SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
What’s with all these goodies being thrown at Megan Rapinoe? It’s nice that she’s engaged to basketball legend Sue Bird, who now plays in the WNBA, It’s perhaps nice that at age 38 she’s maybe playing for the final time when the United States plays Portugal in the early morning hours Tuesday of the Women’s World Soccer Cup abroad.
That’s the sum-up for this key Group E game at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. It’s scheduled for, yes 3 a.m.in the U.S.A., and can be viewed on Fox. It’s an awkward hour but that’s what happens when it’s played in New Zealand and Australia.
Playing at the same time Tuesday as the Netherlands against Vietnam in Sydney, Australia, it’s important because of the point totals. The Americans have blanked Vietnam, 3-0, and tied the Netherlands, 1-1. The Dutch have that deadlock and a 1-0 win over Portugal. That gives the U.S.A. a 4-2 edge in goals but the teams are even in total points with four each.
Which makes this more of a tough test against Portugal, for a loss and a Netherlands victory could probably eliminate the United States for the first time. It has won back-to-back championships and four in all, the most of anyone.
As for the outspoken Rapinoe, she’s not all she’s cracked up to be. She appears nice and a true teammate now, but she sure did make headlines in the 2019 tournament when she said she wouldn’t visit the White Hours if they won.
Her decision was totally political, based on her distain for then-President Donald Trump, and the team won and did not go to the White House. And in the midst of a dispute with U.S. soccer over the men’s national team equal pay, she helped some and the equal pay was approved last year.
But then there was the United States women’s team being booed for not singing the words of the national anthem against both Vietnam and the Dutch. The entire team was silent with their hands behind their backs and Rapinoe was perhaps guilty of this although it wasn’t discussed.
But this is Joe Biden in office as president now and maybe she’d doesn’t care for him either, although he did honor her with a prestigious award, so pencil that in as a goodie.
But then there was the U.S. team marching along in a parade up fifth avenue after winning the 2019 World Cup, and just like that, off went Rapinoe gathering the girls to the sidelines and containing the cheers with side kicks as the other members kind of became confused.
In a television interview later that day, she laughed at some questions, made some political remarks and capped it announcing she would hang it up after next season. Is it her age or her distain for certain matters?
Wearing her hair in an electric-light purple this time, she was sidelined until the second half versus Vietnam and held out of the Netherlands match.
And she spoke out in the matter on the weekend.
“If you’re on the team,” she said, “you should be playing. Against Netherlands, we played only one substitute, Rose (Lavelle), a midfielder.”
She added that ultimately because we’re at the World Cup, this is where everyone wants to be, and all the players would like to take the field, not 90 minutes, but playing, and that she was ready but never called.
“That’s right,” she said, “I think all of us on the bench is like we think we should be getting some pitch time, and if we can’t, we will cheer the team, but would not be happy on the sideline. Let’s see what occurs against Portugal, and I of course would like to just win.”
Portugal did give the Dutch a tough time in a low scoring defensive 90 minutes, so that might worry the United States.
Said head coach U.S.A coach Vlatko Andonovski: “We can’t be concerned about Netherlands now, it’s Portugal who we face and we must play a full game, score, defend, the works.”
As for Rapinoe, you can view her as okay in other matters.
She was a fierce advocate social justices issues, including gender equity and other rights, was awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom
by Biden last year.
She has also won two World Cups and an Olympic gold medal with the United States, and also took home the Ballon d’Or and the best Women’s Players awards as the game’s top individual honors for her play in 2019.
At this World Cup, she’s passing that legacy on to younger generations. Fourteen of the United States players are in their initial World Cup. In 2019, Carli Lloyd was in a similar role of a player who was also something of a coach who knew by example.
Rapinoe is doing that now. She also appears in better spirits, yet wants to play, provide her experience, for she’d like to currently play in another World Cup.
Take a nap, remember the time of this wee small hours of the morning event, tune in, and root for the red, white and blue. The rest is up to the team, namely maybe Rapinoe, no doubt veteran Alex Morgan, leading scorers Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman, fiery captain Lindsay Horan, as well as Lavelle.
Stay tuned. The answers will come after the early morning match concludes.
