- Megan Rapinoe
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Megan Rapinoe 
Megan Rapinoe of the United States Women's National Soccer team
at a friendly against Canada in 2011Personal information Full name Megan Anna Rapinoe Date of birth 5 July 1985 Place of birth Redding, California, United States Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) Playing position Midfielder Club information Current club magicJack Youth career 2004–2008 University of Portland Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2002–2005 Elk Grove Pride ? (25) 2009–2010 Chicago Red Stars 38 (3) 2011 Philadelphia Independence 4 (1) 2011 magicJack 10 (2) National team‡ 2003–2005 
United States U-1921 (9) 2006– United States37 (11) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 06:14, 12 November 2009 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 04 August 2011Megan Anna Rapinoe (born 5 July 1985, in Redding, California) is an American soccer midfielder who is currently a free agent in the Women's Professional Soccer League and a member of the United States women's national soccer team. She is best known for her crafty style of play and for her game-winning crosses, including the assist to Abby Wambach in the 122nd minute of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinals against Brazil.
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Early life
Rapinoe grew up in Redding, California with her parents, Jim and Denise, and five siblings, including her twin, Rachael.
In high school, Rapinoe did not play soccer and instead played for the Elk Grove Pride club team, where they won state and league championships, and were the national runner-up in 2003. She also competed in track as a freshman and sophomore, and basketball as a freshman, sophomore, and senior.
Rapinoe was able to make it onto the honor roll every semester of high school. She was named Parade (magazine) and NSCAA All-American as a junior and senior. Rapinoe was also named to the McDonald's All-American Game in 2004.[1]
College career
Rapinoe and her twin, Rachael, both attended University of Portland in Portland, Oregon. The Rapinoe twins almost committed to Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California before chosing to play for the Portland Pilots.
In 2004, Rapinoe did not play college soccer what would have been her freshman season in order to play in the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship where the United States placed third.
In 2005 as a freshman, Rapinoe helped the Portland Pilots to an undefeated season and the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship. She was a NSCAA First Team All-America and was on the Soccer America First Team Freshman All-America. Rapinoe made the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship All Tournament Team and was the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year. She was also an All-West Coast Conference First Team and an All-West Coast Conference Freshman Team selection. Rapinoe played and started all 25 games as an attacking midfielder, scoring 15 goals and added 13 assists for 43 points. That year, she also had seven recorded game-winning goals.
As a sophomore in 2006, Rapinoe was among the nation's leading scorers with 10 goals and 2 assists in just 11 matches before suffering her first season-ending Anterior cruciate ligament injury against Washington State University on October 5. She joined Tiffeny Milbrett and Shannon MacMillan as the only Portland Pilots to score 25 goals and 15 assists in just two years.
As a junior in 2007, Rapinoe appeared in just two matches off the bench early in the year before suffering yet another season-ending Anterior cruciate ligament injury for the second consecutive season. She was granted a medical hardship waiver by the NCAA, but never used it.
As a senior in 2008, Rapinoe started all 22 games for the Portland Pilots and was named a Soccer America First-Team All-American and a NSCAA Second Team All-American. Rapinoe was also voted West Coast Conference Player of the Year. Her senior year, Rapinoe led the Portland Pilots and the West Coast Conference in assists (13).
She had one more season of college eligibility remaining, due to her NCAA medical hardship waiver, but opted to enter the Women's Professional Soccer draft instead.
Rapinoe is also one of the only players in the University of Portland's history to get 30 goals and 25 assists in a career. Her 88 point career (30 goals, 28 assists) is the 10th in the school's history despite playing just 60 total games due to injuries.[2]
Professional career
From 2002 through 2005, Rapinoe was a member of Elk Grove Pride, which plays in Women's Premier Soccer League. Over her four years, she scored 25 goals for the club.
Rapinoe was selected 2nd overall in the 2009 WPS Draft to Chicago Red Stars of Women's Professional Soccer. In the inaugural 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season, Rapinoe appeared in 18 games (17 starts, 1375 minutes) and scored two goals and assisted on three others. She was named a Women's Professional Soccer First-Team All-Star. In 2010, Rapinoe struggled with illness, but played in 20 games (19 starts) scoring one goal on the last touch of the last game of the season.[3]
In December 2010 Rapinoe moved on to Philadelphia Independence after the Chicago Red Stars ceased operations. Rapinoe appeared in four games and made one goal before she was traded to the MagicJack (WPS).[4]
While in Germany for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Rapinoe was traded to the MagicJack (WPS). It was reported that the "cash considerations" involved in the transfer was an unprecedented $100,000. This was the most expensive trade in WPS history. On October 25, 2011, the Women's Professional Soccer League voted to terminate the magicJack franchise, leaving Rapinoe and many other big names as free agents for the 2012 season. [5]
In October 2011 Rapinoe signed with W-League (Australia) team Sydney FC as a guest player (2 games) and in her second and final game against Melbourne Victory, she scored 8 minutes from time to seal all three points for Sydney FC.
International career
Youth National Teams
Rapinoe played for the U-16 Girl's National Soccer team in 2002 and traveled with the U-16s to France and Houston, Texas.
Rapinoe played for the United States Youth Soccer Association International Tournament in Houston, Texas in May 2003.
Rapinoe played for the United States U-19 team. She made 21 appearances and scored nine goals. Her first camp with the U-19 was in January 2003 in Chula Vista, California. She traveled with the U-19s on European tour to Netherlands and Germany in July 2003. She scored her first goal with the U-19s against Mexico on March 1, 2003. Rapinoe played in three matches at the 2004 CONCACAF U-19 Qualifying Tournament, scoring three goals. Her most notable appearances was in the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Thailand where she scored a team-high three goals, including one in the third place match victory against Brazil.
Senior National Team
Rapinoe trained with the team at 2006 Residency Training Camp in Carson, California. She came into training with the team early in 2006 and played in four matches. Rapinoe made her United States Women's National Team debut on July 23, 2006 against Ireland. She scored her first (and second) senior team goal(s) on October 1, 2006 against Chinese Taipei.
Due to two separate anterior cruciate ligament injuries, Rapinoe did not play for the senior team in 2007 or 2008. These injuries caused her to not be able to play in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup and 2008 Olympics where the team went on to win gold.
Upon her return to the United States Women's National Team in 2009, Rapinoe led the team in points with five (two goals and one assist). She played in seven games, starting in six. Rapinoe scored against Norway in the Algarve Cup in a 1-0 victory, and also added a goal against Canada in Toronto.
In 2010 Rapinoe started eight of the 10 games she played and scored four goals with two assists. One of the assists came in the second match of the Women’s World Cup playoff series against Italy that set up Amy Rodriguez’s game-winning goal. Rapinoe scored against Sweden and China and twice against Guatemala at the CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying tournament, in which she played three games.[6]
Rapinoe was selected as part of the U.S. team for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. She came on as a substitute in a group stage match vs Colombia in the 50th minute and scored almost immediately to put the U.S. up 2–0. Rapinoe started in the USA's last group stage match versus Sweden, in which the U.S. lost 2–1. During the quarterfinal match against Brazil, Rapinoe came on as a sub and lofted a cross into the box for Abby Wambach's game-tying, extra-time header; she would later convert her shot during the penalty shootout to help send the United States to the semifinals in a miraculous fashion. Following the match against Brazil, Rapinoe was named ESPN's Next Level Player of the Week for completing 5 of 10 crosses while the rest of the team was 0 for 18.[7] Rapinoe went on to make two more critical assists in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup semi-finals and finals against France and Japan respectively. She ended the tournament with 1 goal and 3 assists. Following her appearance in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Rapinoe's hometown of Redding, California officially made September 10, 2011 Megan Rapinoe Day.
References
- ^ http://www.ussoccer.com/Teams/WNT/R/Megan-Rapinoe.aspx
- ^ http://www.ussoccer.com/Teams/WNT/R/Megan-Rapinoe.aspx
- ^ http://www.ussoccer.com/Teams/WNT/R/Megan-Rapinoe.aspx
- ^ "Independence Trade Megan Rapinoe to magicJack". Women's Professional Soccer. 2011-06-21. http://womensprosoccer.net/philadelphia/news/general/112106-rapinoe-trade-mj. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
- ^ Jeff Kassouf (2011-07-08). "WPS: Top of table clash and Rapinoe’s value". The Equalizer. http://www.equalizersoccer.com/2011/07/08/wps-top-of-table-clash-and-rapinoes-value/. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
- ^ http://www.ussoccer.com/Teams/WNT/R/Megan-Rapinoe.aspx
- ^ "Next Level Player Of The Week: Rapinoe". ESPN. 2011-07-12. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6763763. Retrieved 2011-08-04.
External links
- Megan Rapinoe – FIFA competition record
- US Soccer player profile
- Chicago Red Stars player profile
- Portland player profile
United States squad – 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Runners-up 
Categories:- 1985 births
- Living people
- American women's soccer players
- United States women's international soccer players
- Portland Pilots women's soccer players
- Chicago Red Stars players
- 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players
- People from Redding, California
- Soccer players from California
- Philadelphia Independence players
- MagicJack (WPS) players
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