GETIC.
LED
We’ll go there. Muhammad Ali is a singular figure in Ameri-
can history. But there are elements of a modern-day Ali in
Rapinoe’s commingling of sports and social activism, to say
nothing of her ability to turn the media’s attention—even when
negative, in certain circles—to her advantage.
“I’m made for this,” the 34-year-old forward said after the
final. “I love it.... To back up all those words with perfor-
mances and back up all those performances with words, it’s
just incredible. I feel like this team is in the midst of changing
the world around us as we live, and it’s an incredible feeling.”
This team is also in the midst of suing the U.S. Soccer Federa-
tion for gender discrimination—though both sides have agreed
to try mediation first—and in the heady moments after the
World Cup’s final whistle, American fans engaged in a lustychant of “Equal pay!
Equal pay!” The cho-
rus rang through the
stadium as Rapinoe
accepted her awards
and then conversed
with FIFA president
Gianni Infantino,
French president Emmanuel Macron, and U.S.
Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro.
Rapinoe knows her power—TV ratings for Fox’s
broadcast of the final were 20% better than those for
the men’s tournament one year ago; this is America’s
Team right now—and she isn’t afraid to wield it.
“Everyone’s asking what’s next and what we want
to come from all this,” she said after beating the
Dutch. “And it’s to stop having the conversation
about equal pay and ‘Are we worth it?’ What are
we going to do about it?”
As the team looks forward, however, fans still
have time to reflect on this year’s win. One of the
greatest of all time? Probably. The most meaningful
in history? Perhaps, considering all the things these women
have represented to different people. The greatest women’s
soccer team ever? Oh, yes, certainly. “I do think this is a team
that across the board is the best we’ve seen,” says no less
an authority than two-time U.S. World Cup champion Julie
Foudy. This was the first women’s team to win back-to-back
titles and reach three finals in a row. In France, it won every
game, outscored opponents 26–3, led for 442 of 630 minutes,
and never trailed.
A raft of stories during the tournament suggested that the
rest of the world is catching up to the now-four-time cham-
pions, but that notion is a bit off. While European teams are
certainly improving, the U.S. is getting better too—maybe
even at a faster rate.(^67)
SPORT S ILLUS TR ATED
• JULY 15, 2019
FROM THE PAGES OF
ROSE: GOLD
Lavelle (above) quashed
any chance of a Dutch
leveling when she
buried a 69th-minute
goal from the top of
the box.