“I’m a pretty strong person, I would like to say. Yeah, I’m pretty strong,” midfielder Chloe Logarzo says of who she is today.
It was in the 82nd minute of the CommBank Matildas’ international friendly against South Africa last year that Chloe Logarzo made her glorious comeback to football. But while her substitution may not have been do-or-die for the team – who were already ahead 4-0 with less than 10 minutes of time left in the game – getting the tap on the shoulder from coach Tony Gustavsson was symbolic of so much more.
“I think I just needed to take a moment to soak it all in,” the 27-year-old said, reflecting on the moment she closed her eyes as she returned to the pitch for the first time in over a year.
“I think all of the hard work, the blood, sweat, the tears, I would want to say the feeling of loneliness but there wasn’t much of that, I had a great support network around me of my friends and my family and the team so I was really blessed with that part.
“But really, just trying to soak in the moment of all of the hard work that I had done to get back to where I was. I think was meant to be there.”
Logarzo would end up in tears after the final whistle, embraced by her teammates after marking her return to the team with a spectacular victory.
Her comeback came after a gruelling 13 months of rehabilitation after an ACL rupture back in September 2021 – an injury that can be career-ending for so many.
According to Logarzo, who describes herself as “quite an emotional player”, it was the support from her family and the team that helped her push through the lengthy recovery process.
“I think it’s crucial,” she said of the importance of a good support system. “For me, in my life, and I guess for everyone else on this team, we have these very unique friendships where we’re never really together.
“We’re quite distant but we’re always just a phone call away, whether we’ve spoken every single day, or we’ve gone months without speaking, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support network that I have.”
When she broke down in tears after the final whistle in her first game back representing the CommBank Matildas, her teammates embraced her in a show of support. If you ask Logarzo, there is no question that the rest of the team has her back, “100 per cent.”
“I say it all the time, we spend more time with these girls than we do with our family and I’ve been grateful enough to have grown up with almost all of these girls, and when you think about it, that’s 10+ years,” she said.
“To be able to have everyone there to support me through my first cap, all the way to now and through all of the ups and downs, no one else understands me as much as they do.
“It's amazing to be surrounded by them and really feel the love when it’s needed, so I definitely felt that. I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone else, so I’m really happy that I was given the opportunity to."
While Logarzo couldn’t actually represent the team on the pitch during the 13 months she spent recovering from her ACL tear, the feeling of being “part of the team” never waned.
Opportunities like providing commentary during the CommBank Matildas Asian Cup matches not only allowed Logarzo to maintain a connection with the team, but also helped her overcome loneliness by finding meaning outside of playing.
“I think I’ve really been able to be settled with having an identity outside of football and kind of leaning on that,” she said.
“I was a part of the team, even when the girls went to the Asian Cup, I was still a part of it. I still did the commentary, so that, for me, gave me fulfilment even if it wasn’t on the field, I still felt connected to the girls and I was at peace with that.”
In addition, to support from her teammates and family, Logarzo says getting a dog – a rescue pitbull named Cannoli – has been “the best thing that could’ve ever happened” to her during her recovery.
“It’s like they say, your pet is a reflection of you and I see so much of me [in Cannoli],” Logarzo said of the pitbull she and partner McKenzie Berryhill adopted.
“She is so misunderstood, people look at her and think she’s frightening but honestly, she’s so sweet. She has such a kind heart and she’s so gentle but she’s also been through a lot of sh*t. So, I feel like we kind of had the same path, I guess.”
After an impressive club career playing across Europe and America, Logarzo has returned to Australia to play for Western United in their inaugural season in the A-League Women's competition. The decision to sign with Western United, Logarzo says, was strategic.
“I need minutes,” she said, point blank. “I need to be playing games, I hadn’t played a game in 13 months. So, for me, it was the best decision to come home and get minutes before my Kansas City season starts again.”
Logarzo is clocking up minutes at the club but is yet to play a full 90 – a decision that coach Mark Torcaso has defended in an effort to protect her hopes of getting the call-up for Australia in July.
"Chloe is a fighter, but she also understands where she's at. She's bought into this club, and she's really driven by making sure she's ready for the World Cup,” Torcaso said in a press conference.
Out on loan for just one season, Logarzo’s time at Western United will be brief, but she intends on using that time to impart her wisdom from years of international experience on the younger players for the greater good of Australian football.
“I don’t know how long is left in my career so I would like to give something back to the league that gave me so much,” she said of the A-League, where she got her start at Sydney FC back in 2011.
“If we think about the CommBank Matildas in the future, everyone who plays in the A-League is the future of the CommBank Matildas. So, if I can help in any way to make the league the best that it can be I am extremely excited about that.”
While temporarily out of A-League action due to a foot injury – Logarzo knows she only has one chance at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™, and she’s determined to make it count.
“I sacrificed so much in those 13 months, that I need to be thinking about football and what’s ahead because I only get one chance at this World Cup and I want to make sure that I am putting all of my eggs in one basket to be the best prepared that I can be.”