Former FIFA Women's Player of the Year Homare Sawa is putting an end to her unrivaled career with "no regrets," the Japan midfielder saying Thursday she is retiring at season's end because she has nothing more to give.
"I've never made a bigger decision in my life, but I've had the greatest career anyone could ask for," the 37-year-old Sawa said, explaining her retirement announced a day earlier.
"During the World Cup, I felt I'd given the game everything I had. In the year I was away from the national team, I felt it was getting harder and harder to play the way I wanted to at the highest level. It was a struggle physically as well as mentally."