Out Soccer Legends Megan Rapinoe and Ali Krieger Are Playing Their Last Game Against Each Other

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Beloved queer soccer stars Megan Rapinoe and Ali Krieger are going head to head for their last-ever professional game.

The two players will take the field one last time on Saturday, November 11, in the National Women’s Soccer League Championship game between the Seattle-based OL Reign and the New York City team Gotham FC, with Rapinoe playing for the Reign and Krieger playing for Gotham, respectively. This will be Krieger’s second appearance in an NWSL final and Rapinoe’s third. The duo have also played on the U.S. Women’s National Team, landing World Cup titles together in 2015 and 2019. It feels fitting that the two soccer legends are ending their professional runs together — a sentiment that has echoed across the NWSL world.

“It seems poetic that the championship game is ending with Krieger and [Rapinoe’s] last game, so I think it will be really fun,” Rapinoe’s Reign teammate, midfielder Rose Lavelle, said during a post-game press conference, per Outsports.

Meanwhile, espnW shared a collage of photos of the two players on Instagram, writing, “Storybook ending 🥹.”

As outspoken LGBTQ+ athletes and advocates, Rapinoe and Krieger have left impactful legacies both on and off the field. When Rapinoe came out in an Out Magazine profile in 2012, she was one of a small number of openly gay women’s soccer stars. Krieger married USWNT goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris in 2019, although the couple are currently in the process of getting divorced.

“There is no such thing as an acceptable ‘compromise’ that limits transgender Americans’ access to equal rights.”

Both players have also been vocal about transgender rights within the sports world. In April, Rapinoe was one of 40 Olympic and Paralympic athletes who signed an open letter from the advocacy group Athlete Ally opposing the federal Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would prohibit trans girls from playing sports on school teams that align with their gender. In 2021, Krieger called out Caitlyn Jenner for supporting Republicans’ attempts to ban trans athletes from sports, telling Variety, “I feel like every kid, including trans kids, should have the opportunity to play the sport they love to play.”

The two players also share a tight-knit friendship. In October, four days after Krieger filed for divorce from Harris, Rapinoe posted an Instagram Story with a heartfelt message for her former teammate.

“How to even put into words, my dear. This incredible career you have had,” Rapinoe wrote on her story, as EssentiallySports noted. “There are far too many moments to start naming but your 100 caps. Your World Cup final 2019. And mostly all the fucks you have given and all the fucks you did not give.”

“I love you forever Sweetie,” Rapinoe continued. “You are truly one of a kind. An original, simply you Kriegy… Soak [up] all the love that is coming your energy way. Lord knows you deserve it all.”

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Originally Appeared on them.