Megan Rapinoe, 38, burst onto the worldwide stage on the 2011 World Cup in Germany when she scored a screamer in opposition to Colombia and celebrated by grabbing an on-field microphone positioned close to the nook flag and crooning Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”. A star was born.
Since then, the enduring neon-haired winger has gained gold on the London 2012 Olympics, bronze on the Tokyo 2020 video games and each the 2015 and 2019 FIFA World Cups as an integral a part of the US Women’s National Team (USWNT).
She was named participant of the match at her final World Cup in France 4 years in the past after scoring six – together with a spotkick within the closing in opposition to the Netherlands – and picked up each the Golden Boot and that 12 months’s Ballon d’Or Feminin.
Rapinoe additionally triggered a serious political stir again dwelling when she was caught on tape declaring “I’m not going to the f***ing White House” within the occasion that her aspect secured the trophy, expressing her disdain for the divisive insurance policies of then-president Donald Trump and advising her teammates to “think hard” earlier than accepting any honours from his administration.
She has since continued to make use of her superstar to marketing campaign for LGBT+ rights causes and for equal pay for girls, talking on that concern at 1600 Pennsylvania on the invitation of Trump’s successor, Joe Biden.
As a participant, this summer season’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand marks Megan Rapinoe’s final hurrah as she has introduced her retirement on the finish of the approaching season. She arrives within the southern hemisphere having made 199 appearances for the USWNT, scoring 63.
Rapinoe was born in Redding, California, on 5 July 1985, one in all 5 youngsters together with a twin sister, Rachael, who was additionally an expert footballer. Her brother Brian first turned his sisters on to the game and Megan has since spoken movingly about his subsequent battle with medicine and wrestle to remain out of jail.
As an adolescent in highschool, Rapinoe performed for Elk Grove Pride in Sacramento earlier than enrolling on the University of Portland in Oregon, the place she proved herself a prolific goalscorer for the Portland Pilots. Turning skilled thereafter, her membership profession has taken her from the Chicago Red Stars and Philadelphia Independence to the short-lived MagicJack staff in Boca Raton, Florida, to Sydney FC in Australia, the Seattle Sounders and to Olympique Lyonnais in France.
Since 2013, she has performed for OL Reign in Tacoma, Washington, favouring the US Pacific Northwest area as her accomplice Sue Bird, retired basketball celebrity, plied her commerce close by for Seattle Storm.