Face of Nation : Capping off a week when she was the focus of (some of) the president’s Twitter rage, Megan Rapinoe responded Friday night with a pair of goals that sent the U.S. women into the World Cup semifinals. Rapinoe has scored all four of the U.S. goals in the knockout rounds, and she has five for the tournament.
After each goal – one in the fifth minute, one in the 65th – Rapinoe went to the corner of the field, thrust her arms wide and roared.
And, yes, she did drop a few more of those expletives that compelled her to apologize to her mother.
As the final whistle sounded, chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A” echoed throughout Parc des Princes and the Americans on the bench sprinted onto the field. The U.S. women will play England on Tuesday in Lyon, France, for a spot in the July 7 final. Rapinoe was named player of the match.
The 2-1 win eliminated host France – both from the World Cup and next year’s Olympics. Only the top three European teams qualify for the Tokyo Games, and all the rest of the remaining teams are European.
This quarterfinal had been hotly anticipated since the draw was done in December, and buildup had only grown since the tournament began. The U.S. had lost just once in the previous 42 games – to France, in a January exhibition that snapped the Americans’ 28-game winning streak.
In the previous three games between the teams, France had won two and they’d tied in the other.
With a chance to become the first country to hold both the men’s and women’s titles, France has gone ga-ga for this team. Les Bleues have knocked the men’s team off the cover of the sports sections, the games are drawing record TV ratings and tickets for Friday’s game were going for nearly $1,900 on the secondary market Thursday.
And that was before Rapinoe caught Trump’s attention.
Trump fired off several Tweets on Wednesday after learning about her months-old comment about not going to the White House and her even older peaceful protests during the national anthem. She was hailed by some Americans and condemned by others, some of whom suggested she leave the country.
But Rapinoe didn’t back down. She’s never been afraid to say what she thinks because she has thought about what she’s going to say. She is eloquent in describing her protests during the national anthem, which began in support of Colin Kaepernick and his efforts to draw attention to the biased policing that has claimed the lives of too many people of color.
And, as a lesbian, she feels strongly about Trump and his administration, who have pursued and enacted policies to strip the LGBTQ community of its rights.
“I don’t think I would want to go and I would encourage my teammates to think hard about lending (our) platform or having it co-opted by an administration that doesn’t feel the same way and doesn’t fight for the same things that we fight for,” Rapinoe said Thursday.
If there was any concern this would rattle the Americans, it was quickly dispelled. Coach Jill Ellis said she had the team’s support, and several of her teammates – past and present – took to Twitter to express their support.
Plus, as Rapinoe said Thursday, she lives for these big moments.
Does she ever.
In just the fourth minute of the game, Griedge Mbock Bathy was given a yellow card for holding Alex Morgan’s arm and trying to yank her backward. Rapinoe took the free kick and, with France’s wall only two-players wide, she drove the ball into traffic. It skipped through France captain Amandine Henry’s legs and, with so many players in front of her, goalkeeper Sarah Bouuhaddi had no chance to stop it.
As the ball rustled the net, the American fans erupted and Rapinoe stood in the corner, her arms spread wide, a huge smile on her face.
Her second goal was even more important.
France was trying to shed its label as underachievers here. It has never advanced beyond the semifinals at a major international tournament, and has gone out in the quarterfinals of the: 2015 World Cup; 2016 Olympics; and 2017 European championships.
They had struggled in their previous three games and did so again in the first half, unable to connect more than two or three passes. What shots they did take were wildly off-target.
But they looked far more focused early in the second half, threatening several times. In the 64th minute, U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher had to make a leaping block on a shot by Valerie Gauvin.
But Morgan played a nice ball up the right side to Tobin Heath, who slid a pass across the field. It went behind Sam Mewis, and looked as if it might have been a lost opportunity. Rapinoe was right there, however, slamming the ball past Bouhaddi.
France would get a goal back on Wendie Renard’s header off a set piece in the 81st, but it couldn’t get the equalizer.
Give Alyssa Naeher credit for that.
Naeher has faced a barrage of criticism, largely because she’s not Hope Solo. But she had a spectacular game, and made another impressive save in the 89th to seal the game.
