Megan Rapinoe ends successful career as a symbol of the fight for equality – 11/13/2023 – Sport

Shortly after playing in what was the last game of her professional career on Saturday (11), Megan Rapinoe answered again the question she heard most since announcing her retirement: “What is your greatest legacy?”

At 38 years old, after winning two World Cups, an Olympic gold medal, and becoming one of the most important voices in the fight for the rights of women and the LGBTQIA+ community, the American still hesitated to give a definitive answer.

“This is for you [repórteres] write in. I don’t know,” she said. “But I come away so proud and happy to have not only made my contribution to the game, but also to the time I played in and to know that the game is in such a better place.”

Maybe it wasn’t an ideal time for her to do a broader reflection. Rapinoe’s expected last game lasted for the now former player just two minutes and 25 seconds after the start of the clash between OL Reign, the club she defended for a decade, and NJ/NY Gotham FC, in the NWSL decider, the American Women’s Soccer League.

When trying to pressure the opponent’s ball, it slipped and fell alone on the lawn. Crying, she held the lower part of her right leg and, even after receiving medical attention, she was unable to continue on the field. This ended, abruptly, at the Snapdragon stadium, the chance she had to find a rare new title for her gallery.

The OL Reign team felt the loss of their reference and ended up defeated 2-1. “It seems like a bad joke that it had to end like this,” said midfielder Rose Lavelle. “It was an honor for all of us to share the field with her.”

For a good part of Americans, Rapinoe’s impact went far beyond the pitch. When referring to her on the eve of her farewell, the New York Times described her as the person most “responsible for defining women’s football in the United States” and “transforming the team into something that transcended sport.”

“As a result, she helped set the tone for women’s football as a whole,” the newspaper wrote.

With Rapinoe, the United States women’s soccer team began to echo the causes in which she was involved. In 2019, she was among those who knelt in solidarity with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s fight for racial equality.

“It’s a game at the end of the day and it’s something we can use for what I think is the purpose of life: to use what you have to better yourself and make the people around you better,” she said at the time. .

The former player also led a long battle for equal pay with the men’s team, something that began with a complaint in 2016 and was only resolved last year, when both teams signed contracts with US Soccer that guaranteed equal pay and prizes. .

The victory obtained by the women’s team lives up to the team’s success, which is vastly superior to the men’s team. While the Americans have already won four World Cups and six Olympic medals, four of which are gold, the men’s main achievements are the Gold Cup and the Concacaf Nations League (Football Confederation of North, Central and Caribbean America).

In 2019, due to ideological and political differences, Rapinou refused to visit the White House and meet with the then President of the United States, Donald Trump, after the World Cup title won by the Americans in France.

Instead of meeting the politician, the former player elected the best athlete at that World Cup took part in a parade in New York and gave a long speech praising the diversity in the world champion squad.

After that, she became a constant target of criticism from the former head of state and other politicians who are part of his group.

When the USA were eliminated from this year’s World Cup by Sweden, with a penalty shootout defeat in a dispute in which Rapinoe wasted her shot, Trump quipped:

“Many of our players have been openly hostile to America,” he said. “Nice shot, Megan [Rapinoe]the USA is going to hell.”

As she has become accustomed to doing throughout her career, the former player did not lower her head after the criticism. And she said the politician’s statements are a “compilation of false words that make no sense.”

For the national team, in addition to the titles, she finished with 63 goals in 203 matches, during 17 years wearing the American shirt, a period in which she became a technical reference, playing mainly on the right wing.

Skillful, specializing in long-distance kicks and set pieces, she made her last appearance for the national team in a friendly against South Africa in September.

Lesbian and philanthropist for GLSEN (Gays, Lesbians & Straight Education Network, an organization that combats discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ population), Rapinoe is one of the defenders of trans athletes in women’s events.

At OL Reign, the former athlete played alongside Quinn, the first trans and non-binary person to win an Olympic medal and compete in a World Cup, for Canada, in 2021.

Rapinoe says goodbye to the pitch at a time when the American League is also entering a new era, especially financially.

The NWSL sold its broadcasting rights for US$240 million (R$1.1 billion) over four years to ESPN, CBS, Prime Video and Scripps, a value 40 times greater than the current contract. The new agreement calls for the broadcast of 118 games per season, instead of 30, a visibility that was also boosted by the success of the generation led by Rapinoe.

“I’ve always tried to leverage the platform we have to drive change and advance progress, to use the success we’ve had to make things better.”