Two-time FIFA World Cup champion and 2019 Ballon d’Or Féminin winner Megan Rapinoe will retire at the end of the 2023 NWSL season, she announced Saturday. Here’s what you need to know:
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
What made Rapinoe such a unique player?
Rapinoe was a rare player for her importance both on and off the field. At the peak of her career, she was a creative force who could deliver game-changing balls from her position on the wing. Her iconic 122nd-minute delivery of the game-winning ball to Abby Wambach against Brazil in 2011 helped put the U.S. women’s national team into the global spotlight, which Rapinoe took full advantage of in advocating for issues off of the field, including equal pay and racial justice.
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Inspired by Megan Rapinoe, the Burlington High Seahorses’ ‘dope’ equal pay campaign shows USWNT impact
When she publicly came out as gay before the 2012 Olympics in Out magazine, she helped create a cultural moment in sports, contributing to ongoing momentum towards more acceptance of LGBTQ+ athletes in the United States. And when she followed in Colin Kaepernick’s footsteps and chose as a white athlete to kneel during the U.S. national anthem in 2016, she helped force U.S. Soccer to confront their own policies around athlete…
