On Tuesday an American soccer icon who left an indelible mark on the USWNT’s back-to-back World Cup-winning era announced her retirement from the game. At 39, Becky Sauerbrunn leaves behind a 16-year professional legacy as an Olympic and (twice) World Cup champion, a NWSL lifer and undisputed leader for club and country, whether with a ball at her feet or a book in her hand.
“It’s time,” she wrote, in a beautifully composed social media post that felt reflective of the voracious reader and effective communicator we knew her to always be.