Despite playing center back or defensive midfield for her entire WNT career, Ertz has 19 career international goals. Few players (although Abby Wambach comes to mind) have exhibited such fearlessness inside the penalty area. Seven of her goals have come off free kicks and eight off corner kicks. Nine of her 19 goals have been headers, nine were scored with her right foot and one with her left. Impressively, 37 percent of her goals (7 of 19) have been game-winners.
Ertz debuted for the USA in 2013 against Scotland in Jacksonville, Tenn., and seven years later, after persevering through the valleys and navigating the peaks that elite athletes must travel, she finds herself on the cusp of a magical number for any international soccer player: 100 caps.
Julie Johnston first burst onto the world stage as the captain of the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team that won the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan. As a center back, she was awarded the Bronze Ball as the third-best player in the tournament, a rare honor for a defender.
Her talent, grit and overall potential were evident during that World Cup, but those qualities guarantee nothing when it comes to breaking into the senior side. She had miles to go before she would become the player she is today.
She would get her first full-team call-up under Tom Sermanni early in 2013 but played just five games from that point until March of 2015.
Then came the 2015 Algarve Cup and an injury to veteran center back Christie Rampone. Johnston was inserted into the starting lineup in Portugal – and scored her first career goal, against France – then stayed there as the USA went on to win the 2015 Women’s World Cup. She was stellar throughout the tournament in Canada, playing every minute of all seven games in the middle of the defense with veteran Becky Sauerbrunn.
She had a solid 2016, playing in 19 of the USA’s 25 games (missing two at the end of the year due to her wedding to Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro tight end Zach Ertz and their honeymoon) but saw action in just two of the USA’s four Olympic matches as the Americans crashed out in the quarterfinals.
Then came one of the most unusual years that any WNT player has ever experienced. At the start of 2017, Ertz found herself out of the starting lineup as U.S. head coach Jill Ells began to re-tool the team in preparation for the 2019 World Cup run. She played sparingly, if at all, through the first eight games, seeing only 123 minutes of action.
Then came the summer and the Tournament of Nations. The USA had lost to Australia, 1-0, in Seattle (which remains its most recent loss on home soil) and traveled to San Diego to take on Brazil in its second game.
The match was tied 1-1 when Ertz entered the game in the 57th minute at defensive midfielder. It was not an unfamiliar position for her, as she’d played there in college and for the U-20s. Shockingly, Brazil then scored twice, once from a corner kick and once from a direct free kick, to take a 3-1 lead.
