updated 3:27 p.m. ET June 23, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Brandi Chastain’s career with the U.S. women’s soccer team is over.

The defender who joyously took off her jersey to celebrate the 1999 World Cup victory at the Rose Bowl is no longer in the team’s plans, coach Greg Ryan said Wednesday.

“I flew up and talked with Brandi and told her I didn’t intend to bring her back, that I was going to move on with some other players that I want to develop for 2007,” Ryan told The Associated Press while running a team practice before Sunday’s exhibition game against Canada at Virginia Beach.

Chastain joins Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett as longtime stars whose national team careers have ended recently, although the other three left on their own terms after a 2004 season that included the gold medal at the Athens Olympics.

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Chastain and Kristine Lilly were the two players of the so-called “Fab Five” who vowed to keep playing. The Fab Five were the remaining players from the 2001 World Cup team. All enjoyed remarkably long tenures at the top level, but Chastain will be 39 by the next major tournament, the 2007 World Cup in China.

“What I’m looking for in future defenders are qualities that she doesn’t possess at this point in her career,” said Ryan, who succeeded April Heinrichs as coach earlier this year.

Lilly is still with the team and is expected to serve as captain for Sunday’s game.

Chastain’s last game was Dec. 6, 2004 against Mexico at Carson, Calif., the final stop in the 10-game farewell exhibition tour for Hamm, Foudy and Fawcett. Chastain was not invited to the camp for the Algarve Cup in Portugal in March, although it’s not unusual for veterans to miss that tournament. Her absence became notable when she wasn’t invited to this week’s camp, which precedes the team’s first domestic game this year.

Chastain ranks sixth all-time on the U.S. team with 192 appearances. She played in four World Cups and three Olympics. She was benched for the first three games in Athens, but returned to the starting lineup for the elimination rounds and helped lead the team to the gold medal.

But she is most remembered for making the final shot in the penalty kick that gave the United States the victory in the World Cup final against China in 1999. Chastain took off her jersey and celebrated with her teammates in her sports bra, the signature photographic moment of the tournament.

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