In the wake of the US women’s team’s elimination from the ongoing World Cup following their defeat to Sweden courtesy Megan Rapinoe’s missed penalty kick, there have been a lot of opinions floating around but very few of them are related to the game itself.
To catch up, the precursor to all the criticism that is currently making the rounds is the USWNT captain Megan Rapinoe’s political stance and activism. Rapinoe has been an outright conspicuously vocal anti-Trump voice. She also advocates the LGBTQ+ rights.
All that was not a hiccup for the supporters of the team, albeit some liked her even more for her courage to be so open about her positions.
But she became a controversial figure when she would not sing the US national anthem before the match all throughout the tournament. That is when she polarized the supporters of the team.
Some people assumed it as very unpatriotic and the team’s defeat gave all the over chauvinistic pundits a field day over her antics.
Alexi Lalas, former defender for the US national team believes that the USWNT has become a polarizing figure because of their political stances and it is making people who may not agree with those ideologies not root for the team.
Don’t kill the messenger. This #USWNT is polarizing. Politics, causes, stances, & behavior have made this team unlikeable to a portion of America. This team has built its brand and has derived its power from being the best/winning. If that goes away they risk becoming irrelevant. https://t.co/J5yFxOuBet
His statement triggered a lot of responses. Many are agreeing with his take on the situation while there are many who are accusing him of mocking the team’s efforts and being inconsiderate while being a player himself.
CNN on the other hand held no punches and being succinct in their take on Lalas’ statement, showed a career analysis of Rapinoe and Lalas and all their statistics and their achievements.
The comparison showed Rapinoe’s goals, titles won, assists and the awards that she has won and for Lalas, he could not open his account in any of those columns.
This comparison has catered quite a response from the audience.
Some find it absolutely savage and hilarious and some are defending Lalas saying that he was a defender and all the pomp and glory is for the strikers and other position players and they are criticizing CNN for mocking one team player to defend another one.
This back and forth of criticism and counter defense keeps going on like clockwork from one side of the center to another. Just the point of the center keeps changing.
