CHICAGO — Alyssa Naeher, one of the greatest goalkeepers ever, is calling it a career.
The 38-year-old announced her retirement Friday, Nov. 13, after 17 seasons in club soccer, the last 11 of which were with the Chicago Stars. Naeher had retired from the U.S. women's national team in 2024, after helping the U.S. women win the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
"It's hard to put the last 17 years into words," she said in an Instgram post. "I've given everything I have to this game, and it's given me memories and experiences that I will never forget."
Naeher retires as the NWSL's leader in career saves (765), appearances by a goalkeeper (224) and goalkeeper wins (74), and is second all-time with 50 clean sheets. She was the NWSL's Goalkeeper of the Year
in 2014, and also earned Best XI honors.
Naeher was an anchor on Chicago teams that made the playoffs six consecutive seasons from 2016 to 2022, including playing for the title in 2019 and 2021. The longtime Stars captain set franchise records with 25 consecutive starts and 2,249 consecutive minutes played.
“There are no words to truly encapsulate what Alyssa has meant to the Chicago Stars,” Stars president Karen Leetzow said in a statement. “Chicago has been fortunate to enjoy the greatest goalkeeper of all time in its backyard, while also sharing the joys of her journey on the game’s biggest stages."
Though Naeher was a steady presence in the NWSL — she was one of three players this season who had been with the league since it began in 2013 — her greatest accomplishments were with the USWNT.
A two-time World Cup champion and Olympic gold and bronze medalist, she is the only goalkeeper to record shutouts in both the World Cup and Olympic finals. Her spectacular save in the 119th minute of the gold-medal game in Paris sealed her fourth shutout of those Games, the most by any U.S. goalkeeper at a single Olympics.
Her 89 wins, 69 shutouts and 115 caps are third on the all-time list for U.S. goalkeepers behind Hope Solo and Briana Scurry.
Mallory Swanson, Naeher's longtime teammate with both the Stars and the USWNT, replied to Naeher's announcement with three goat emojis.
Naeher played at Penn State, where she was a two-time All-American. She began her professional career in 2010 with the Boston Breakers of the now-defunct Women's Professional Soccer league. She played with Germany’s Turbine Potsdam after the WPS folded, then returned to the Breakers when the NWSL began in 2013.
Naeher was traded to Chicago in November 2015.
"God has blessed me with a career far beyond anything I could have dreamed of," Naeher said on Instagram. "I am truly grateful for the game and for the lifelong friends it brought into my life and abundance of memories."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former USWNT, Chicago Stars goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher calls it a career
