Posted on Oct 8, 2023
Megan Rapinoe plays her last regular season home game in Seattle
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https://www.npr.org/2023/10/08/ [login to see] /megan-rapinoe-last-regular-home-game-ol-reign
One of soccer's greatest stars will retire this fall, at the end of the National Women's Soccer League season. Known for her talent on the field and activism off it, Megan Rapinoe has been an outsized figure in women's soccer. Friday night was her last regular season home game in Seattle with the OL Reign, the team she's played with for her entire 11-year NWSL career.
Celebrating the star were 34,000 fans at Seattle's Lumen field, breaking the NWSL attendance record.
Outside the stadium before kickoff, fans could get face paint, make signs, and get their hair sprayed pink in honor of Rapinoe and the hairstyle she wore when the U.S. won the 2019 World Cup.
One of soccer's greatest stars will retire this fall, at the end of the National Women's Soccer League season. Known for her talent on the field and activism off it, Megan Rapinoe has been an outsized figure in women's soccer. Friday night was her last regular season home game in Seattle with the OL Reign, the team she's played with for her entire 11-year NWSL career.
Celebrating the star were 34,000 fans at Seattle's Lumen field, breaking the NWSL attendance record.
Outside the stadium before kickoff, fans could get face paint, make signs, and get their hair sprayed pink in honor of Rapinoe and the hairstyle she wore when the U.S. won the 2019 World Cup.
Megan Rapinoe plays her last regular season home game in Seattle
Posted from npr.org
Soccer
Seattle
LGBTQ+
Equality
Rights
Posted 7 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""She's iconic," Piro said. "She's such a larger-than-life person in a lot of ways, who also just comes across as very, like, accessible and warm and someone you're kind of, like, proud to have in your hometown."
In a news conference before her last home game with the OL Reign in Seattle, Rapinoe reflected on how this goodbye felt different from the one with the U.S. Women's National Team. Unlike the national team, which has an ever-changing roster of players and coaches, the Reign has remained a home base she could always count on.
"This feels like I'm saying goodbye to my team," Rapinoe said. "I'm saying goodbye to my coach. I'm saying goodbye to, you know, so many players that I have played with for a long time."
Before Rapinoe joined the Reign in 2013, she had been making a name for herself on the field with the national team.
She had been playing professionally for just a short time when her career was launched to a new level at the Women's World Cup in 2011. Her last-second assist in the quarterfinals to Abby Wambach tied the game with Brazil and became an iconic moment in soccer history.
"Oh man, what a freakin' moment," said Abby Wambach, describing the play in a recent interview. Wambach, the all-time leading U.S. goal scorer in international soccer, says that Rapinoe's kick, which sailed across the field to her, was perfect. "It was a much better cross than it was a goal. Everybody who knows and watches and plays soccer knows that."
From there, Rapinoe's prominence as a soccer player ramped up. In 2012, she helped the U.S. win gold at the Olympics. In 2015, she was part of the team that won the U.S. its first Women's World Cup since 1999. In 2019, she was co-captain for the U.S. team when they won the Women's World Cup again. Rapinoe is ranked among the top 10 in U.S. Women's National Team history when it comes to both goals and assists."..
...""She's iconic," Piro said. "She's such a larger-than-life person in a lot of ways, who also just comes across as very, like, accessible and warm and someone you're kind of, like, proud to have in your hometown."
In a news conference before her last home game with the OL Reign in Seattle, Rapinoe reflected on how this goodbye felt different from the one with the U.S. Women's National Team. Unlike the national team, which has an ever-changing roster of players and coaches, the Reign has remained a home base she could always count on.
"This feels like I'm saying goodbye to my team," Rapinoe said. "I'm saying goodbye to my coach. I'm saying goodbye to, you know, so many players that I have played with for a long time."
Before Rapinoe joined the Reign in 2013, she had been making a name for herself on the field with the national team.
She had been playing professionally for just a short time when her career was launched to a new level at the Women's World Cup in 2011. Her last-second assist in the quarterfinals to Abby Wambach tied the game with Brazil and became an iconic moment in soccer history.
"Oh man, what a freakin' moment," said Abby Wambach, describing the play in a recent interview. Wambach, the all-time leading U.S. goal scorer in international soccer, says that Rapinoe's kick, which sailed across the field to her, was perfect. "It was a much better cross than it was a goal. Everybody who knows and watches and plays soccer knows that."
From there, Rapinoe's prominence as a soccer player ramped up. In 2012, she helped the U.S. win gold at the Olympics. In 2015, she was part of the team that won the U.S. its first Women's World Cup since 1999. In 2019, she was co-captain for the U.S. team when they won the Women's World Cup again. Rapinoe is ranked among the top 10 in U.S. Women's National Team history when it comes to both goals and assists."..
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
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