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Megan Rapinoe caught plenty of heat following the US Women’s National Team’s World Cup debacle earlier this month, particularly the fallout of her missed penalty kick in an elimination loss to Sweden — criticism she believes is “absurd and outrageous”.
The 38-year-old Rapinoe addressed the brutal miss in a new interview with The Atlantic, after which she was seen staring down at the pitch, laughing in apparent disbelief after her ball sailed over the net, a moment that ignited criticism from her detractors.
“I’ve been lucky not to miss a lot in actual competition, but eventually, that can happen. But I love taking them. I would take them all the time. I would take that one again. I would pick me to take them,” Rapinoe said.
“For a long time, I have thought about missing one in a really big moment. What are you going to do? The only other thing you could do is to not take one. I’m not going to do that. I would rather step up and be in that moment.
“And I think that’s something that made the criticism after that loss particularly fake and disingenuous and absurd and outrageous to me. It’s like, you’re going to bash on me for getting out there and trying my best?”
Rapinoe likened the missed kick to a “sick joke” as the United States was ousted before the semi-finals for the first time.
“That’s like a sick, sick joke. I’ve never hit it over, when I miss they are saved. That’s why I had that smile on my face,” Rapinoe said of the final moment of her World Cup career. “I’m like, ‘You’ve got to be f**king kidding me.’ I’m going to miss a penalty?’ Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I missed.”
Former President Donald Trump mocked Rapinoe in the wake of the USWNT’s early exit, writing in part on the Truth Social platform: “The ‘shocking and totally unexpected’ loss by the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team to Sweden is fully emblematic of what is happening to our once great Nation under Crooked Joe Biden,” and “Nice shot Megan.”
“What he’s saying is fake. It’s a compilation of hit words and hot-button words that don’t actually make any sort of sense or square with reality at all … I think, just in general, the way that our team was spoken about over the course of the tournament, it was fake,” she told The Atlantic.
Rapinoe, who retires with two World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, reflected on this year’s tournament in a candid Instagram post.
“This game is so beautiful, even in its cruellest moments. This group was so very special, and I am immensely proud of every single one of us. This team is in special hands as I walk away, just like it always was, and always will be,” she wrote in the Aug. 9 post.
“Because that is what this team is all about. We lay it all out on the line every single time. Fighting with everything that we have, for everything we deserve, for every person we possibly can.”
Captain reveals reason behind America’s World Cup flop
Lindsey Horan had a simple explanation for the U.S. Women’s National Team’s flop in the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
“When a coach comes in, it’s like, hey, how do we get the best out of every single individual player putting the most simplicity into a 10-day camp every few months and getting the best out of your team and without overcomplicating everything?” the USWNT co-captain told former teammates Tobin Heath and Christen Press on “The RE-CAP Show.”
“I could talk about the last four-year cycle, and we don’t need to get into every single thing, but that’s not what we did. We did not get the best out of every single individual.
“I don’t think everyone was fully prepared, and that’s on us as well.”
There’s been a search for answers as to why the two-time defending champion USWNT had its worst showing in tournament history at this year’s Women’s World Cup.
The Americans needed a ball to hit a goalpost against Portugal to save them from being eliminated in group stage play, and exited the tournament in the Round of 16 after a loss in penalty kicks to Sweden.
The USWNT did not score in the final 238 minutes of its tournament run.
Horan’s header in a 1-1 tie against Netherlands in the United States’ second game would be their final goal of the tournament following a 3-0 win to open the tournament against Vietnam.
Head coach Vlatko Adonovski has already paid the price, announcing his resignation last week after the USWNT scored its fewest goals ever in the tournament.
Horan seemingly indicated that coaching may have been an issue for this tournament with her comments, but also noted that the team didn’t seem to play with joy.
“The first game (versus Vietnam) there were bits and pieces of joy but we still weren’t at our best. Looking at those three group stage games, you just felt this tense feeling, and people were just not enjoying their football or they weren’t enjoying individually playing and there was so much going on in their head,” Horan said.
“I had a press conference and that was the first thing that came to my mind. There’s no joy. I haven’t truly enjoyed moments on the field where I came off the field and was like, ‘Oh, I love that game’.”
This article was originally published by the New York Post and reproduced with permission
