Longtime U.S. women’s national team defender Becky Sauerbrunn announced her retirement on Tuesday.
Sauerbrunn, now 39, won two World Cups and one Olympic gold with the USWNT, and captained the national team toward the end of an accolade-laden 16-year career.
Sauerbrunn represented the U.S. on the senior level 219 times, which is the 10th-most in USWNT history. On 42 of those occasions she served as captain, the fifth-most in USWNT history.
“I learned early on that we were all just renting our jerseys,” said Sauerbrunn in a statement via U.S. Soccer. “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.”
Along with the World Cup and Olympic success, Sauerbrunn won three titles with FC Kansas City and Portland of the NWSL, in which she has played every season in the league’s history. She won NWSL Defener of the Year four times, including three in a row from 2013-2015, and made the NWSL Best XI on a league-record seven occasions.
