December 2, 2024

USWNT wraps up the year across the pond as Alyssa Naeher says goodbye

The IX: Soccer Monday with Annie Peterson, Dec. 2, 2024

USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher in a match against Costa Rica in 2024. Photo by Domenic Allegra.

The most surprising development of the past week was the retirement announcement from Alyssa Naeher, the USWNT’s stalwart goalkeeper. She announced that she is officially hanging up her boots following the team’s game against the Netherlands in The Hague on Tuesday.

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Naeher was pushed into the the role as the team’s starting goalkeeper following the 2016 Olympics after Hope Solo uttered her infamous “cowards” statement following the quarterfinal loss to Sweden and never returned to the fold.

It was a difficult position for Naeher, yet she handled it with grace. It’s tough taking over from an obvious (and eventual) Hall of Famer.

But Naeher, although she was largely media shy, never dodged the questions about what it was like to follow Solo. I spoke to her about it as she prepared for the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

“For me, I think the biggest thing is not getting wrapped up in what other people think, what other people say. At the end of the day, I can only control me, control who I am, the type of player I am, the way that I play and the way that I carry myself,” she said. “That’s the great thing about this sport and the position specifically, is that there is no black and white way to go about it. We’re all different and we all bring our own personality and uniqueness to the team and to the position.”

In the World Cup semifinals against England, she stopped Steph Houghton’s penalty kick in the 83rd minute. The Americans won 2-1 before downing the Netherlands 2-0 in the final.

In the Olympic final against Brazil in Paris this past summer, he made a key one-handed save in stoppage time to preserve the Americans’ 1-0 victory.

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One of my favorite moments was earlier this year, in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Not only did she make three saves during a penalty shootout with Canada, she converted a penalty kick herself.

“Alyssa Naeher was just a beast,” forward Alex Morgan told reporters afterward. “I don’t even know how she pulled off all those saves. And then calmly, just with the side of her foot, passed the ball into the goal.”

Yet Naeher, as always, deflected individual praise and instead relished the victory.

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“We never blinked. It was ‘All right, on to the shootout.,’ we let our process take over and there was all the energy from the players on the sideline to the players on the field and the staff,” she said. “We locked into what we wanted to do.”

For her career, Naeher has appeared 114 games with 110 starts, 88 wins and 69 shutouts. She had four shutouts over the course of the Olympic tournament in France. She is the only U.S. keeper with shutouts in both a World Cup and an Olympic final.

Her latest shutout came on Saturday in a scoreless draw. It was her 10th shutout this season.

“I hope that I’m remembered as somebody that made other people around them better, pushed everybody to be better every single day. I know everyone pushed me to be a better player, a better person. And I think being part of this team is special. To be part of this legacy, to be part of the U.S. national team, obviously to play in games like this and have moments like this, is incredible. But it’s really about the people that you meet and the experiences that you have. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to go through these last 10 to 15 years with,” Naeher said afterward.

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She said her decision was partly based on the calendar. With the Olympics conquered, the U.S. women start a new cycle looking ahead to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. There’s time to get the team’s next goalkeeper ready. Additionally, Naeher is 36. She took into account the physical and emotional toll of pushing herself until the next World Cup.

“It’s always going to be hard to walk away from something that you love. But, just with it being a cyclical thing, the World Cup and Olympics, everything is 4-year cycles, in my head it made sense, it feels like the right time. Most of our generation, my generation, has all kind of moved on at this point as well, and to see all of them doing amazing, incredible things and what they’re choosing to do — there’s always something next, there’s always something that you can aspire to, to come next,” she said. “I would love to keep going forever. But, but my body and my mind are telling me that it’s time. Again, I’m so excited to see where this team continues to go and how they grow and I’ll be their No. 1 fan.”

Naeher isn’t done just yet. She’s committed to playing one more year for the Chicago Red Stars.

With the scoreless draw, Alyssa Naeher earns her 10th shutout of 2024: her most in any year for the USWNT! pic.twitter.com/QzWTw06Ixx
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) November 30, 2024