Becky Sauerbrunn – The Art of the Tackle

 

A tribute to the quiet commander who made defending look like poetry.

"Captain America."
"The Broon."
If you know her, you know those nicknames aren't handed out lightly.

Becky Sauerbrunn wears no mask, no flashy boots, no hunger for the spotlight. But put her on a pitch, and you immediately know who the anchor is. The conscience. The spine of everything to come. For sixteen years and 219 caps, she was that for the USWNT. And not once did she step out of line.

She played as she saw: sharp, aware, always one step ahead. Sauerbrunn never treated defending as a necessary evil. For her, it was an art form — a game of the mind. A tackle without violence. A slide without spite. An interception without ego. Everything done in service of the team.

She is rarely mentioned in the same breath as Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, or Bobby Moore — but she belongs there. In that gallery of graceful defenders, masters of time, space, and silence.

Never brutal, never reckless. No red cards. Rarely even yellow. In an era where speed and force often take center stage, Becky remained loyal to the virtues of positioning, anticipation, and impeccable timing.

Whether it was Utah Royals, FC Kansas City, Portland Thorns, or that short spell in Norway with Røa IL — you always knew what you were getting. Reliability, but never dull. Calm, but never passive.

She collected titles the way others collect stamps. Olympic gold. World Cups. NWSL Championships. But more valuable than the trophies was the trust every coach, every goalkeeper, and every teammate placed in her.

Because Becky was there. Always.

Quiet strength. Pure class. Unshakable trust.
A captain who didn’t need speeches. A hero who never needed a cape. But when you watched her play, you understood: this is leadership.

And leadership extended far beyond the pitch.
When the USWNT stood up for equal pay and gender equity, it was Becky — calm, thoughtful, unwavering — who often stepped forward. No shouting. No grandstanding. Just reasoned truth, spoken in a way that made people listen.

She once said:
"It's almost ludicrous that I'm playing a game and getting paid for it. I'm just going to ride it as long as I can."

And so she did.
With grace, with clarity, with the kind of steady presence that reshapes the game — and the world around it.

A blueprint for the future. A defender turned artist.
A woman who never asked for attention — and deserves all of it.

Becky Sauerbrunn.
Tackling, advocacy, and dignity — distilled into pure beauty.