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    • USWNT suffers major loss: goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher retires
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    USWNT suffers major loss: goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher retires

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    The US women’s national team is losing its value.

    Alyssa Naeher, the only goalkeeper to record shutouts in both the World Cup and Olympic finals, announced her retirement from international soccer on Monday. Matches in England on Saturday and in the Netherlands on December 3 will be her last with the USWNT.

    Naeher, 36, currently has 88 wins and 68 shutouts in 113 games for the USWNT, and her career goals-against average is 0.50. She is a two-time World Championship champion and Olympic gold and bronze medalist.

    “It has been the greatest honor to be a part of the USWNT for the past 15 years,” Naeher said in a US Soccer press release. “This was a special team to be part of and I am beyond proud of what we achieved both on and off the field. The memories I have made over the years will last a lifetime.”

    Naeher had the unenviable task of replacing Hope Solo after US Soccer banned Solo for multiple episodes of bad behavior. The two were polar opposites in personality; Naeher was quiet and uncomfortable in the spotlight, always deflecting credit to the rest of the team. Some suggested this would be to the USWNT’s detriment, and that not having Solo would cost the Americans at the 2019 World Cup.

    “No one has given her time yet,” defenseman Julie Ertz said ahead of the USWNT’s opener in that tournament. ‘We know who she is. We train with her every day. We know how good she is.”

    The world would soon see what Naeher’s teammates knew: She was as tough and steadfast in goal as she was in personality.

    In the semi-final against England, she blocked Steph Houghton’s penalty in the 83rd minute and then smothered the ball so that the Lionesses would not have the chance to score from the rebound. The save preserved the USWNT’s 2–1 victory and sent them to the final, where they defeated the Netherlands 2–0.

    At the Paris Olympics this summer, Naeher made a spectacular save in the 119e minute of the gold medal match to maintain the USWNT’s 1-0 victory over Brazil. It was her fourth shutout at the Games, the most by any American goalkeeper at a single Olympic Games.

    And while the U.S. women made their first-ever exit at the World Cup last year, it wasn’t Naeher’s fault. She allowed one goal in four games. She also added to her story by taking – and scoring – a penalty in the defeat to Sweden in the round of 16.

    She would do the same in the SheBelieves Cup title match against Canada earlier this year, stopping three of Canada’s four tries and converting her own.

    Naeher will play at least one more season for the Chicago Stars in the NWSL, where she holds the league records for saves and appearances.

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