Left-wing activist Megan Rapinoe did not make the U.S. Women’s National Team roster for the upcoming SheBelieves Cup.
The national anthem protester was among several well-known soccer stars who were left off the list, ESPN reported Thursday. Others included Alex Morgan and Christen Press.
During the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the USWNT had a severely disappointing showing with a veteran-laden roster.
With Rapinoe, Morgan and Press all on the squad, the U.S. went just 1-1-1 in group play. The USWNT suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Sweden in its first game of the group stage.
After a 6-1 victory over outmatched New Zealand, Team USA slugged through a 0-0 draw with Australia and finished behind Sweden in Group G.
The USWNT needed penalty kicks to get past the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, and it fell 1-0 to Canada in the semifinals.
A 4-3 victory over Australia to earn the bronze medal was hardly exciting for a team that was heavily favored to win gold coming into the Olympics.
In the first major competition since the disappointing Olympic showing, head coach Vlatko Andonovski said he wanted to offer some younger players a chance to prove themselves.
“All these players are very good players — we know that they’ve done so much for this team,” Andonovski told ESPN of the veterans left off the roster.
“But right now I want to give a chance to players like Sophia Smith and Mal Pugh and Catarina Macario, Ashley Hatch, players that have earned their spot on the national team or earn their spot back. I want to give them maximum minutes or whatever minutes they earn so we can evaluate every aspect of their game, in the training environment or game setting.”
While he said the moves do not mean players like Rapinoe will never play for the USWNT, he also said they are not a lock to be on the roster for other major tournaments in the future.
“It doesn’t mean that all these players that have done well in the past are just going to come back here in the next camp because they’ve done well a year ago or two years ago,” Andonovski said.
“There’s a reason why we’re not calling Mia Hamm or Julie Foudy in camp, right?” he said, referring to two long-retired soccer stars. “So the same goes here: They need to perform, they need to play in their markets, they need to play well in their markets, and show that they can still contribute and be valuable for the national team.”
In 2021, Rapinoe played in 11 games for the OL Reign of the National Women’s Soccer League. She notched six goals and two assists on the season, but four of those goals were scored on penalty kicks.
Rapinoe would turn 38 before the next Women’s World Cup, which is set to begin on July 20, 2023, in Australia and New Zealand. She already became the oldest player ever to score in a Women’s World Cup Final in 2019, CBS Sports reported.
While it is not impossible for someone that age to play in the World Cup, she would certainly be one of the oldest players in the tournament if she made the roster.
Rapinoe’s talent on the pitch is undeniable, and she has been instrumental in the USWNT’s success over the last decade. With that said, it will be refreshing to root for an American national team without having to endure her hatred for the country.
The longtime national anthem protester and left-wing activist has turned many fans away with her divisive antics. (The Western Journal has made it a point to call out Rapinoe and other hypocritical entertainment and sports celebrities since we began publishing. You can help by joining the fight as a member of The Western Journal.)
In a June 2021 appearance on NPR’s “Fresh Air” podcast, Rapinoe was asked about USWNT’s statement that “representing your country is a privilege and honor for any player or coach that is associated with U.S. Soccer’s national team.”
She said she was “dumbstruck” and “really upset” after reading the statement.
“The nerve and the audacity to say what they did in that statement — it is an honor and a privilege that we all have in this country?” Rapinoe said. “I don’t think so. I don’t think we do all have that in this country. So it missed the entire point, clearly.”
Later in the interview, Rapinoe falsely claimed America was “founded not on freedom and liberty and justice for all” but instead on “chattel slavery.”
She explicitly said she was offended at the suggestion that having a spot on the USWNT is “a privilege and honor.” For the first time in a while, she won’t have to bear the burden of representing a country she despises.
Via The Western Journal.