The United States beat the Netherlands within the 2019 Women’s World Cup on Sunday 2-0, following a month-lengthy event that attracted greater attention to the game — and to social problems surrounding the women’s league — than ever before.
The 8th Women’s World Cup, which kicked off on June 7, culminated Sunday night at Parc Olympique Lyonnais in France and ended in a difficult-fought fourth international championship for the United States group.
From the outset of the match, the US crew became favored to win. In their first fit towards Thailand, they received 13-0, scoring, as some have mentioned, greater goals in one recreation than the men’s group has scored in every World Cup on the grounds that 2006 combined.
So going into the final recreation Sunday, Holland changed into the underdog, in spite of having gained the UEFA European Women’s Championship years ago. They staved off aim tries until minute 61, when US group captain Megan Rapinoe sank a penalty kick to the right of the box.
The red-haired Rapinoe has drawn attention throughout the tournament for her outspoken political beliefs but additionally for her standout playing: This became her 6th aim of the Cup, tying her with teammate Alex Morgan for maximum goals within the event.
Eight mins later, midfielder Rose Lavelle scored the second one aim of the fit — and in the end, the Netherlands never stuck up, failing to score a goal notwithstanding some of the tries. When the very last whistle blew, the USA became topped international champion for the second one time in four years.
This changed into the girls’ cup’s maximum famous tournament ever. Tickets for the hole healthy, semifinals, and final suit all offered out inside 48 hours, and an envisioned 1 billion human beings tuned in for matches.
The US is a dominant group on the sector level, and the New York Times’s Rory Smith described an “American Invasion in Lyon,” where fans decked out in stars and stripes helped give the USA players an experience of home-court docket advantage.
And famous fanatics tweeted their guide earlier of the final match:
After the sport ended, the Times described loose-flowing tears because the US crew “cemented their reputation as the gold preferred in women’s football.”
“It’s surreal,” Rapinoe said at the sport’s finish. “I don’t understand how to feel. It’s ridiculous.”
The crew has additionally drawn interest to the same pay and civil rights
The World Cup drew more interest this 12 months now not just for the distinction of America crew but for the myriad social and political issues that their participation raised.
In overdue June, Megan Rapinoe, the group’s captain, snorted in response to a query about journeying the White House to have fun if her crew gained the match.
“I’m now not going to the fucking White House,” she told the reporter in a video posted by using Eight through Eight that soon went viral — and that attracted the ire of President Trump.
“I am a huge fan of the American Team, and Women’s Soccer, however, Megan should WIN first before she TALKS! Finish the task!” he tweeted, before extending an invite, win or lose, to the whole women’s group.
In reaction, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) invited Rapinoe and the rest of her team for an excursion of the House of Representatives “anytime they’d like.” Rapinoe popular the invitation.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) observed up, saying she’d deliver a purple velvet cake to the party, slyly mocking the fast food that President Trump served to the Clemson Tigers to have a good time their countrywide university soccer championship in January. And Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced an invite of her very own.
Rapinoe reiterated her competition to attending any kind of White House party following the discharge of the viral video, saying in a press convention: “I would encourage my teammates to think tough approximately lending that platform or having that co-opted by means of an administration that doesn’t sense the equal way and fight for the same matters we fight for.”
According to Vox’s Gabriela Resto-Montero, this announcement becomes of a component with Rapinoe’s ongoing activism, which has additionally ruffled feathers in the US Soccer Federation:
Rapinoe has used her platform to endorse for a number of problems, such as LGBTQ rights and pay equality, and against police brutality. In 2016, Rapinoe commenced kneeling at some stage in the countrywide anthem in unity with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s protest towards police brutality.
