Veteran United States star Kelley O’Hara was close to tears as she contemplated the upcoming World Cup being Megan Rapinoe’s last, vowing Tuesday to send the women’s football icon out “on a high”.

The 38-year-old Rapinoe, who is also well known for her off-field activism, will retire at the end of this season, bringing the curtain down on a 17-year career in which she has twice won the World Cup.

“It is hard to put into words,” an emotional O’Hara said of her teammate from the 2015 and 2019 World Cup-winning sides, ahead of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand starting Thursday.

“The ‘Pinoe’ that the world sees is an incredible person, and that is her also up close and personal,” O’Hara, who has won 157 caps, told a press conference in Auckland.

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