As sure things go, soccer superstars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe seemed destined to lead Team USA to gold at this Women’s World Cup. In fact, the last time a championship in international competition seemed so guaranteed, basketball superstars Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson (of the first “Dream Team”) were leading Team USA to gold at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
I was rooting for Brazil but duly acknowledged in my June 11 commentary that “Team USA Looks Invincible.” Sure enough:
The United States remained supreme in women’s soccer Sunday, repeating as World Cup champions and winning for the fourth time by defeating the Netherlands, 2-0.
In the Americans’ most difficult test of the month-long competition, Megan Rapinoe converted a penalty kick in the 61st minute [and Rose Lavelle] doubled the lead with an assertive run and 17-yard shot before a pro-U.S. sellout crowd at Stade de Lyon.
(The Washington Post, July 7, 2019)
Co-captain Rapinoe won the Golden Boot for scoring the most goals as well as the Golden Ball for being the most valuable player throughout the tournament. But she tempted fate by getting into a premature spat with President Trump about visiting the White House to crown their victory.
You know the order of things is amiss when Trump is the one making sense in one of his habitual Twitter feuds:
I am a big fan of the American Team, and Women’s Soccer, but Megan should WIN first before she TALKS! Finish the job!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2019
Well, now she/they have. But reports are that none of the members of this Team USA wants to dignify Trump’s xenophobic, racist, misogynistic, kleptocratic, kakistocratic, anti-LGBTQ presidency by celebrating with him. Instead, they have gladly accepted Mayor Bill De Blasio’s invitation for a “Ticker Tape Parade down the Canyon of Heroes” in New York City on Wednesday. Good for them! #OneNationOneTeam!
On the other hand, apropos of arrogance, the way Morgan taunted Team Britain was dismayingly reminiscent of the way Charles Barkley, of the aforementioned Dream Team, taunted Team Angola. She simulated sipping tea after scoring a goal. He elbowed a pencil-thin Angolan player out of his way after slam dunking.
Morgan whined that the backlash against her reeked of sexism. Except that the backlash against Barkley was far worse.
More to the point, though, she betrayed a misguided belief that women should taunt their opponents just like men do. After all, the whole point of hailing the advent of women as role models in everything from politics to business and sports is that we expect them to behave with more dignity and respect than men.
But it appears Rapinoe, Morgan, and their teammates couldn’t care less that they epitomize the stereotype of “the ugly American” in the world of sports every bit as much as Trump does in the world of politics – the irony notwithstanding.
World rolls its eyes as ‘cocky’, ‘sore winner’ US team proclaim their own ‘GREATNESS’ after winning fourth Women’s World Cup. …
USA may have won the Women’s World Cup, but the nation appears to be the only one celebrating as the team comes under renewed criticism for its ‘arrogance’ during the tournament.
(Daily Mail, July 7, 2019)
As it happens, Team USA’s arrogance was on full display during its opening match. That’s when it failed to show due sportsmanship, let alone grace, in thrashing Thailand 13-0. My June 11 commentary attests that I was in the vanguard of those decrying this arrogance.
In any event, this final match was must-see TV. Yet the vast majority of soccer fans were probably focused on other matches. That’s because FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, orchestrated this scheduling conflict:
Perhaps the most significant game in the illustrious history of the United States women’s soccer team will share this Sunday with the Copa America final as well as the Gold Cup championship between the American men and rival Mexico – and that does not sit well with Megan Rapinoe. …
‘It’s ridiculous, and disappointing, to be honest,’ said Rapinoe.
(Daily Mail, July 4, 2019)
She’s right of course, I mean, it’s unfair enough that FIFA refuses to give women players equal pay for equal (or better) play. But this scheduling conflict smacks of just adding insult to that unfairness.
And, lest you think no organization could be so bone-headed and intentionally sexist, here is how I had cause to decry this very same slight four years ago in “Sexism Explains Media Disinterest in Women’s World Cup,” June 12, 2015:
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Don’t get me started on the scheduling conflict with the Copa América, which gets underway in Chile today. After all, this tournament will feature the best South American teams with some of the best players in the world, including Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Neymar. So which tournament do you think media executives are going to cover? …
Frankly, this conflict is tantamount to scheduling the NBA and WNBA playoffs for the same time and leaving it to sexist media executives to decide which to cover.
As it happens, the way these executives think was on full display yesterday. That’s when commentators on ESPN’s most popular talk show, First Take, spent ninety percent of their time gabbing about what happened in game 3 of the NBA Finals, and the other ten percent speculating about the NFL season, which does not even get underway until late-August.
That’s right, they did not utter a single word about the Women’s World Cup – an oversight made all the more egregious given that female Cari Champion is the host of this show.
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No doubt ESPN and other sports programs will slight this Women’s World Cup final in similar fashion. But they’ll probably provide a little consolation by spending almost as much time overhyping the feats of 15-year-old American Coco Gauff at Wimbledon as they spend overhyping free-agency trades in the NBA – like Kawhi Leonard leaving his 2019 championship team, The Toronto Raptors, for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Incidentally, commentators are already hailing Gauff as the next Serena Williams. Never mind that Gauff has yet to surpass the feat Jennifer Capriati pulled at this same tournament in 1991, when she became the youngest player to make it to the semifinals of a Grand Slam.
Not to mention that commentators were hailing Naomi Osaka as such just last year. To be fair, even I bought into that hype with “US Open: Serena’s Upset with Umpire Overshadowed Naomi’s Upset of Her,” September 3, 2018. But I digress …
The point is that I cannot overstate the willful lack of appreciation inherent in FIFA scheduling one men’s tournament to draw attention away from the Women’s World Cup in 2015, only to schedule two to do the same this year. Dis women once, shame on FIFA; dis women twice, shame on women.
That is why I heartily endorse this proposal:
Women’s soccer should walk away from FIFA … and build a better system, separate from the men’s game.
FIFA has had to be pushed, kicking and screaming the entire way, by the players and their fans into caring about and supporting women’s football, and it’s a stretch even now to say that it does either.
Why should women’s soccer, with a worldwide audience of millions and millions of people, trust these men with its future?
(HuffPost, July 6, 2019)
Unless women establish their own governing body to manage their own confederation and associations, I fear the male-dominated FIFA might schedule three men’s tournaments to draw attention away from the next Women’s World Cup in 2023.
Carpe diem, women!
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