U.S. women’s national team and Portland Thorns defender Becky Sauerbrunn announced her retirement from professional soccer Tuesday, after a 16-year career that will end with 219 appearances for the national team. Sauerbrunn, 39, had played in the NWSL since its inaugural season in 2013.
“I learned early on that we were all just renting our jerseys,” Sauerbrunn said in U.S. Soccer’s news release Tuesday. “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.”
With so much love and gratitude. pic.twitter.com/huOtKMjBmW
— Becky Sauerbrunn (@beckysauerbrunn) December 17, 2024
Sauerbrunn retires as a two-time World Cup winner, 2012 gold medalist, 2020 bronze medalist, three-time NWSL champion and four-time NWSL defender of the year. She was also a key part of the USWNT’s fight for equal pay, and has served as the USWNT Players Association’s president for years.
Sauerbrunn served as a USWNT captain for many years, but missed out on the 2023 World Cup due to a foot injury. She also never scored an international goal (though she scored five during her NWSL career), making her the record holder for most USWNT caps without a goal. In her club career, she was one of only eight players to earn minutes in every NWSL season since 2013. She was also named to the NWSL Best XI seven times, more than any other player.
Sauerbrunn said Tuesday that she doesn’t plan to leave the world of soccer; she’s been a regular co-host with Sam Mewis on podcasts for “The Women’s Game” and recently attended a media bootcamp arranged by the players association earlier this month.
For a player who never loved the spotlight, Sauerbrunn’s retirement announcement without any sort of farewell tour or game shouldn’t surprise anyone. While Portland and the USWNT will almost certainly try to honor her in some form in 2025, Sauerbrunn’s career was always one of putting the team before herself.
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(Photo: Lyndsay Radnedge / ISI Photos / Getty Images)
