66
SPORT S ILLUS TR ATED
• JULY 15, 2019
After winning the most competitive tournament yet, with the spotlight at
its brightest (and pinkest), the 19 ers have a claim to being the best women’s
soccer team ever.
UNFLAPPABLE. UNAPOLOG
PHOTOGRAPHS BY
SIMON BRUTY
B Y
GRANT
WAHL
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
Then again, maybe pose isn’t the right word. That
would imply something artificial, which hardly applies
to Rapinoe’s monthlong tour de force during the U.S.’s
second straight title run (and fourth in eight World
Cups). Rarely have we seen an athlete at the highest
level talk the talk—and did Pinoe ever, demanding equal
pay for women players, increased investment in the
women’s game, and greater respect for the LGBTQ and
other minority communities.
Three times in the knockout rounds she faced the
ultimate pressure of taking a penalty kick for her coun-
try in the World Cup, and three times she converted,
including the decisive goal in the 61st minute of the
final in Lyon.
hich Megan Rapinoe pose did
you prefer? The one with her arms
outstretched like a marble statue in the
Louvre—the Purple Haired Lesbian Goddess—
that we saw after her goals against France in
the World Cup quarterfinals and against the
Netherlands in the 2–0 final? Or the one she
posted on Instagram, her arms overflowing
with a preposterous trio of trophies—for the
tournament title, the Golden Boot (as the top
scorer), and the Golden Ball (MVP)?
W
