Thursday will be a bittersweet day for USWNT star Julie Ertz, who will be in her last game before retiring from professional soccer. The U.S. will take on South Africa in a friendly.

While Ertz is calling it quits in large part to focus on her family, including her one-year-son Madden, she also has made it clear that she could still play if she wanted.

She said ahead of the friendly, “I think time with my family is just irreplaceable, especially with just where [son] Madden is and his age,” via Jeff Carlisle of ESPN.

“And I think when I get to a point to be able to choose myself, when I could step away … I do feel I could step away and be like, ‘It's not because Momma can't play. Momma can play. She has just adapted [her] priorities.' And I think that just comes with age and just I feel like I've been so blessed to have the career that I've had.”

However, Julie Ertz did acknowledge that there are plenty of things she will miss from her time as a professional soccer player.

“I just love the environment of just women's soccer,” she said “I just love getting up, competing and just all the banter that happens in practice and games. So obviously you're going to miss game day. You're going to list all that stuff. I feel like at this point, when you just reflect on everything, you're just going to miss everything. But I think just competing and winning is probably the one I'm going to miss the most,” via Carlisle.

The 2x Women's World Cup Champion will hang up her cleats after an illustrious career playing in both the NWSL and for the USWNT. In addition to her World Cup wins, Ertz has been named the NSWL Rookie of the Year in 2014, and the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year in 2017 and 2019.