U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe claimed there was no God after she was injured in the first few minutes of her last professional match.
On Saturday, Rapinoe, 38, spoke during a press conference following the National Women’s Soccer League championship after she was forced to leave due to a noncontact injury to her right leg six minutes into the game.
“I thought about it a little bit. I mean, I’m not a religious person or anything, and if there was a God, like, this is proof that there isn’t,” she said, adding “This is f***ed up.”
No-contact injury for Megan Rapinoe, she's come off pic.twitter.com/eRlPQ5aXhB
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) November 12, 2023
While on the field, Rapinoe got emotional during an interview and said she was “pretty sure” she tore her Achilles tendon after her team, the Seattle-based OL Reign, lost 2-1 to the NY/NJ Gotham,” according to the Washington Times.
“Thank you to everyone who’s been on the journey for all this time.”@mrapinoe's final words after the #NWSLChampionship. ? pic.twitter.com/3dAAX287Nr
— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) November 12, 2023
Shortly after suffering her injury, a stretcher was called. Rapinoe received a standing ovation from a crowd of 25,011 at Snapdragon Stadium as she limped off the field with medical staff by her side, per the Seattle Times.
Speaking on the incident, the outlet quoted Rapinoe saying, “Everyone is always like, ‘Who kicked me?’ And obviously no one was even around me and I was pressing. That’s what it felt like.”
She continued, “Just a huge pop and I can’t even feel where the Achillies is, but pretty sure I tore my Achilles. The worst possible outcome.”
Furthermore, she credited her “deep well of a sense of humor” for helping her cope with the situation.
“It’s devastating to go out in a final so early,” she added.
In July, the two-time Women’s World Cup winner, who started her international career in 2006, according to US Soccer, announced her retirement from professional soccer at the end of the season on X, formely known as Twitter.
“It is with a deep sense of peace & gratitude that I have decided this will be my final season playing this beautiful game. I never could have imagined the ways in which soccer would shape & change my life forever, but by the look on this little girl’s face, she knew all along,” she wrote in the caption of a throwback photo of her.
