Canadian car crash survivor pens A-League deal

Two years after virtually dying in a critical car crash, goalkeeper Rylee Foster has penned an A-League Women contract with Wellington Phoenix.

The Canada youth worldwide, 25, was thrown by means of the windscreen of a rent car whereas on vacation in Finland in 2021 on account of a malfunctioning seatbelt.

The former Liverpool keeper suffered seven neck fractures and needed to put on a halo round her neck, medical doctors fearing she could by no means play once more.

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Foster now hopes to defy the percentages as soon as extra after signing a deal with Wellington on Tuesday.

“Joining the Phoenix is very symbolic,” Foster mentioned. “It’s a new becoming. It’s an arising from something that was literally in ashes.

“I’ve been by means of loads within the final two years, greater than most individuals undergo of their complete lives.”

Foster will vie with Brianna Edwards to become the club’s first-choice goalkeeper, with inaugural club captain Lily Alfeld sidelined for the campaign after undergoing back surgery.

New Phoenix boss Paul Temple said having Foster and Edwards on the books indicated the New Zealand club had arguably “the very best goalkeeping pair within the league.”

“We’ve been pushing to have two prime quality gamers in each place so the squad is admittedly aggressive,” Temple said.

“Brianna was our No. 1 goalkeeper within the league final 12 months, and we needed to carry another person in [who] may be a No. 1 goalkeeper.

“Those two can fight it out and there will be a really good competition for that place. I think that will bring the best out of both of them like it has everywhere else on the pitch.”

Wellington, who’ve picked up the wood spoon of their first two A-League Women seasons, start the 2023-24 marketing campaign at house to Melbourne City on Oct. 15.