This evening, when Alex Morgan plays her final soccer game, a regular-season fixture with the San Diego Wave of the NWSL, no fewer than six — six! — broadcasters will be showing the game. You can watch it on the CBS Sports Network, ESPN2, ESPN Plus, NWSL Plus, Paramount Plus, and Amazon Prime Video.
Thing is, in the past 40 years of U.S. women’s soccer, has there ever been such a major media event for the close of a career for a player?
In most other nations of the world, a testimonial soccer game is arranged for legends who have retired. Such testimonials feature former teammates, friends, and prominent opponents where the players will gather, reminisce, and sometime raise money for a charity.
But we don’t have that here in the United States.
Instead the careers of American women’s soccer heroines just seem to lurch to a halt. Michelle Akers, for example, saw her career end in 2000 with an injury in a closed-door friendly in College Park, Md. against Russia. The close of the careers of Christie Rampone and Abby Wambach were pretty much the awards ceremony of the 2015 World Cup at the closing ceremony.
We did see the last of Mia Hamm in a U.S. international game played in Los Angeles in the late fall of 2003, but there was no WUSA by then. Brandi Chastain had a testimonial match organized in her honor, but it was only shown as an hour-long special with the edited highlights (including a late penalty kick).
It’s a rare privilege that Morgan is being allowed to receive her flowers, but this is in a regular-season game and not a specially-arranged testimonial game. I think we need more of this in the sport.
