As she makes her return from ACL and ankle reconstruction surgeries, FC Gold Pride captain Leslie Osborne has already logged two full 90s. (John Todd | isiphotos.com)

With the return of women’s professional soccer to the United States so too came Leslie Osborne, reemerging from an ACL injury – that kept her out of the 2008 Beijing Olympics – as the team captain of the Bay Area franchise, FC Gold Pride, who host the Washington Freedom on Sunday on Fox Soccer Channel (6pm ET/3pm PT). It's a perfect fit considering she is, after all, a Santa Clara alumna.

In late May 2008, Osborne tore her ACL while defending against U.S. national team player Heather Mitts in a 5-v-5 small-side game during training camp. It turned out to be only the beginning of a domino effect of injuries that hit the U.S. team last summer: defender Cat Whitehill, now with the Washington Freedom, went out with an ACL tear and Abby Wambach also with the Freedom, fell to a severe broken leg – all of them missing the Beijing Games. After reconstruction surgery on both her ACL and left ankle, often sprained due to ligament strains, Osborne looked ahead to playing in Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) in 2009.

“Things were not looking so good when I had my surgeries last year, since I was not going to be able to play in the Olympics again [in 2004 Osborne was one of the last players released prior to the Games] and I was worried a WPS team would not want to invest in me during the allocation process,” recalled Osborne. “But, things happen for a reason and I do believe that being part of the beginning of the WPS is a dream come true in itself.”

For a player like Osborne, who graduated college in 2004 just after the demise of the WUSA, it made for a particularly long wait.

“I have been waiting for this day since 2003 when the WUSA folded and plan to work incredibly hard for my team, this league and for the possible opportunity for other girls to be part of this truly amazing opportunity.”

After a month of WPS preseason, Osborne was back on familiar turf at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara on April 5th in the home opener with her new team, FC Gold Pride. She played 65 minutes against the Boston Breakers and helped her team to three points with a hard-earned 2-1 victory. Osborne was in her familiar midfield territory, but fans were left with questions as to whether she was truly back to 100 percent health – a team captain rarely exits a match before the final whistle blows.

“I think overall that I am back to 100 percent, health-wise, since I was out of the game healing and recovering for a while,” said Osborne. “Soccer-wise I still have some ways to go. Every day gets better and better though, and my confidence grows.”

With just over a month of professional playing time under her belt since returning with FC Gold Pride, Osborne says she is now more determined than ever to be successful and confident on the field. In her team’s second match against Sky Blue FC, Osborne traveled to the East Coast ready to play a full ninety. Her team left New Jersey with a 1-1 tie, and Osborne left with her first full professional game played since the injury last May.  She logged another 90 minutes in a 1-0 loss to the Los Angeles Sol this past Sunday.

Time off the field gave Osborne the opportunity to evaluate her goals as a professional athlete. Believing she has been truly lucky to embark on a professional soccer career with both the U.S. National Team and now with WPS, Osborne hopes she can bring a new energy to FC Gold Pride knowing she has learned from some of the greatest female players in the world – Julie Foudy in particular. While playing with Foudy in 2004, Osborne developed admiration for her leadership, capabilities as a player and her overall character.

“I was just amazed by Julie, not only as a soccer player, but as a leader and as a person,” she said. “I think I learned a lot from her on how to be a great teammate and leader. I am very excited and hopeful to be a great leader like she was and captain for our
team this year.”

Now Osborne moves on hoping to have a strong leadership presence as one of the more experienced players on the Bay Area team. Spectators can also anticipate her becoming increasingly more valuable in the midfield as she regains her form. She also has plenty of all-star forwards to serve to, with international standouts Christine Sinclair and Eriko Arakawa, heading up FC Gold Pride’s front line.

Osborne’s goal is to enjoy every moment in the league, but if that leads to a call back with the national team, Osborne knows she will be ready to play. Developing confidence after injury can be a recovery process in itself, but Osborne has no fear when it comes to getting back on the pitch.