U.S. girls’s nationwide crew goalkeeper introduced her retirement from worldwide soccer Monday, forward of the crew’s two European friendlies in opposition to England and the Netherlands. She mentioned the European matches will probably be her final.
A 2019 World Cup winner and gold medalist at this summer season’s Paris Olympics, she’s going to proceed taking part in for the within the . She re-signed with Chicago in September to play via the 2025 season, which will probably be her tenth season with the membership.
For the USWNT, nonetheless, it’s the top of a serious goalkeeping period. Naeher’s profession stands comfortably within the prime three amongst different World Cup winners Briana Scurry and Hope Solo.
“Each tear shed within the difficult instances and disappointments made each smile and celebration within the moments of success that rather more joyful,” Naeher wrote Monday in her announcement on social media. “This has been a particular crew to be part of and I’m past pleased with what we’ve got achieved each on and off the sphere.”
Naeher made her debut a decade in the past in December 2014, and after stints as the first backup goalkeeper for the 2015 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, she took over the no. 1 spot following that quarterfinal exit. Forward of what might be her two remaining video games for america, she holds a file 88 wins, 14 attracts and solely six losses via 113 appearances.
“Having the chance to be part of the USWNT for the final 15 years has been the best honor,” she wrote. “Once I started this journey, I by no means might have imagined the place it could take me.”
She earned her a centesimal cap earlier this 12 months in the course of the W Gold Cup and cemented her standing not simply as somebody who might save penalty kicks, however convert them as effectively. Within the W Gold Cup semifinal in opposition to Canada, she buried her try from the spot but additionally saved three of Canada’s makes an attempt — marking her as the one USWNT goalkeeper to make three saves in a PK shootout. She’d repeat the identical double later that spring, in opposition to Canada, in the course of the SheBelieves Cup.
On the this summer season, she as soon as once more stepped as much as assist propel the USWNT to their gold medal victory, together with a poster-worthy save in opposition to Brazil within the closing moments of the gold cup recreation at Parc des Princes. Off the sphere, she bonded with the ahead line of , and Mal Swanson (also called “Triple Espresso”) who .
“We’re making her just a little extra mushy gushy with us, which I feel is good,” Rodman mentioned in France. “We’re opening up a aspect that I feel has all the time been there, nevertheless it’s hidden just a little bit.”
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US Girls’s nationwide crew, Chicago Crimson Stars, Soccer, NWSL
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