Player With Limb Difference Makes Debut With US Team

Carson Pickett, who was born without a left hand and forearm, made history with the US national women's soccer team in Tuesday's 2-0 win in a friendly against Colombia. The 28-year-old became the first player with a limb difference to play for the USNWT, and she stayed on the field for all 90 minutes, the Washington Post reports. The defender, who has also played for the US under-17 and under-23 teams, plays professionally for the North Carolina Courage in the National Women's Soccer League. The game in Utah extended the USWNT's 69-game undefeated streak on home soil.

Pickett was filing in for Emily Fox. "Carson did very well in training for us last week and with the management of minutes for Emily Fox that we had, we felt like Carson would be a good replacement, and I'm happy that she was able to perform well for 90 minutes," coach Vlatko Andonovski said, per the AP. Images of Pickett went viral in 2019 when she met a toddler fan with with the same limb differences. She has also worked with Nike on a soccer cleat without laces that need to be tied, a task she says seemed almost impossible when she was a child. (More soccer stories.)