Megan Rapinoe calls criticism of her missed World Cup penalty kick ‘fake, disingenuous, absurd and outrageous’ – and says Donald Trump and critics were ‘just waiting for USWNT to fail’
Megan Rapinoe has fired back at her opponents after facing criticism in the wake of her penalty miss that led to the United States being knocked out of the World Cup.
The 38-year-old, who played in her last game for the USWNT, was one of three stars who failed to score in the penalty shootout in their last-sixteen loss to Sweden.
Angry American fans criticized Rapinoe after her miss, focusing their anger on the fact that she laughed immediately after shooting her penalty kick over the crossbar.
Donald Trump has rekindled his feud with the outspoken Rapinoe after her miss, sarcastically noting “nice shot Megan” in a social media post criticizing the USWNT.
When asked about the former president’s comments, Rapinoe recounted The Atlantic Ocean: ‘What he says is fake. It’s a compilation of hit words and popular words that don’t actually have any meaning at all or are in accordance with reality.
Megan Rapinoe was one of three American players to miss in their penalty kick defeat
Rapinoe was mocked by many on social media, including former President Donald Trump
Trump sarcastically remarked ‘nice shot Megan’ and that ‘the US is going to hell’
βI think the way our team was talked about in general during the tournament was fake. And it didn’t make sense to me: in 2019 we were extremely confident, ultra swaggy β and won everything.
And even though we won, our critics say we did it out of bad taste. This time we didn’t have enough confidence and didn’t have the right “mind”. And so we lost. It’s just so unfair. There’s no way for us to win, and there’s no way for us to lose.’
Trump said in his social media post that many USWNT players were “openly hostile to America” βββ with the team sparking backlash when several of their stars remained silent during the national anthem during all four games during the tournament.
“The ‘shocking and totally unexpected’ loss of the US women’s soccer team to Sweden is completely emblematic of what is happening to the once great nation under the corrupt Joe Biden,” Trump wrote on social media.
Many of our players were openly hostile to America. No other country behaved like this, or even close to it. AWAKE EQUALS FAILURE.
Nice shot Megan, the US is going to hell!!! MAGA.’
Rapinoe later hit back on the comments, saying, “It’s a really sad search in an old sack.”
In her interview with the Atlantic, she further admitted that she believed she would score her penalty during the shootout, and that even if she missed, on reflection she would still have accepted it.
Angry American fans criticized Rapinoe for laughing after she missed during the penalty shootout
The USWNT received backlash after several players refused to sing the national anthem
She added, βI thought long and hard about missing one at a really big time. What are you going to do? All you can do is not take one. I’m not going to do that.
βI’d rather get up and be at that moment. And I think that’s something that made the criticism after that loss especially false and insincere, absurd and outrageous to me. It’s like you’re going to bash me for going out and doing my best?”
Trump wasn’t the only big name to criticize the USWNT during the World Cup.
American soccer legend Alexi Lalas called the team “unlikely” and former teammate Carli Lloyd complained that the team was celebrating after the group stage draw with Portugal.
Rapinoe said the comments were “disappointing,” adding: “Everyone on the right β and everyone who used hate speech and these tropes β it’s like they’ve only been waiting since, I don’t know, 2016? 2019? They’ve been waiting for this team to stumble. But when we’re perfect, we’re accused of thinking we’re perfect.
Trump has had a long-standing feud with the outspoken Rapinoe and singled her out after her miss
βWhat’s really happening is the right wing wants this to be true: they want women to believe that you can’t fight for things and be excellent; you can’t ask for what you deserve and be successful. But the reality is that we do.’
Rapinoe was previously panned by fans for her immediate reaction to missing the penalty, after she was seen laughing and smiling after shooting her kick over the crossbar.
“I don’t understand what’s funny about this?” wrote one fan on Twitter in response. The laughter shows how much this team took this as a joke. So much for being a role model for the rest of the team.’
Another said: “I’m generally a Megan Rapinoe fan, but laughing after a missed penalty isn’t pretty.”
Rapinoe was later seen crying along with her devastated teammates as the league’s defending champion USA crashed during the last sixteen stage in Melbourne.
Rapinoe explained her initial reaction afterwards, saying, “That’s like a sick, sick joke.” It has never happened to me, if I miss they are saved. That’s why I had that smile on my face.
Rapinoe, who won two World Cups while playing for the USWNT, played her last game for them in the last 16 loss to Sweden
“I’m like, ‘You’re kidding.’ Will I miss a penalty? I mean, honestly, I can’t remember the last time I missed.’
However, Rapinoe did receive praise when DailyMail.com spoke to supporters New York city about what they really think of Rapinoe.
“I think she’s a great athlete,” said one supporter. I think what she stands for and what she represents means a lot to the football community.
“I think what she’s had to face, especially after the events of the last game, and especially given the criticism online, must have hurt, I can’t imagine being in her position. Especially with her, she is the face of an equal pay movement. To lead something like this as a spearhead, it has a huge impact. I really sympathize with her.’
Rapinoe won the World Cup twice with the United States, scoring 63 goals in 202 games.