Kethy Õunpuu retires from football after career spanning nearly two decades
![Kethy Õunpuu.](https://i.err.ee/smartcrop?type=optimize&width=1472&aspectratio=16%3A10&url=https%3A%2F%2Fs.err.ee%2Fphoto%2Fcrop%2F2024%2F02%2F08%2F2250576h5a2b.jpg)
A top Estonian footballer is hanging up her boots after 116 matches with the national team, a record number of appearances.
Estonian sporting tradition has it that all national team members who have represented their country in at least 100 games and who have finished their careers are given a farewell testimonial match.
Born in Põltsamaa in 1987, midfielder Kethy Õunpuu (pictured) made her debut for the women's national team on July 30, 2005, coming on as a substitute in a match against Lithuania.
She netted her first goal two years later in an international against Latvia, which Estonia won 3:2.
She scored two more goals in her international career, in 2012, against Latvia and in a European Championship qualifier against Belarus, in the same year.
Õunpuu had started football training with Olev Reim's boys team at FC Flora, after which she joined Kehtna United.
From 2006 she played for two top teams, JK Tallinna Kalev, then from 2009, for 14 seasons with Tallinna FC Flora women's team, helping them to win a total of five Estonian championships.
Õunpuu was declared female football player of the year in 2014, and three years later was awarded the Estonian Football Association's (EJL) silver medal.
In 2019 she became the third footballer to have represented the Estonian women's national team across at least 100 matches.
Last season, Õunpuu represented the Naiste Meistriliiga runner up Saku Sporting, playing 26 domestic matches for them in the league, helping them to victory in the cup, and to third place in the women's Baltic League.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte