Boston Breakers midfielder Leslie Osborne is in the middle of one impressive comeback season.  2010 in general is a comeback from a rough 2009 season with FC Gold Pride, but Osborne also just returned to the Breakers line-up after missing all of June with a leg infection.  In many ways, Osborne has been the key ingredient to the recent turnaround in Boston's season and will continue to be as the Breakers push for a playoff spot.

In this one-on-one interview, Osborne talks about coming back from the injury and keeping the team positive, how her experience in Boston has differed from 2009 with FC Gold Pride, and her U.S. Women's National Team aspirations:

Jeff Kassouf: So you are coming back from injury now.  Can you talk a little bit about the infected leg?

Leslie Osborne: Yeah I actually had an infection in my leg and I practiced that whole week and that day and later that night I couldn’t walk and by the time I got a diagnosis it was about five or six days later and I had a pretty bad infection in my leg.  I’m still not sure exactly how it got there but, yeah, I had to have surgery because it was found so late.  And I was out for a month just trying to let this thing close up and make sure the infection was out of my leg.

JK: That happened on the road game at Sky Blue FC (May 29), right?

LO: Yeah I played in that game and I got kicked and that’s where the infection kind of happened.  I think I had a contusion and it turned into an infection, so I played in that game, I felt great and that week’s Thursday (July 3) is when it started.  So it was really odd.

JK: And you are feeling alright now?  Do you really feel 100 percent yet?

LO: Yeah, well you know I have only been training now for about two and a half weeks so for about a week and a half I was really sore and just my whole body and fitness level had declined because I was out for a month.  But, I think last weekend it was huge.  I got to play 90 minutes, but this game (July 11 against Atlanta) I really felt like myself and I just have to be careful with the wound because it is not healed all the way.  So, I think my body and my fitness level and everything is good.  I think I am close to 100 percent.  Probably the middle of this week I’ll be feeling back to normal.

JK: So are you playing with it wrapped and protected?

LO: Yeah, I have a lot of bandage and protection going on right now because if it re-opens I have to obviously have it stitched back up and sit back out, so I am being very careful with it – as much as I can.  If I get kicked, then that’s one thing but I am just trying to protect it as much as I can.

JK: Where is the infection?  Is it lower or upper leg?

LO: It’s in the middle of my shin, so if you take your tibia – literally I had surgery on my tibia bone.  So, it’s a pretty hard spot for it to heal all the way just because every time I walk, every time I sweat and it gets wet.  So, if you saw my leg it’s really not a pretty sight.  It’s definitely not pretty and it’s probably going to be like this for the next three months that I play soccer here.

JK: Did you find it easy to get back into the flow of things after being out for a while?

LO: It was great.  I mean, I think me sitting out for a month, it was hard.  I felt so helpless.  Me being co-captain of the team was a hard position to be in because the team was struggling and I kind of felt helpless.  I couldn’t do much and just to be back out on the field last week and to be out training with the team – I mean, I can’t tell you how excited I was to be on the field with them last week and for us to get a win last week and for us to come through and do what we did Sunday, it was huge for us.  You know, obviously you can be a leader when you are not on the field, but it’s pretty special to be healthy and out there with the team, especially being away from the team for a month, so that’s really, really nice.

JK: Tony was saying a couple of days ago that he looks to you for that leadership on and off the field.  You have seen the turnaround now both from the bench and from the field.  How did those situations differ and what did it make you see?

LO: Yeah, it’s funny that you say that because for a while I was saying how much I learned from being out that month and just watching and watching the girls train, hearing the dialogue go on, watching the interactions go on, and I learned a lot.  And I think when I got back to training with the team, my role on this team off the field; I just want to keep the team close.  That’s something I’ve always been about.  I just think that teams that are close off the field are going to do anything for each other on the field, so I think it was important for me – I mean I wish I didn’t have to sit out for the month – but I think it was good for me.  And to come back and to make that team believe that we are a good team and how close we are and that we would do anything for each other off the field.  That is going to carry over to on the field and we keep plugging away and people are starting to get negative and people are starting to get really frustrated with themselves and negative and it’s hard to see so many people like that, especially when you see so many great leaders on the team get like that.  So, what I just try to do is just kind of ‘fake it until you make it’ kind of thing.  Stay positive, control what you can control and it’s going to come.  It’s going to come.  Just keep reminding them.  I don’t know, I think our team really has been ourselves for a while.  I think we just needed the luck to go our way for just one game.  One turnaround was going to help us and I think these past two wins have been an example that we have been a good team, but we’ve had now a little luck go our way and that’s what we needed, so it’s huge for our team just to get the two wins.

JK: Yeah, you could definitely sense the relief as Tony was saying.

LO: Oh yeah, I am sure he is definitely a little bit more relieved.

JK: I wanted to ask you about wearing the armband.  Kristine Lilly wasn’t there Sunday so you wore it, but you also wore it last year on the opposite coast at FC Gold Pride.  Do you sense differences between the two situations?

LO: Yea, you know, being a captain last year on our team was hard.  We were still a good team but we weren’t successful and I felt like I didn’t have a coach that completely invested in me being the captain and I think here on this team I have a coach that believes in me and wants me to be that person and I think that just really helps me in general – being a leader when you have a coach investing in you and believing in you.  I think our coach struggled with the fact that we weren’t successful last year so it’s hard for him to believe in me because we were unsuccessful.  This situation, I got to play with Kristine and Julie Foudy and them back on the national team like seven years ago and it has just been really special to me to watch them be great leaders and to play with them and to now, six, seven years later I am playing on the same team with Lil’ on a pro team and we are captains together.  It’s a pretty special thing for me and I don’t take it for granted at all.  Me wearing the captain’s band (Sunday) was really special for me, and she is an awesome leader and I’ve learned a lot from her but it was cool (Sunday) for me to be with all these girls who have been working so hard.  To get that result, it was really big for us.

JK: And what has it been like swapping coasts over to Boston?  I know you are close to Puma now as well.

LO: You know, I have been in California for eight years so moving out here has definitely been a change, but a good change.  I love Boston.  Puma is great.  They are right around the corner, so obviously I do a lot for them and with them.  It’s been great and whenever I come here for Puma I’ve been really excited so Boston has always been – I’ve wanted to come here, but I knew something would actually have to happen for me to move here.  So, I am actually going to stay here during the off-season, which is pretty crazy for me because I don’t know about this winter.  I still have a lot of close friends in California so I might leave for a month.  But, it’s been really easy.  The Breakers organization as a whole has just been an awesome transition for me.  When I was a free agent, just coming here, I can’t tell you more of a smooth transition that I have had.  I’ve just been so impressed with everybody here and just the city and our fans and everything.  It’s been a really cool transition for me and who knows, I might end up living here.  This could be like my home base.  I’ll be here for three years – well if the league is still good – I’ll be here for a couple more years so it’s good to know that this is my home now.

JK: Well hopefully the league is still good.

LO: Yeah, I don’t want to take it for granted or anything, but you know I should be here for another two years if everything goes well.

JK: True.  I wanted to ask you about the National Team picture.  You mentioned it a little bit.  Is that something that you are still hoping to get involved back in for Germany 2011?

LO: Yeah, of course.  I haven’t been in with them since the December camp.  (U.S. Head Coach Pia Sundhage) and I have conversations and she really – I think she likes me as a player and she really values me, but unfortunately she doesn’t play with a holding midfielder in her system.  She sees me as more of a defensive player.  She values what I do, but I am not offensive enough for her and that is something that is hard for me to translate into the game here because Tony likes me as a defensive center midfielder.  For our team to be successful he thinks that that is the position I should play on this team.  I had a conversation with Pia a month ago right before I got injured and you know, it’s all about timing.  Unfortunately I got hurt and you know, of course I would love to be back in with the team.  I am very competitive.  I still would love to represent our country again, so of course it is in the back of my mind, but at the same time I just love the game again and I just love this team and I am enjoying it.  So, I think if it happens, it will happen, but I am just trying to play the best I can play here and have this team be successful and I know that in the end if it works out, it will work out.

JK: Yeah, holding mid is always a position that gets overlooked without the big stats and numbers.  You did get an assist on Sunday, though (later taken away).

LO: Oh yeah, it was cool.  Jordan Angeli came in for us and it was just cool to be involved a little bit more in the attacking part of the game and you know, I just want our team to win and whatever way I can help our team be successful, that’s what I am going to do.  That’s the way I look at it.

JK: Finally, I just want to ask you what kept you going and what keeps you going in general that makes you so positive?

LO: You know, sometimes you can get caught up in some things and I always just remember how much worse it could be.  Like, I could have had an infection that spread to my body.  I am lucky that I am alive.  I am lucky that I can walk.  I am lucky that I can run again and I just try to keep things in perspective because I know that it could be a lot worse.  That’s what I remind myself of everyday and I think that’s what keeps me with an opportunistic attitude.  I am so lucky.  I live a life that I love.  If I am sitting out and I have to watch my team it is hard, but then you are like, wait a second, let’s get back to reality here.  It’s like a constant mind game for me if I get down.  It’s hard to see the team lose three in a row and just sit there and at the end of the day it is like, gosh, it could be so much worse.  So, that’s kind of how I look at things.