"A sick joke". That’s how Megan Rapinoe described her final kick of a ball at a Women’s World Cup, having blazed her penalty over the bar in a dramatic shootout that ended in the United States women’s national team suffering its earliest ever elimination. But the iconic forward isn’t done yet. There’s still one last dance before she calls time on her career – and in some ways it is even more significant than the World Cup.
Since the NWSL, the top-flight of women’s soccer in the U.S., was founded in 2013, Rapinoe has represented the same club, OL Reign. The team has consistently been one of the best in the division, qualifying for the playoffs seven times, winning three NWSL Shields – the award given to the side that finishes top of the regular season standings – and reaching the NWSL Championship game twice. Yet, that Championship title has continued to elude Rapinoe and the Reign.
Most of the names that have delivered major tournament success to the USWNT alongside the 38-year-old in the past decade or so have had the honor of hoisting that trophy high above their heads. Alex Morgan, Becky Sauerbrunn, Tobin Heath, Crystal Dunn, Kelley O’Hara, Lauren Holiday, Heather O’Reilly, Amy Rodriguez, Sam Mewis, Emily Sonnett, Jessica McDonald – we could go on and on.
But Rapinoe has one last chance at glory in the NWSL Championship game on November 11. When full -time comes, will she have added her name to that list? Or will the final chapter of her career have another unwanted conclusion?