U.S. women’s national team (USWNT) legend Heather O’Reilly announced on July 28 that she is coming out of retirement to join Shelbourne Football Club in Ireland. Meanwhile, the 37-year-old midfielder humorously drew a comparison with the Manchester United star-forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
After Manchester United failed to qualify among top four Premier League clubs last season, Cristiano Ronaldo will unfortunately feature in the Europa League this season. Recently, Heather O’Reilly, who will mark her debut in the Champions League this season with the Shelbourne Football Club, has joked on Ronaldo's absence from the prestigious club event.
Heather, who is of the same age as Cristiano Ronaldo (37), took to her official Twitter handle to announce her participation in the Champions League this season. She wrote, "Heading to go play Champions League at age 37 and Ronaldo isn’t ? HAO-7."
O’Reilly retired in 2019 after winning a FIFA women's World Cup and three Olympic gold medals with the USWNT through 231 appearances. The World Cup winner has decided to un-retire to follow her Champions League pursuit.
Earlier, O’Reilly said on a podcast, "I had a long, successful, trophy-ridden career and I am very proud of that, but there was this one hole on my resume that I never played Champions League football. It was a disappointing end to my time over with Arsenal when I wrapped up with them in 2018, it irked me, it bothered me. It was always a thing in the back of my head."