United States women’s national team goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher said she was “nervous” to tell manager Emma Hayes about her intention to retire from international soccer, but that it was a “great conversation” and that Hayes was “very supportive.”
Naeher announced her decision to retire from the USWNT on Monday, making upcoming friendlies against England at Wembley Stadium on Nov. 3, and against the Netherlands in The Hague three days later, her last opportunities to play internationally. She will continue to play at club level for the Chicago Red Stars.
Naeher said she wanted Hayes’ blessing before going public with her decision.
“Yeah, I was nervous. I think as much as I am at peace with the decision — I know that in my head it’s the right time and I feel good about it and I feel at peace with it — it’s still the end of something,” she said.
“And change is scary and… I’m going to miss being a part of these camps in this team. And I think to have that conversation made it very real.
“It was important for me to have understood where she was at and to just have that conversation before anything got fully decided on,” she said. “And she was great. She was very supportive. She was very thankful for different contributions to the team over the years and this past year, but it was a good conversation.”
Naeher said she arrived at her decision having noted that the USWNT goes in cycles, and at the end of the current World Cup cycle, she’ll be 39 years old.
She also spoke of the physical and mental toll operating at the peak of the sport takes on a player. With World Cup winner’s medals and an Olympic gold medal in her trophy cabinet, she had achieved everything she wanted.
“I feel very fulfilled with what we’ve been able to do and it takes a lot out of you,” she said. “Honestly, I think I’ve been somebody that has been…I’ve given everything I’ve had to this team and I don’t do anything halfway. It’s kind of, if you can give 100% to it, then keep going. And with that in mind, I kind of just felt like this was the right time coming off of the Olympics, having a year that we had entering into a new cycle, a new stage for this team, it just felt like [I had] kind of given everything I have to give to this team and it just felt like the right time.”
It was back in 2017 that Naeher took over from another USWNT goalkeeping legend in Hope Solo.
But rather than try to replace the often outspoken Solo, Naeher was determined to excel in her own, understated way.
“I just tried to be myself. Obviously, a tremendous amount of respect for Hope and the career that she had and what she did for the sport and obviously [Briana] Scurry before her,” she said. “And with that, I was never into comparing.
“I always just tried to be myself and try to focus on how I could help the team in any moment, both on and off the field. So my focus was more on how I can continue to improve and be the best goalkeeper and best teammate that I could be every single day and keep learning.”
Now it will be up to the next wave of keepers to replace Naeher.
On the current roster, that includes Mandy Haught of the Utah Royals and Manchester United’s Phallon Tullis-Joyce. There’s also the North Carolina Courage’s Casey Murphy, the Houston Dash’s Jane Campbell and the Washington Spirit’s Aubrey Kingsbury with whom to contend.
“I’m excited about the crop of goalkeepers that we have coming up,” Naeher said. “I think what I’ve tried to at least show and instill in the future generations is just the power of preparation, the mindset going into training, the preparedness of what it looks like to be able to play at this level.
“And I think having that, we’ve always been able to have in this environment, as competitive as it is, it’s always also been very supportive.
“And I think being able to find that balance within as training partners and as teammates.
“Obviously everybody wants to be on the field, only one can be at a time, but having that balance of pushing each other each and every single day in training and then also supporting whoever’s on the field at any given time because it’s going to come back around to you and you’ll get that same support when you are on the field and that just goes a long way.”
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