{"id":2496234,"date":"2026-07-10T10:00:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T10:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2496234"},"modified":"2026-07-10T10:00:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T10:00:48","slug":"megan-rapinoe-explains-why-u-s-womens-team-was-better-prepared-for-trump-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/megan-rapinoe-explains-why-u-s-womens-team-was-better-prepared-for-trump-drama\/","title":{"rendered":"Megan Rapinoe Explains Why U.S. Women\u2019s Team Was Better Prepared For Trump Drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Former U.S. women\u2019s national team star Megan Rapinoe explained on Thursday how the \u201ccircus\u201d surrounding the men\u2019s World Cup team after Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s intervention with FIFA may have contributed to its crushing 4-1 Round of 16 defeat to Belgium.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On her podcast, \u201cA Touch More: The Beautiful Game<\/a>,\u201d Rapinoe said the controversy over Folarin Balogun\u2019s red-card suspension \u2014 which FIFA later rescinded after the president controversially pushed for a review \u2014 created unnecessary distractions at a time when the team should have been focused solely on soccer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Watch the podcast on YouTube<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rapinoe compared the situation to the scrutiny that she and her U.S. teammates faced during their victorious 2019 Women\u2019s World Cup campaign.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That tournament began after the team filed its equal-pay lawsuit, and she said the players were \u201ca little bit more prepared\u201d for the attention when Trump began criticizing them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The men\u2019s team, she suggested, was not ready for the drama and pressure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI think the distraction got to the team for sure in some type of way. Whether it was, you know, this red card situation, whether it was being in a public discourse with this president, all of the shenanigans and chaos that comes with that, the feelings on both sides of that. Whether you agree with it or not, it\u2019s just a lot to contend with,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Comparing the two teams\u2019 experiences, she continued:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cSo, not only does this [men\u2019s]<\/span> team not have like a core of older players who are used to that, but none of these players talk about anything, ever, like, for the most part. I think in men\u2019s football, just like in general, there\u2019s not a lot of players who are choosing to use their platform or to, you know, broaden their scope of pressure and responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI feel like this is the first time that most, if not all, of these players are having to even think about something off of the field that is controversial,\u201d she added, suggesting they lacked experience in compartmentalizing the off-field noise and channeling their nervous energy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s impossible to say how much all the discourse with the president, all that, it\u2019s immeasurable. You don\u2019t know. We\u2019ll never know what it would have been like for this team if that hadn\u2019t happened,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rapinoe also suggested U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s teams often thrive as underdogs and argued it might actually have \u201cbeen better for us to play without\u201d Balogun.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Turning to the match itself, she praised Belgium as \u201ca really, really, really good team\u201d that \u201chave legends sitting on the bench,\u201d while acknowledging the U.S. men\u2019s team has been \u201csort of up and down\u201d in recent years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m just bummed for them and bummed for us because it was a really fun run and it\u2019s always fun to have the host country in and obviously as an American I want our boys to stay in as long as possible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cBut I think in general they didn\u2019t handle the pressure of the quarterfinal well,\u201d Rapinoe added. \u201cI don\u2019t think they handled just all of the circus that was around their team very well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n