It was the 53rd minute. Megan Rapinoe had just taken a corner that ended in her team’s second goal and launched a free kick that brushed the crossbar. Her number, 15, appeared on the change board. She gave up her captain’s armband, hugged her teammates one by one with a smile that illuminated her face and, after a bow of hers to some completely devoted spectators, the star of the United States women’s soccer team closed the most successful chapter of her career, that of the national team.
It was a friendly match against South Africa, turned into a farewell tribute to a footballer who has marked an era. Rapinoe, 38, says goodbye to the national team with a smile and not with the bitter tears of the elimination in the round of 16 against Sweden in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, when she missed a decisive penalty in the tiebreaker shootout. Rapinoe leaves with a record full of trophies and recognitions, but she also leaves an imprint that goes far beyond sports.
“I feel like I have been able to grow in front of all of you. We’re here in Chicago, but there are so many fans across the country and around the world. When I think about what it means to me to represent not only this team, but our country, it’s like a little snapshot of all of you. I think this team has always been very proud of that. To show ourselves as we are. I know how important it is to me. I know how important it is for the entire team. We have fought so hard on the field, we have had so much fun and we have had so much success,” Rapinoe said from the center of the field, microphone in hand at the end of the game.
“We have fought so hard off the field to continue creating more space for ourselves, to be who we are, but I hope at the same time more space for you, to be who you are. It has been a great honor to be able to wear this jersey and play with all these incredible players and live my childhood dream in front of the world. Thank you very much for always loving and supporting us, for singing everything we sing, only much louder. For always supporting us and for all the things that matter to us. I’m not going to be gone forever. Don’t worry, I’m one of you now. “I am the biggest fan of this team,” he added. At times her voice broke and tears appeared.
The player born in Redding (California) has managed to become the image of her sport. With the American team, she won gold in the 2012 Olympic Games, was runner-up in the 2011 World Cup (after losing the final on penalties) and won the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. In the latter she was not only the top scorer, She was also recognized as the best player in the tournament as a whole and in three of the matches she played, including the final. She left behind one of the most iconic images of that period of American dominance, celebrating a goal in the final with her arms outstretched and her hair dyed lilac. That same year she was chosen the Best Player of 2019 by FIFA and she received the Ballon d’Or, being the first soccer player in history to achieve both awards.
Rapinoe, however, leaves a legacy that escapes the playing field. She has been a tireless activist for equality and recognition of women’s football. After several years of unattended claims, she was one of the 28 players who sued the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) on March 8, 2019 for discrimination before a court in Los Angeles, demanding equal pay with the men’s team. The players of the men’s soccer team earned more money for qualifying for the World Cup than the female soccer players for winning it. When the Americans were crowned world champions in France in 2019, just before Rapinoe lifted the trophy, spectators at the Lyon stadium chanted: “Equal pay, equal pay!” ( “YOequal pay, equal pay!”]. As a result of that demand, the American Federation announced in May 2022 separate agreements with the associations of soccer players of both sexes that imply that the men’s and women’s teams would be paid the same.
She is one of the athletes who have openly declared themselves gay and has supported LGBT causes, including the rights of trans people, especially minors. In 2012, weeks before the London Olympics, Rapinoe publicly revealed that she was lesbian in an interview with the magazine Out, in which he indicated that he had been in a relationship with Australian soccer player Sarah Walsh since 2009. After almost five years together, they broke up their relationship in 2013. Then, Rapinoe and the artist Sera Cahoone announced their wedding in August 2015, but they ended up breaking off their engagement. Subsequently, he began a new relationship and married basketball player Sue Bird, a five-time Olympic champion with the United States basketball team, who was accompanying her in Chicago this Sunday. Rapinoe also spoke out against racial discrimination (in 2016 she knelt during the national anthem in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick). In 2022, President Joe Biden awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor.
The farewell game was played at the Soldier Field stadium in Chicago, whose stands were filled with banners of gratitude to Pinoe, as fans affectionately call it. Before, during and after the game she received all kinds of recognition and messages of tribute.
Equipped with great technique, Rapinoe has been a goalscorer for years, a regular assistant to her teammates and the set-piece specialist for the US team. Even in the farewell match she continued throwing free kicks and corner kicks. Although direct corner goals are called Olympic, no footballer, man or woman, had achieved one in a Games until she scored it in the 2012 London Games. She repeated it with another double-Olympic goal in Tokyo in 2021.
In their farewell match, the first goal came in the 18th minute, on a volley by Trinity Rodman, daughter of Dennis Rodman, after a precise pass from Alex Morgan. The second was scored by Emily Sonnet with a header in the 5th minute of the second half after the South African goalkeeper cleared a corner taken, of course, by Rapinoe, who concluded his career in the national team with a victory (2-0). The soccer player still has a few more regular season games left with OL Reign, including her farewell in front of her fans, scheduled for October 6 in Seattle. Another day of smiles and tears.
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