Crystal Dunn has won a World Cup, an Olympic gold medal and three NWSL championships. She has also played just about every position on the soccer field with exceptional results. She retired from professional soccer Jan. 29, but Dunn, 34, got a proper farewell this month when U.S. Soccer honored her with an official celebration ahead of the U.S. women’s national team’s friendly against Spain at Audi Field in Washington. There were tears (and sunglasses to keep them from the public), family and fr

WASHINGTON — Crystal Dunn hasn’t cried as much as she thought she would since she announced her retirement in January. But when U.S. Soccer honored her career ahead of the U.S. women’s national team’s friendly against Spain at Audi Field on Saturday, the 34-year-old opted for a slick pair of dark sunglasses while speaking to the media. “I’m wearing my shades today for a reason because I’m going to be tearing up,” Dunn, a World Cup and an Olympic champion, said. It’s less about her own emotions;

Star women's soccer players, including Alex Morgan, Marta, Lindsey Heaps, Crystal Dunn and U.S. youth captain Kennedy Fuller, have written an open letter to FIFA asking global football's governing body to include the Under-20 Women's World Cup in its international calendar. The players' request for the tournament to be moved to a date that falls within an international window would require clubs and universities to release players who have been selected for a U-20 World Cup roster, according to

On Thursday, we saw one of the greatest U.S. women’s national team players of all time hang up their cleats. At age 33, Crystal Dunn has decided to retire from professional soccer. So, on this episode of Full Time, host Jillian Sakovits is joined by The Athletic’s Tamerra Griffin and Melanie Anzidei, as well as Claire Watkins from Just Women’s Sports, to unpack what Dunn’s legacy will be now that she is retiring. What trail did she blaze as a Black player on the USWNT? How did she carve out a unique team-first leadership style? Was she the greatest NWSL player ever? The podcast gets into all that, as well as how Emma Hayes and the next generation will have to try and evolve to fill her spot. PLUS: Producer Theo was in London to catch SC Corinthians Paulista stun NJ/NY Gotham FC in the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup. Sports Illustrated contributor and Gotham beat writer Jenna Tonelli hopped on the show to discuss what the defeat means for the NWSL. Chapter descriptions: 00:00 Intro 01:11 Claire Watkins, Melanie Anzidei, Tamerra Griffin join the show 02:14 Crystal Dunn announces retirement 05:29 Crystal Dunn's NWSL legacy 13:02 Live updates from NWSL media day 17:49 Triple Espresso reunites at media day 19:12 Sophia Wilson on Crystal Dunn 27:35 FIFA women's champions cup semifinals recap with Jenna Tonelli 45:39 Outro ------------ #nwsl #uswnt #wsl ------------ Subscribe to the Full Time newsletter to get all the latest women's soccer news straight to your inbox every Tuesday: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/newsletters/full-time/ Get in touch: fulltime@theathletic.com Follow on Instagram and TikTok: @tafulltime Catch the full episodes of Full Time right here 🎙️👇 ➡️ https://apple.co/3RJUen2 ➡️ https://spoti.fi/3W25Q77 Thumbnail credits: Ric Tapia / Stringer / Getty Images North America via GettyImages

Crystal Dunn said she "achieved nearly everything I dreamed of" in soccer.