NPR

Megan Rapinoe, an icon bigger than soccer, takes a bow for the U.S. national team

Taking it all in one last time while wearing the U.S. Soccer crest, Rapinoe reflected on how she and her generation had changed the game during her 17 years on the team.
Megan Rapinoe waves to the crowd before her final game on the U.S. national team on Sunday in Chicago.

In her last game for the national team on Sunday, Megan Rapinoe took a final bow for her career as an international soccer player, basking in the applause and the hugs of her teammates.

While it's the finish to her remarkable national career, it doesn't quite feel like an ending, because so much of who Rapinoe is and what she stands for extends beyond the pitch.

Sometimes it seemed unbelievable that someone with such moral courage and aplomb could also score the most goals at the 2019 Women's World Cup, a winger with a foot like a laser. How could all of this talent and nerve be in one person?

The last match

In Sunday's friendly

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