LOS ANGELES (UNITED STATES), September 25 (dpa/EP) –
Star soccer player from the United States Megan Rapinoe ended her brilliant international soccer career this morning with a victory against South Africa (2-0).
Rapinoe, 38, Olympic champion and two-time world champion, left the field in Chicago in the 54th minute of her 203rd game with the national team, hugging her teammates, blowing kisses and greeting the fans amidst a standing ovation.
“It has been a great honor to be able to wear this jersey, play with all these incredible players and make my childhood dream come true, coincidentally, in front of the world,” Rapinoe said after the game.
Rapinoe won Olympic gold in London 2012 and the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, and has scored 63 goals in her 17-year international career, in which she also received FIFA’s The Best and the Ballon d’Or in 2019. The dream of his third consecutive world title vanished after missing a penalty in the shootout in which the United States lost to Sweden in the round of 16 of this year’s tournament.
Her influence off the pitch has been just as great, as a fierce fighter for equal pay for female footballers, racial equality, LGBTQI rights and other social issues.
“We fought hard off the field to continue creating more space for us to be who we are, and we hope that in turn there will be more space for you to be who you are,” she declared. Rapinoe will definitively end his career next month, after the end-of-season games of his club, Seattle’s OL Reign.