Soccer Football - International Women's Friendly - United States Training - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - October 6, 2022 Becky Sauerbrunn of the U.S. during training Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/File Photo
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two-time World Cup winner and former U.S. national team captain Becky Sauerbrunn has retired from professional soccer after a 16-year career, the 39-year-old defender said on Tuesday.
The four-time NWSL Defender of the Year, Sauerbrunn hoisted the championship trophy in the top-flight American league three times and won Olympic gold with the United States in 2012. She missed the World Cup in 2023 due to injury.
"Sixteen years ago I woke up dreaming and I haven't slept since," Sauerbrunn wrote on social media. "That makes it sound easy. It was never easy. But even so, I'd run it back."
Loved by fans and known for her steady presence in the locker room, Sauerbrunn was the heart and soul of the American backline through a critical period in the U.S. programme, helping the team to World Cup wins in 2015 and 2019.
She played her final NWSL season with the Portland Thorns.
"This isn't the end. I'll be around. I love this game too much to leave it for good," Sauerbrunn wrote. "But for the first time in sixteen years I'm going to find a quiet moment and close my eyes for a bit."
Sauerbrunn won 219 caps in her international career, after famously breaking her nose in her national team debut in 2008. She is one of 14 players to earn 200 or more caps for the U.S. women's team.
"I learned early on that we were all just renting our jerseys," Sauerbrunn said in a statement provided by 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."
She is the latest of several high-profile U.S. players to hang up their boots, after Alex Morgan and Kelley O'Hara announced their retirement this year, marking an end of an era for the highly decorated U.S. team.
Starting goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher said last month she was retiring from international duty but would play club soccer next year.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Toby Davis)
