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USWNT star Crystal Dunn announces she's expecting first child

Add another baby seat to the team bus.

World Cup champion and two-time Olympian Crystal Dunn announced Thursday she's expecting her first child in May. The United States women's national team defender shared a series of photos with her husband, Pierre Soubrier, and baby white Nikes.

Dunn, 29, married Soubrier in December 2018 and requested a trade last October to join him in Portland, where he's the head athletic trainer for the NWSL's Portland Thorns.

The USWNT family has grown in recent years with more players choosing to have children during their playing careers, thanks in part to better maternity benefits and understanding from coaches and personnel.

Alex Morgan welcomed Charlie in May of 2020. This past February, Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger welcomed their adopted baby girl, Sloane. The duo have not been with the national team.

The NWSL is also filled with moms, including former USWNTers Jessica McDonald and Sydney Leroux.

Dunn's Thorns in playoffs without her

Crystal Dunn.
Crystal Dunn is expecting her first child. (Photo by Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Dunn opted out of the October friendlies and the final matches of the year against Australia coming up, U.S. Soccer said.

She has 24 goals and 19 assists during 123 caps with the national team and has taken on a leadership role with the USWNT players association as it negotiates a new labor contract and continues its fight for equal pay. She's also become a leading voice amid the unrest following the shooting of Jacob Blake last year.

She last played for Portland, where she plays midfield, in mid-October and has been listed as out with a left hip injury. The Thorns, who won the 2021 Shield with the best result, had a first-round bye in the NWSL playoffs and will host the No. 4 Chicago Red Stars at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday on CBS Sports Network.

Dunn helped lead the North Carolina Courage to back-to-back NWSL championships and NWSL Shields in 2018 and 2019. She was named the 2015 league MVP. She was with the USWNT for the 2016 Olympics, the 2019 World Cup victory and the 2020 Olympic bronze medal finish this past summer.