And with all the bravado they went into the tournament with, it's even worse. Let's hope they learned a lesson and come back with a much better team next time.

This....

Yes it was...

Agree, soccer is the one professional sport where the ladies could make a huge showing on the globals stage if they play their cards right. And **** the WNBA, it's a joke. But they'll need to resist the politics ranging from the "equal pay" drama, to the "anti-America" appearance, to the pre-freak agenda they're drifting to. So Rapinoe going away should help as long as they don't allow another Rapinoe to take the leadership role and waste time on overly divisive non-soccer issues/agendas.

Just go play soccer.

Why do you think they have under invested in soccer in the US? I mean the reason, not the dollar numbers.

Also will growing the women's game be good for US soccer overall? There is a pro women's soccer league in the US, why is it struggling? What is the fix? How do they increase popularity of the game?

The US women have been dominant for quite a while and I question how much success that has led to for US soccer overall. Is the MLS more successful because of the success of the US women?

Honestly I would love to see the game grow in popularity overall, but curious what the solutions are.

Shoulda just put Messi in a wig and trotted his old ass out there...

That is a reasonable take. I wish more critics shared it. But sadly I think a lot of the critics go well beyond the "shut up and dribble." Most of the uswnt was lowkey but still got sniped. Nfl fans moved on after Kaepernick went away and I think uswnt will drift there too, but I don't know that many critics will move on. Some seem hellbent to cut women and girls down, regardless of their social stance, and that aspect of some of the criticism is gross to me. It's cool to see the sport grow and to see girls excited with dreams to aspire to. Like youre doing you can push back on that messaging without cutting girls down

It first starts with FIFA. they notoriously underinvested including tournament pay. They're hopefully starting to finally realize the benefit. They can grow the women's game without cutting down the men's game. They're raking in a shitload from sponsors like Nike who can now explode sales on sports bras. Or women's hygiene product sponsors, for example. The women's international sport is growing which is good for soccer overall. The US losing actually adds to intrigue since the sport is so dependent on international competition. So clearly there is untapped growth potential.

Understandably the focus in the US has been on building a better US men's team. It should be that way. So US soccer went all in on building MLS. They arguably even were willing to skunk the US national team by blackballing men's players who dared to play in Europe. Thank God thats changed. During those years the women did carry a lot of weight. The men lost a lot of money when they sucked and women's revenue helped US soccer rebuild anyway.

MLS and men's soccer are at a maturity point where they can invest in women's soccer. In fact they have more incentive because of equal pay. It's now a collective goal where growing women's soccer also helps men's soccer. And that's doable because they arguably have very distinct audiences. It's not like you're cannibalizing MLS profits. It's a chance to grow new fans and sponsors.

Seeing this disgrace to America cry really warms my heart. Karma is an even bigger bitch than she is/was. Good riddance.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Megan Rapinoe is a clown. <a href="https://t.co/d3dLTXeq5E">pic.twitter.com/d3dLTXeq5E</a></p>&mdash; Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1688284238830026752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Anyone with blue hair is a clown.

Equal pay is a joke. I checked out the last few minutes of the match out of curiosity, and within seconds it was obvious that even the highest level of women's soccer is on par with boys high school soccer.

Someone should do some soccer exhibitions with 6 or 7 soccer players on the field instead of 11. It would be waaaay more exciting. Tough to score goals when so many players on the field mucking it up and less players would make more 1 v 1 situations which is exciting. Would also help the more athletic soccer players thrive.

That reminds me I once practiced in high school with a girl who went on to be a longtime Canada women's national team player and I was a fair amount better than her. Now I was a decent soccer player in high school, but I never got a scholarship or anything for college (nor did I seek one because I wasn't good enough).

It's certainly not a high level at all, at least if you're comparing to the men.

Why does this matter? Of course women's soccer player aren't nearly as good as men. What matters is what money they pull in. Unlike the wnba women's soccer pulls in a shitload and the growth potential is massive. Little girls idolize Alex morgan the way we idolize players like kelce and mahomes. They pull in entirely different fans and sponsors than men's teams. Do you realize how much money athletic apparel companies have made in women's apparel like sports bras since the women's first world cup?

Does women's soccer generally bring in more revenue than men's, or does that only happen during World Cups?