United States icon Megan Rapinoe suffered a devastating end to her career as she was forced off injured just three minutes into her farewell appearance.
Rapinoe – a Women's World Cup winner in 2015 and 2019, the latter as co-captain of her country – had announced that the National Women's Soccer League final between OL Reign – the club where she has spent the vast majority of her career – and NJ/NY Gotham FC would be her very last match.
But what would ideally have been a glorious occasion for the 38-year-old ended in heartbreak when she suffered a suspected torn Achilles tendon.
Gotham went on to win 2-1, meaning Rapinoe – a 2012 Olympic gold medalist – retires without a NWSL title to her name. Speaking after the game, tearfully, she said:
"It was a tough one. It's definitely not how I envisioned this last one going. Thank you to everyone who's been on the journey for all this time. It's been amazing – maybe besides this. I couldn't have written it any different.
"I am just super proud of my whole career and really thankful for all that it's given me and for how long I've been able to play.
"Even though it was a tough night, it was still amazing and I'm so thankful to be here and again, so proud of our group."
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Rapinoe won 203 caps for the United States during a 17-year international career, scoring 63 goals.
Regarded as one of the greatest women's players of all time, she was honoured with the Ballon d'Or Feminin in 2019.
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