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Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondentDec 17, 2024, 01:14 PM ET
- Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC.
Two-time World Cup winning defender Becky Sauerbrunn, a mainstay with the United States women’s national team for over 15 years, as well as in the NWSL, announced her retirement from professional soccer on Tuesday.
She made the announcement via Instagram as well as through the USWNT.
“I learned early on that we were all just renting our jerseys,” Sauerbrunn said in a statement via US Soccer. “That I got to wear the U.S. Soccer crest once was an honor and privilege for which I’m forever grateful.
“The fact that I got to do it over 200 times is truly humbling. I competed with and learned from some of the greatest players and leaders this sport has ever seen, and I consider myself beyond lucky to have been able to play a small part in this program’s storied history.”
A steady, consistent defender whose reading of the game was made her one of the best in the world, the St. Louis native was part of the victorious U.S. World Cup teams in 2015 and 2019, and also was also in the gold medal-winning squad at the 2012 Olympics.
Becky Saerbrunn played in three Olympic Games and three World Cups. Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images
She finishes with 219 appearances at international level. Overall she played in three Olympic Games and three World Cups. An injury kept her off the 2023 World Cup squad. She captained the USWNT 42 times in her career, fifth most in USWNT history.
Sauerbrunn said on Instagram, “Nothing will compare to the last sixteen years. How could it? The challenge of chasing victory. The bravery to fail. The willingness to suffer. The joy and relief when you achieve it. The drive to go again. Sixteen years ago I woke up dreaming and I haven’t slept since. That makes it sound easy. It was never easy. But even so, I’d run it back.
“Because what a gift.”
In terms of Sauerbrunn’s club career, she made over 200 appearances in the NWSL with Kansas City FC (now the Kansas City Current), the Utah Royals, and most recently the Portland Thorns. She won a pair of NWSL titles with Kansas City in 2014 and 2015, and another with the Portland Thorns in 2022. She was also part of the Thorns sides that won the Community Shield in 2020, as well as a trifecta of titles in 2021 that included the NWSL Challenge Cup, the International Champions Cup, and the NWSL Shield.
Off the field, Sauerbrunn’s was among those at the forefront of the USWNT’s push for equal pay, which culminated in the landmark Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2022 that saw the USWNT achieve equity with their USMNT counterparts. She also was a strong advocate for women’s rights and racial quality, adding to her already considerable legacy of excellence in all manner of endeavors.
