainder of the season due to a right ACL injury, and Lilly Reale was traded to Boston Legacy FC on June 17.
The return of Bruninha is crucial for the Bats, given that there are only five healthy natural defenders on the current roster: captain Tierna Davidson, Emily Sonnett, Jess Carter, Mandy Freeman and Bruninha.
Midge Purce and Guro Reiten have been forced into wing-back duty as Davidson, Freeman, Duran, Bruninha and Reale missed time during the first half of the season.
Bruninha: ‘I’m So Happy to Be Back’
Bruninha is eager to make an impact after missing more than five months of action.
“I’m so happy to be back on the field again,” she said following Saturday’s defeat. “It has been long days and difficult days, but we never gave up. We kept working hard and giving our vibe [and] energy to the team on the field and off the field. To be back with the team means a lot to me.
“I know I didn’t play 90 minutes, but that doesn’t matter to me. Just being with the group, in the locker room with the girls, traveling together, winning games and losing games together means a lot. Things will get better, and I hope we get the three points in the next game.”
Bruninha and Freeman Add Key Experience To Gotham FC’s Back Line
Now that Bruninha and Freeman are available, Gotham has at least a modest amount of defensive depth.
Freeman, who had also been out since February 1, returned for 16 minutes in the Bats’ 2-0 NWSL Challenge Cup victory over the Kansas City Current on June 26. The 31-year-old appeared for 13 minutes against San Diego on Saturday.
“For me and Bruninha, it’s been a long journey,” Freeman said during Saturday’s post-match media availability. “We’ve been out for a while, so training has been really good to get back into the groove of things with the team.
“It’s not the result that we wanted coming into this second half of the year, but we learned a lot of lessons about how we hope to move forward. We’re already thinking about the next game in Utah. We’re going to look back, reflect on what we can do better and work toward getting the result that we want, which is a win.”
Juan Carlos Amorós on Bruninha and Freeman: ‘They Are Both Very Important’
Head coach Juan Carlos Amorós plans to carefully hand out increased minutes to Bruninha and Freeman, given their prolonged absences. It’s possible that both defenders could play larger roles against the Utah Royals on Friday.
“They are both very important,” Amorós stated during Saturday’s post-match press conference. “They’re experienced players. They know how we operate, they know how we work. We really miss them still, unfortunately. It’s not that they’ve been out for two or three weeks — they really haven’t played a game for more than six months, almost eight months.
“So, it’s going to take them some time, but already they’re integral parts of the team on the pitch, off the pitch. It’s important to have those senior players ready to step in to help the team. They’re amazing people as well. We actually celebrated Bru today because it’s been a long road to recovery. Then from here, we move forward to make sure that we can be even better next week.”
Gotham will face the Royals at America First Field in Sandy, Utah, on Friday night. The match is scheduled to kick off at 10 p.m. Eastern Time and will be shown on Victory+.
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