Betting on the victory of the Women’s World Cup by the USA team that just ended in France was not very difficult, just like playing Heart bingo, because the women’s national American team has dominated unchallenged for many years. Although the Netherlands in the final match tried to contain the overwhelming power of our players with a very defensive tactic, in the second half the higher technical and physical quality was really too much and thanks to two goals, the World Cup was again painted in red, white and blue.
Now the question that everyone is asking is: will the team get a formal invitation to the White House? The great protagonist of the game, in fact, with the goal on penalty that unlocked the game and with the conquest of the golden shoe, was Megan Rapinoe, a player who can not be enlisted among the supporters of Donald Trump, but all the other way around!
Megan Rapinoe has become an icon in the fight against all sorts of inequalities and discrimination, especially against the LGBTQ community. Rapinoe has always criticized the policies of the Trump administration along with many other sports superstars such as Lebron James.
So Donald Trump decided to respond to Rapinoe by snubbing the final in Lyon, where the U.S. women’s national team got on top of the world for the fourth time in its history. The White House delegation was very low-profile and led by Deputy Trade Secretary Karen Dunn Kelley.
The previous delegation to the 2015 finals (US-Japan), under the Obama administration, was led by Vice President Joe Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill. This decision came after the clash between the president and the captain of the U.S. team, Megan Rapinoe, after the latter refused to sing the U.S. anthem and to announce that she would refuse to go to the White House in case of an invitation from the President.
After the victory, however, Trump could not help but tweet something about the world victory: “Congratulations to the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team on winning the World Cup! Great and exciting play. America is proud of you all!”, in this case avoiding any controversy with Rapinoe.
Former U.S. presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton also tweeted their congratulations to the U.S. team, along with several other politicians, athletes and celebrities.
An invitation from the President to celebrate at the White House is regularly made to successful American teams and sportsmen, such as the Olympic gold medals. So even for the U.S. national women’s soccer team, in case they win. But in this case who knows…
At 33, Megan Rapinoe – with her unconventional look, hair between purple and magenta – has become the champion for the rights of women footballers, calling for greater equity between women and men, a symbol of some social struggles that Rapinoe has been carrying on for years. And in protest against Trump’s policy, since 2016 he has refused to sing the American anthem.