Two-time World Cup winner and former U.S. national team captain Becky Sauerbrunn has retired after a 16-year career, the 39-year-old defender announced on Tuesday.
Sauerbrunn, a four-time NWSL Defensive Player of the Year, has lifted the championship trophy in the American League’s top division three times and won Olympic gold with the United States in 2012. She missed the 2023 World Championships 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 I would still take it back.”
Beloved by fans and known for her constant presence in the locker room, Sauerbrunn was the heart and soul of the U.S. defense during a critical period in the U.S. program, helping the team to World Cup victories in 2015 and 2019.
She played her final NWSL season with the Portland Thorns.
“This is not the end. I’ll be nearby. I love this game too much to give it up for good,” Sauerbrunn wrote. “But for the first time in sixteen years, I will find some peace and close my eyes for a while.”
Sauerbrunn made 219 appearances in her international career after breaking her nose on her international debut in 2008. She is one of 14 players to have played 200 or more times for the U.S. women’s national team.
“I learned early on that we all just rent our jerseys,” Sauerbrunn said in a statement provided by US Soccer. “To have once worn the American Football crest was an honor and a privilege for which I am forever grateful.
“The fact that I had to do it over 200 times really humbles me.”
She is the latest of several high-profile American tennis players to hang up their boots after Alex Morgan and Kelley O’Hara announced their retirement this year, ending an era for the highly successful American team.
Starting goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher said last month she was retiring from international duty but would play club soccer next year.
