U.S. ladies’s nationwide staff and defender introduced her retirement from skilled soccer Tuesday, after a 16-year profession that may finish with 219 appearances for the nationwide staff. Sauerbrunn, 39, had performed within the since its inaugural season in 2013.
“I discovered early on that we have been all simply renting our jerseys,” Sauerbrunn mentioned in U.S. Soccer’s information launch Tuesday. “That I acquired to put on the U.S. Soccer crest as soon as was an honor and privilege for which I’m eternally grateful. The truth that I acquired to do it over 200 occasions is really humbling. I competed with and discovered from a number of the biggest gamers and leaders this sport has ever seen, and I think about myself past fortunate to have been capable of play a small half on this program’s storied historical past.”
Sauerbrunn retires as a two-time World Cup winner, 2012 gold medalist, 2020 bronze medalist, three-time NWSL champion and four-time NWSL defender of the yr. She was additionally a key a part of the USWNT’s struggle for equal pay, and has served because the USWNT Gamers Affiliation’s president for years.
Sauerbrunn served as a USWNT captain for a few years, however missed out on the 2023 World Cup resulting from a foot harm. She additionally by no means scored a world objective (although she scored 5 throughout her NWSL profession), making her the file holder for many USWNT caps and not using a objective. In her membership profession, she was one in all solely eight gamers to earn minutes in each NWSL season since 2013. She was additionally named to the NWSL Greatest XI seven occasions, greater than every other participant.
Sauerbrunn mentioned Tuesday that she doesn’t plan to depart the world of soccer; she’s been a daily co-host with on podcasts for “The Girls’s Recreation” and not too long ago attended a media bootcamp organized by the gamers affiliation earlier this month.
For a participant who by no means beloved the highlight, Sauerbrunn’s retirement announcement with none type of farewell tour or sport shouldn’t shock anybody. Whereas Portland and the USWNT will nearly actually attempt to honor her in some kind in 2025, Sauerbrunn’s profession was at all times one in all placing the staff earlier than herself.
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US Girls’s nationwide staff, Portland Thorns, Soccer, NWSL
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