Megan Rapinoe, the iconic face of the U.S. women’s national team, announced Saturday that she will retire at the end of the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League season, and that the 2023 Women’s World Cup will be her last. Rapinoe made the announcement at a news conference in San Jose, one day before she and the USWNT will depart for that World Cup, which will be Rapinoe’s fourth. She’ll leave the game this fall having won at least two World Cups, one Olympic gold, and millions of fans along the way. And she’ll leave with “a really deep sense of peace, and gratitude, and excitement,” she said. The Associated Press has the story:
Megan Rapinoe to retire after NWSL season
Newslooks- CHICAGO (AP)
Days before heading to her fourth World Cup, Megan Rapinoe announced Saturday she’ll retire at the end of the National Women’s Soccer League season. This is going to be my last season, my last World Cup and my last NWSL season,’ she told reporters. ‘Obviously there will be more to come, further down the road, after hopefully we get done what we want to get done.
‘I just want to say thank you to everybody, to Vlatko Andonovski, US head coach, to US Soccer, to everyone I’ve played with, all of my coaches. I could never have imagined where this beautiful game would have taken me.
‘I’ve been able to have such an incredible career, and this game has brought me all over the world and allowed me to meet so many amazing people.
Rapinoe, 38, made the announcement on Twitter, saying she “never could have imagined the ways in which soccer would shape & change my life forever.”
“It is with a deep sense of peace & gratitude that I have decided this will be my final season playing this beautiful game,” the Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Cup champion said.
The U.S. team is aiming for a third consecutive title when the Women’s World Cup kicks off on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
