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The brick wall who saved the United States’ 2019 World Cup dreams after a late-game penalty from England and who clinched the teams Olympic gold medal this year with a stoppage-time save against Brazil is hanging up her gloves.After one last international game against the Netherlands today, U.S. Womens National Team goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher is retiring. She will tie her cleats for the last time with the USWNT at 2:45 p.m. EST in a friendly at ADO Den Haag Stadium in the Netherlands.Naeher is leaving the international game after 11 years of service to the USWNT. She is the only womens goalkeeper in soccer history to earn a shutout in both a World Cup and Olympic final.It just feels like the right time, Naeher said in an interview last week with Sam Mewis, host of “The Womens Game.”The 36-year-old has earned 114 caps and 88 wins landing her in the soccer history books just behind goalkeeping legends Hope Solo and Briana Scurry. Last Saturday, in front of 78,000 people, Naeher earned her tenth shutout of the year with a 0-0 draw against England. It was the largest crowd the U.S. has played for in a friendly match and the fourth-largest crowd theyve ever played in front of.Naeher has totaled 69 shutouts over the course of her career with the USWNT and will be looking for another one in her final match. The goalkeeper has come up big in previous face-offs with the Netherlands. Notably, at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Naeher made a late-game penalty save to force the game into overtime and then secured a win after saving two additional penalty kicks during the shootout. Earlier in 2019, Naeher kept the back of her net clear of any Netherlands goals in the 2-0 World Cup final victory that added a fourth star to the U.S. jerseys. Naeher, who is dubbed Uncle for her reliability and willingness to help her teammates off the pitch, first appeared for the USWNT in 2014 with a shutout against Argentina. She became the teams official starting goalkeeper in 2017, but it was the 2019 FIFA Womens World Cup where Naeher truly cemented herself. Prior to the 2019 tournament, Naeher explained on the podcast with Mewis, there were a lot of questions about her abilities. But, after saving a penalty kick in the dying minutes of the semifinal game against England to keep a 2-1 lead over the Lionesses, Naeher gave her answer to any doubters. That moment was one of the most memorable and defining moments of her career, Naeher said on “The Womens Game.” I just helped the team in a really big way, she said. Penalty kicks are a Naeher specialty not only saving them, but also taking some of her own. Over her time with the national team, Naeher has scored three penalty kicks in shootouts and was the first goalkeeper to make a penalty kick in Womens World Cup history. Naeher also came within millimeters of saving a penalty kick shot by Sweden in the 2023 Womens World Cup. She said in an August 2023 podcast that she would go to her grave claiming that she saved that ball.Fuel from that loss, though, pushed the USWNT to victory this year in the Paris Olympics, where Naeher made several key saves. Naeher has won two World Cups, was on three World Cup teams and was on three Olympic teams. I hope Im remembered for staying true to myself and being a good person, being a good friend, being a good teammate and just that willingness and commitment to the team, Naeher said to Mewis in a Nov. 25 podcast.While tonight is the last chance to see Naeher play with the national team, she still will be playing in the upcoming NWSL season with her home team the Chicago Red Stars.Ive given everything Ive had to this team, Naeher said in the podcast. Im very proud of that, and proud of what Ive done. PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=