Megan Rapinoe left the final game of her glittering soccer career after less than three minutes, and in tears, having suffered a non-contact injury that she immediately assumed was a torn Achilles.
Rapinoe entered Saturday's NWSL championship game on the brink of retirement, in search of the one trophy that had eluded her and her longtime club, the OL Reign. A title, she said hours before the game, would "be amazing" and mean "everything."
But in the third minute, while pressing an opponent, she suffered a cruel final blow. She planted her foot and tried to accelerate toward a Gotham FC center back.