Linehan notes that despite all the attention Rapinoe got for her protest, it wasn't until in 2019 that she really exploded - becoming not just a famous women's soccer player, but famous, period. the way that she can whip in free kicks, that way she can whip in crosses, like there's a texture to it that you don't see a lot of people able to hit.' 'I would say from very early on, just her vision on the field, and the ability to execute what she wants to do' made her unique, Sauerbrunn said. Sauerbrunn and Rapinoe met at a youth national team camp when they were teenagers. And then I would put Megan Rapinoe right up there.'

'For me, she's top,' says Becky Sauerbrunn, a veteran of the U.S. Women's National Team history when it comes to both goals and assists. Rapinoe is ranked among the top 10 in U.S. team when they won the Women's World Cup again.

In 2015, she was part of the team that won the U.S. Everybody who knows and watches and plays soccer knows that.'įrom there, Rapinoe's prominence as a soccer player ramped up. 'It was a much better cross than it was a goal. goal scorer in international soccer, says that Rapinoe's kick, which sailed across the field to her, was perfect. 'Oh man, what a freakin' moment,' said Abby Wambach, describing the play in a recent interview. Her last-second assist in the quarterfinals to Abby Wambach tied the game with Brazil and became an iconic moment in soccer history. She had been playing professionally for just a short time when her career was launched to a new level at the Women's World Cup in 2011. I'm saying goodbye to, you know, so many players that I have played with for a long time.'īefore Rapinoe joined the Reign in 2013, she had been making a name for herself on the field with the national team.

'This feels like I'm saying goodbye to my team,' Rapinoe said. Unlike the national team, which has an ever-changing roster of players and coaches, the Reign has remained a home base she could always count on. In a news conference before her last home game with the OL Reign in Seattle, Rapinoe reflected on how this goodbye felt different from the one with the U.S. 'She's such a larger-than-life person in a lot of ways, who also just comes across as very, like, accessible and warm and someone you're kind of, like, proud to have in your hometown.' won the 2019 World Cup.įans wear pink wigs and stickers with the number of OL Reign forward Megan Rapinoe during the first half of an NWSL soccer match between the Reign and the Washington Spirit, Friday, Oct. Outside the stadium before kickoff, fans could get face paint, make signs, and get their hair sprayed pink in honor of Rapinoe and the hairstyle she wore when the U.S. Friday night was her last regular season home game in Seattle with the OL Reign, the team she's played with for her entire 11-year NWSL career.Ĭelebrating the star were 34,000 fans at Seattle's Lumen field, breaking the NWSL attendance record. Known for her talent on the field and activism off it, Megan Rapinoe has been an outsized figure in women's soccer. One of soccer's greatest stars will retire this fall, at the end of the National Women's Soccer League season. The Spirit and the Reign played to a scoreless draw in Rapinoe's final regular-season home game before her retirement at the end of the season. OL Reign forward Megan Rapinoe blows a kiss during a ceremony honoring her career, after the team's NWSL soccer match against the Washington Spirit on Friday, Oct.

Seattle lumen stadium