Megan Rapinoe Explains Why U.S. Womens Team Was Better Prepared For Trump World Cup Drama

LOADINGERROR LOADINGFormer U.S.women’s national team star Megan Rapinoe explained on Thursday how the “circus” surrounding the men’s World Cup team after Donald Trump’s intervention with FIFA may have contributed to its crushing 4-1 Round of 16 defeat to Belgium.On her podcast, “A Touch More: The Beautiful Game,” Rapinoe said the controversy over Folarin Balogun’s red-card suspension — which FIFA later rescinded after the president controversially pushed for a review — created unnecessary distractions at a time when the team should have been focused solely on soccer.Advertisement Watch the podcast on YouTube.Rapinoe compared the situation to the scrutiny that she and her U.S.

teammates faced during their victorious 2019 Women’s World Cup campaign.That tournament began after the team filed its equal-pay lawsuit, and she said the players were “a little bit more prepared” for the attention when Trump began criticizing them.The men’s team, she suggested, was not ready for the drama and pressure.“I think the distraction got to the team for sure in some type of way.Whether it was, you know, this red card situation, whether it was being in a public discourse with this president, all of the shenanigans and chaos that comes with that, the feelings on both sides of that.

Whether you agree with it or not, it’s just a lot to contend with,” she said.Advertisement Comparing the two teams’ experiences, she continued:“So, not only does this [men’s] team not have like a core of older players who are used to that, but none of these players talk about anything, ever, like, for the most part.I think in men’s football, just like in general, there’s not a lot of players who are choosing to use their platform or to, you know, broaden their scope of pressure and responsibility.”“I feel like this is the first time that most, if not all, of these players are having to even think about something off of the field that is ...