Erin McLeod will miss Olympic soccer tournament due to ACL tear

It comes as no surprise given the nature of the injury and its timing, but it's a big blow nonetheless for Canada ahead of this summer's Olympic soccer tournament that veteran goalkeeper Erin McLeod has confirmed she will miss the event and faces a long rehabilitation due to a tear of her ACL playing club football for Swedish side FC Rosengard.

"The biggest question is the Olympics and because I have already had two operations it makes a third one, well, extremely complicated," the 33-year-old Albertan said in a statement released by the Canadian Soccer Association. "What I know for sure is I won't be ready for August. My surgical options means it will take between one and two years to come back, and there are no guarantees, as there never really are in life."

As Gavin Day noted last week for Yahoo Sports Canada's Eh Game, Stephanie Labbé figures to take over the starting assignment for Canada, bronze medalists at London 2012. In an interview with the Toronto Star's Laura Armstrong last week, Canada head coach John Herdman reiterated how important McLeod is in a Canadian camp whose goalkeeping ranks were depleted with the retirement of veteran backup Karina LeBlance after last year's World Cup.

McLeod said she would try to return as she thanked the CSA, her teammates and fans. "I know that I am grateful for every moment I have put on a Canadian jersey and this is not the end of the road for me - know that I've still got a lot of fight left and I hope to be on that field against someday soon."

McLeod, who suffered the injury March 23, belongs to a shrinking group of veteran players who came up at the start of the century with Canada's U-20 team that finished second at the Edmonton-hosted U-20 World Cup. She's recorded 43 clean sheets for the senior team and been capped 115 times. All that experience and her dressing-room leadership means that 29-year-old Labbé and Canada's other top-flight backup Sabrina D'Angelo, 22 next month, have some big shoes to fill.

"Erin is an incredible athlete and her absence in the lead up to and during the Rio Olympics will be felt," Herdman said in the CSA media release. "She really puts her whole self into playing for Canada and has been a driving force in every area, including playing a key role on the off-field leadership of the team. Erin needs to take this time to recover and we are fully supportive of her choice to take this time to recover properly and hopefully come back stronger than she was before."