Christiane Endler’s journey with the national team ended in surprising fashion at the Pan American Games

Christiane Endler said goodbye to the Chilean team. Once the duel between Chile and the United States for the women’s football semi-finals of the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games is overthe goalkeeper was clear in emphasizing that she was taking a step aside so that the new generations could start to have experience thinking about the next Copa América .

Since 2007, Endler has enjoyed success at La Roja, where he participated in a World Cup and even the Olympic Games. Of course, before putting on the gloves to defend the goal, he had to take on other responsibilities.

When joining the Red Under 17 team, Endler presented herself as a striker. Her size and power helped her in this position. But when he joined Team Everybody, the late Marco Antonio Cornez offered him an alternative that he ended up accepting, a decision that earned him several recognitions.

The historic player of Palestino, Universidad Católica y Deportes Antofagasta saw that he had the conditions to occupy the position of goalkeeper and did not hesitate to request the player. “A decision had to be made. Whether she is a goalkeeper or an attacker. In this decision, it was very important to talk to the parents. She was a minor. It was a family decision. We spoke on a Friday and on Monday he came and said to me “now I’m a goalkeeper”. It was a strong decision, I was convinced . It was essential to involve the family. She could have told me on Monday that she wasn’t interested and that she would have played nine and I would have played the same, because she was good, but He had all the characteristics of the arc: biotype, agility, leg speed. It was a precise and conceptual decision “Cornez had pointed out to Sporty .

While this was happening at the national team, Endler had to look for a place to develop her skills in Chile and her search ended up at Unión La Calera where she took her first steps as a professional, immediately standing out and being chosen as the best goalkeeper. in Chile.

Then she was lured to Everton where she won the 2010 Chilean Cup and played in the Copa Libertadores final against Santos. Despite losing 1-0, the competition distinguished her as the best goalkeeper on the continent.

All these successes led her to be part of the Colo Colo team. In 2011 they lost the Libertadores final again, but the following year they were finally able to lift the trophy. .

With all these achievements, the Chilean began to look for new horizons where she could continue to develop her qualities. He thus left for the United States to join the South Florida Bulls club then Chelsea in England. After a series of injuries and financial disputes, Endler returned to Chile to gain momentum with Colo Colo, then arrived in Spain in 2016, being part of Valencia, winning the Zamora award for least beaten goalkeeper.

Her talent then led her to PSG in 2017, becoming the best in her position in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons, winning the 2021 title, ending the hegemony of Olympique Lyonnais.

And OL saw something in her which ended up acquiring her pass. The decision could not have been better, since with Lyon she won the 2022 Women’s Champions League after beating Barcelona 3-1 in the final .

During this time, he became one of the figures of world sport. He has been a finalist at The Best awards for four consecutive years (2019 to 2022).win the best award in 2021 .

In addition, the English media The Guardian chose her as the best goalkeeper in 2020 and, according to the Institute of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), she was the best in the world in 2021 and 2022.

Christiane Endler’s career with La Roja began with the help of Marta Tejedor, who called her up to participate in the Under-20 World Cup in Chile in 2008. After that competition, she continued to grow at the alongside the national team until becoming a finalist in the 2014 South World Cup. American Games. And reaching second place in the 2018 Copa América where La Roja not only qualified for the 2019 World Cup in France but also secured the repechage dispute for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games .

During the World Cup, Endler stood out, although the results were not good after losing against Sweden (2-0), against the United States (3-0), who finished respectively third and champion, and against Thailand (2-0). .

In the Olympic repechage, La Roja surpassed Cameroon, reaching the quota in Tokyo, but in the competition it could not shine and ended up being eliminated in the first phase.

Already after the Copa América in Colombia in 2022, the attrition became more evident and Chile could only get qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which it lost to Haiti.

Now, when the leave he had granted with his club was coming to an end and he had to return to France, he announced the end of the cycle with La Roja. “I’m happy, very happy with the match we played, in which we won a medal. It was a good performance, at the beginning the conditions resisted, but desire always does everything and successes come . To try to get this gold medal is something incredible,” he said after the victory against the United States.

“I leave happy, happy to win a medal. Getting the first is something incredible, I can now safely withdraw from the national team. There’s no better way to retire than this. It’s time to turn to another page, it’s a cycle complete “, explained the guard.