Julie Ertz’s Last Game: Two-time Women’s World Cup winner and Olympian announced her retirement from soccer on 31 August 2023 and she played her last match of her career on Thursday representing the United States for the last time.
Julie Ertz Last Game: Julie Ertz Retirement Reason
Julie Ertz, 31, was previously named US player of the year, twice. She takes the field wearing the red, white, and blue for her country in her final game against South Africa after declaring her retirement in August.
She formerly played for the National Women’s Soccer League from 2014 to 2021 and in 2023 for Angel City FC. She has been a member of the United States women’s national team from 2013 to 2023.
Julie’s husband Zach Ertz, Arizona Cardinals tight end, congratulated her wife after she stepped down from her profession. She revealed her eliminating news on 31 August 2023.
Zach said “Julie, you’ve given your everything to this game, You’ve won at the highest levels and have done it with grace, commitment, passion, and courage. Madden and I couldn’t be more proud of what you’ve done, and more important, who you are.”
She is now a mother of a son. She also shared a statement to clear her fans’s opinion regarding her abrupt retirement, “It’s not because mama can’t play, mama can play,” and she added that she has her priorities towards her family.
“She has just adapted her priorities and I think that just comes with age. I’m proud of my growth and I’m grateful that soccer allowed that, she added,
“But I’m really excited for my next chapter and I’m grateful to have found something I love even more – and that’s being a mum.”
Throughout her international career, Julie has experienced loss in five games out of 122, scoring 20 goals. She has played in 17 World Cup matches a vital member of the team’s back-to-back titles two times in 2015 and 2019.
Julie Ertz Retiring USWNT
U.S. women’s national team defender Julie Ertz played her last game representing her country at Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium, in the United States women’s national soccer team. She said after the Americans’ World Cup elimination that the match was her last in a US Jersey.
“There’s always the next opportunity, and your whole career as an athlete, you’re like, ‘I don’t want to regret anything,” she told to a reporter on Wednesday.
“And I think when I get to a point to be able to choose myself when I could step away … I do feel I could step away and be like, ‘It’s not because Momma can’t play. Momma can play. She has just adapted [her] priorities.’ And I think that just comes with age and just I feel like I’ve been so blessed to have the career that I’ve had.”
“I think time with my family is just irreplaceable, especially with just where [son] Madden is and his age.”
The U.S. interim manager Twila Kilgore said, “It’s hard to say goodbye, but it’s also a ‘good’ hard, We know what we’re losing, but [it’s] good because we know how happy Julie is with her career, how happy we all are with her career, but also how happy she is with the next phase of life she’s moving into.”
