Megan Rapinoe, the iconic soccer star who transcended her sport to become one of the most outspoken, gifted and dynamic athletes of her generation, doesn’t want to wait until the end to say that this season is the end.
She will not play after the Women’s World Cup, which begins later this month in Australia and New Zealand, holding that she will retire at the end of this year, after her last major tournament for the United States. and his last season for his professional team. In perfect Rapinoe fashion, there’s no way she can keep quiet about something that’s important to her.
So at a news conference Saturday before the U.S. game against Wales in San Jose, Calif., Rapinoe, 38, announced it was time for her to say goodbye.
“I just want to thank everyone,” she told a room full of reporters as the US team prepared to fly to New Zealand for the Women’s World Cup. “I can never imagine where this beautiful game will take me.” He called playing for the national team “the greatest thing I’ve ever done.”
After 17 years with Team USA and nearly as many years speaking out in support of a variety of issues including LGBTQ rights, equal pay, the Black Lives Matter movement and voter rights, Rapinoe will play her fourth Women’s World Cup and her last National Women’s season. Soccer League. He said he feels at peace and grateful that he can finish his career on his own terms, and on top of his sport, too.
During Rapinoe’s career filled with highlight-reel material on and off the field, she played in 199 games for the national team and scored 63 goals for the United States. He is a three-time Olympian and won gold with his team at the 2012 London Games. And seemingly exactly when his team needed it, he came through with clutch plays, making his mark as a creative and dangerous forward.
Perhaps nowhere did his ability to perform under pressure show more than when he scored twice in the quarterfinal against France at the 2019 World Cup. His goals came just days after former President Donald J. Trump criticized him on Twitter for his stance that he would not go to the Trump White House if his team won the tournament.
Trump said: “Megan has to win before she’s a MYSTERY! Get the job done!”
Rapinoe, however, did not give up. In the fifth minute of that match against France, he scored a free kick and ran to the corner of the field, stretched out his arms and enjoyed the applause of the fans. Sporting hair dyed purple that often changes color during the season, he scored again in the second half to lead the team to the semifinals, with a 2-1 victory. The Americans went on to win that world title, their second in a row.
Rapinoe was amazing on the field in 2019. She won the Ballon d’Or as FIFA women’s player of the year. His six goals in the World Cup helped him win the Golden Boot as top scorer and the Golden Ball as top player.
“She’s a great player who has done so much for this program, so much for soccer in general,” said Alex Morgan, Rapinoe’s longtime teammate. “I’m really happy for him that he’s going to come out strong, hopefully.”
He added: “Now we have to win the whole thing.”
Rapinoe said she’s extremely grateful that her body has stopped after all these years, but that she’s on “a little borrowed time.” Like most elite athletes who have been around for nearly two decades, he has battled injuries.
Currently, Rapinoe is dealing with an ankle injury and a calf injury has kept her out of the national team’s two friendlies against Ireland in April. Even if he’s not at 100 percent, however, his leadership will be key for a relatively inexperienced U.S. team that has 14 World Cup rookies on a roster of 23 players. Many of them idolized Rapinoe when they were growing up, and still do.
“It’s everything to her,” defender Crystal Dunn said, adding that Rapinoe has been an inspiration to her throughout her career.
“He’s someone I look up to and lean on from time to time about random things, not even soccer,” Dunn said. “I think he’s someone you always want in your corner.”
It’s those random things and “little things” that Rapinoe says she’ll remember and miss the most. Like the feeling when he walks into the locker room after a championship match to see the lockers covered with tarps in anticipation of a wild champagne celebration, or the excitement of seeing his teammates join in rejoining the squad after their maternity leave.
Or what it’s like to compete in an Olympics: His retirement this year means he won’t be playing in the 2024 Paris Games next summer. “There are certain things in the game that I think you have to mourn when you walk away,” he said.
Rapinoe will try to control all emotions now that the news of her retirement is behind her and the final moments of her career are near. He said he can now focus on winning the World Cup without any distractions.
One thing she learned “very early on,” Rapinoe said, is that “if there’s one second on the clock, that’s enough time.”
Claire Fahy reported from San Jose, Calif.
