In 1991, team USA defeated Norway in the jaw clenching game, pulling out a narrow win of 2-1. In 1999, they did the same, only this time defeating China, 5-4. Now, four years ago in 2015, they returned to the stage to show they could win again against Japan with a score of 5-2. Yesterday the women made history again, as returning champions for the 2019 Fifa World Cup, winning over the Netherlands with a score of 2-0. But why does this all matter? Why should you care if they won or if they lost?
As long as I can remember, women have always had to fight for their rights, dating all the way back to when we were first allowed to vote. But now, we've seemed to have backpedaled. Not only are women fighting for basic human rights with the abortion laws, but for equal pay as well, and too many other rights to count. The women that make up this fantastic team of players are starting the new revolution to fight for women's rights. Megan Rapinoe, the pink-haired captain who scored the first goal of the final game, has stood strong after her comments made in June. She previously said she would never go to the White House under any circumstance, and that she'd be surprised if any of her teammates did.
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Now, almost a month later, Trump responded, saying she needs to win before she can talk and that she has disrespected her country. Well, Megan did just that. She has also constantly demanded equal pay, but yet again Trump has denied this request saying that "[they] have to look at the numbers... you have to look at who's taking in what." He also said they have to "see how they're performing." Well, after dominating the World Cup tournament two times in a row, I'd say they're at the top of their game performance wise.
No one can deny the millions of dollars gap between the men's World Cup prize money and the women's, not even President Trump. The 2023 women's World Cup may be expanding to 32 teams, and the reward money doubling to 60 million. However, the men's World Cup, scheduled for 2022, is set to have a prize of 440 million dollars. That is an undeniable gap that proves exactly why the women of this team continue to fight. Time and time again they are knocked down but every single team member is fighting for not only their rights as athletes but as women.
Now is the time for all women to fight. In a time where we've come so far, yet we still have so far to go, the USA women's soccer team and all international women's soccer teams must show us the way. I know they won't rest until they've reached their goal, but now the question that remains is will you stand behind them?
