Megan Rapinoe, the iconic soccer star who has transcended her sport to become one of the most outspoken, accomplished and dynamic athletes of her generation, didn’t want to wait until the end to say this season would be the end.
She wasn’t going to play game after game at the women’s World Cup, which starts later this month in Australia and New Zealand, holding it in that she would retire after her last big tournament for the United States and her last season for her professional team. In perfect Rapinoe fashion, there was no way she could remain silent about something important to her.
So unexpectedly, at a news conference on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s U.S. game against Wales in San Jose, Calif., Rapinoe, 38, said it was time to say goodbye.
“I just want to say thank you to everybody,” she told a room full of reporters as the U.S. team prepares to fly to New Zealand for the Women’s World Cup. “I could have never imagined where this beautiful game would have taken me.” She called soccer “the greatest thing that I have ever done.”
After 17 years on the national team and nearly as many years speaking out to support various issues including L.G.B.T.Q. rights, equal pay, the Black Lives Matter movement and voter rights, Rapinoe will play in her fourth Women’s…
