Rapinoe makes most of time on world stage
LYON, France — A Women's World Cup stirred by heated debates on politics, pay and technology saw the narratives fused in Sunday's final by the undisputed and outspoken star of the tournament: Megan Rapinoe.
By opening the scoring with a penalty awarded after a video review, Rapinoe claimed a sixth goal and, thanks to her assists, finished as the top scorer of the most-watched FIFA women's tournament.
Winning the Golden Boot provided the pink-haired player renowned for her individuality and activism with a platform for both after the 2-0 victory over the Netherlands.
The forward got to collect her scoring trophy before the main prize was handed out.
But only after the introduction of French President Emmanuel Macron and FIFA counterpart Gianni Infantino for the on-field trophy presentation was followed by boos and chants of "equal pay" — thousands taking up Rapinoe's campaign for more equitable prize money from the World Cup organizers and
compensation from the U.S. federation.
"A little public shame never hurt anyone," Rapinoe said with a winners' medal around her neck. "So I am down with it."
Not down with a visit to the White House, though, with a rejection of a post-tournament visit delivered publicly in a video that emerged during the tournament.
“Megan should WIN first before she TALKS!” President Donald Trump responded in tweet that lit up the monthlong tournament. “Finish the job!”
Rapinoe and her American teammates did that by defending the World Cup.
In the hours before the game, she even found an advocate for the pursuit of greater pay equality in the French president.
“We need to go progressively toward that,” Macron said. “We should progressively converge.”
That is undermined by the prize money for the men’s World Cup in 2022 jumping to $440 million when the women’s teams will only split $60 million in 2023.
This time, it is only half that.
Victory gave the Americans $4 million — double the amount earned four years ago — as part of a $30 million prize pot but lagging the $38 million earned by France for lifting the men’s trophy a year ago in Moscow.
On the eve of the final, sitting in the same news conference position occupied by Infantino a day earlier, Rapinoe rebuked the head of soccer’s governing body for disrespecting women as the prize-money gulf
widens with the winners of the men’s World Cups.
Rapinoe chose not to confront Infantino on the field.
“There was a wry smile, for sure,” she said. “He knows. He did say we’ll have a conversation or something. I said, ‘I’d love to.’ ”
Rapinoe has something to be thankful to Infantino for: the introduction of VAR— video assistant referee— which has had a disruptive debut in women’s soccer as referees and players have adjusted to the new technology.
“It has gotten a lot of stick in the tournament,” Rapinoe said. “There’s some inconsistencies, but this is the first time all these referees have actually used it. So overall I think it’s been pretty good.”
What has been less of a success were FIFA’S efforts at attracting fans to some games.
FIFA knows it has to
do more to raise attendance. The sellout crowd of 58,000 on Sunday was a rarity.
In a month when FIFA challenged the world to “Dare to Shine,” efforts were dimmed by marketing mishaps around ticket promotions that saw swathes of empty seats in stadiums.
In a sign of soaring interest in the women’s game, FIFA already has nine countries interested in hosting the 2023 event: Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and South Korea.
Rapinoe will be hoping players aren’t still fighting over pay by then.
“Everyone is kind of asking what’s next and what we want to come of all this,” she said. “It’s to stop having the conversation about equal pay, are we worth it, the investment piece . ... It’s time to kind of sit down with everyone and really get to work.”