Sometimes, sports are just cruel.
In what was widely believed to be Megan Rapinoe’s final game in the National Women’s Soccer League, the veteran forward suffered what appeared to an awful lower-body injury in just the second minute of the match. Rapinoe, playing for OL Reign in the NWSL Championship game against Gotham FC, went down without making contact with another player.
A few minutes later, Rapinoe hobbled off the field after exchanging a hug with her U.S. national squad teammate, Ali Krieger
Megan Rapinoe goes down with an injury less than three minutes into the NWSL Final in her last career game 💔
She receives a standing ovation from Snapdragon Stadium pic.twitter.com/uwqG2epzMK
— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) November 12, 2023
Rapinoe, 38, has had a decorated career in women’s soccer and will go down as one of the best to ever wear the uniform for the U.S. national team. She helped lead the Stars-and-Stripes to gold medals in the 2012 Olympics, and the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. She was also named FIFA’s Best Women’s Player in 2019. And for her club, OL Reign, she’s tallied 51 goals and 26 assists across 115 matches in 10 seasons.
Saturday night was supposed to be a storybook ending for Rapinoe. Instead, her career ended in disappointment with an untimely injury.
Fans and media alike in women’s soccer were devastated for how Rapinoe’s night came to a halt: