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Megan Rapinoe has played her final ever game for the US Women’s Football team
Featured Image Credit: KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images. Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF

Megan Rapinoe has played her final ever game for the US Women’s Football team

She held back tears as she reflected on the incredible impact she has had on women's football.

Megan Rapinoe has played her final ever match for the US Women's Football Team.

The two time World Cup winner was a part of the friendly match between Team USA and South Africa.

The two sides met at Soldier Field in Chicago and Rapinoe got to leave with high spirits after they beat the South Africans 2-0.

The second goal was headed in by Emily Sonnett after a corner kick from Rapinoe.

She was a part of the starting XI and was subbed off in the 54th minute.

It was the striker's 203rd game with the national side and as she was running off the pitch, she took one moment to take a bow and the crowd went wild.

Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF

Ahead of the match, she insisted she had no regrets from her glittering career, which includes 66 club goals, more than 60 goals on the international level, a Ballon d'Or Féminin trophy and the 2019 Best FIFA Women's Player.

She revealed it was in 2011 that she discovered she could make a big impact in the sport.

"I think my experience of coming out just after the (2011) World Cup, leading into the Olympics was a big one in the reaction that I got, whether that was people coming up to me saying how much that meant to them or gave them space to come out," she said.

"I think I realized right then, as the popularity of the team started to grow that people came to see us not just for what we were doing on the field, they came to see themselves in us.

"So how could we use that, and how could we use the growing platform to fight for ourselves, but also fight for other people."

Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF

"I think coming home from that first World Cup was a really eye-opening experience.

"When we left, I think there was 7,000 people at Red Bull [Stadium].

"When we came back after not winning the World Cup, being on all the morning shows and realizing that the game had changed very dramatically for everyone in this country, for women's soccer.

"So, it's kind of a combination, kind of an evolution, but if I had to pinpoint one thing, it was probably that cross."

Rapinoe sparked controversy in 2016 when she knelt during the national anthem in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick.

Following the backlash, she insisted she would probably never sing the anthem again.

In an emotional address following her final match, she said: "It's been my honor to represent you guys, to play for so long, to be so successful and it's going to be my honor to be an alumni of this team and watch this team to be as successful as we have been and even more."

She added: "It just makes me really proud to know that we've been as successful in the field as we have but that we've also made the world a little bit better of a place."

Topics: Sport, US News