US star Rapinoe departs football with injury and defeat in NWSL final

SAN DIEGO: United States women's football icon Megan Rapinoe limped out of the final game of her storied career on Saturday (Nov 11), suffering a suspected torn Achilles tendon less than three minutes into the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) final which her OL Reign team lost to NJ/NY Gotham FC.

No other players were near Rapinoe when she went down on the pitch, and a stunned crowd at Snapdragon Stadium held their breath as medical staff attended to her.

After several minutes, the dejected OL Reign star limped off the field, fans giving her a massive ovation as she was replaced by Bethany Balcer.

The 38-year-old American had vowed that the match was "really the last one", in a career that included World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019 and gold at the 2012 London Olympics.

Despite her many achievements, Saturday's defeat means that Rapinoe retires from the game without an NWSL championship title.

"It was a tough one. Definitely not how I envisioned this last one going," a tearful Rapinoe told CBS Sports after the game. "I am pretty sure I tore my Achilles.

"Just thank you to everyone who's been on the journey for all this time. It's been amazing, maybe besides this, I couldn't have written it any different," she added.

Celebrated for her off-field activism as well as her success on the pitch, Rapinoe announced earlier this year it would be her final season.

The 2019 FIFA Women's Player of the Year ended her epic national team career with 63 goals, earning 203 caps over more than 17 years and played her final international game in September.

Rapinoe's club career did include one title, winning the French league with Lyon in 2013, and with Reign, she also won three NWSL Shields, awarded to the team with the best regular season