LOS ANGELES (AP) – Carli Lloyd looked out over the cheering mob of USA women’s national team fans and raised an arm in triumph.
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This was the first stop on their 10-city victory tour, this summer.
The first stateside appearance was a raucous party in front of fans who began camping out before dawn on short notice.
“It was so much fun to watch and I want to congratulate you”, Obama said. You believed from day one all the way through Game 7.
The President offered congratulations, but he singled out Carli Lloyd for her outstading game in the 5-2 win rout Japan. I never watch women’s soccer, and I was glued to the TV, and that’s an unbelievable moment. But despite the likely departure of the 40-year-old Rampone, the last link to that ’99 team, the current version will have plenty of opportunity to build on this performance in next year’s Olympic Games. Hundreds wore their favorite players” shirts, while signs in the crowd included “Party Like It’s “99”, “Long Live the Queens”, and “Equal Pay 4 (Female) Athletes”.
Then the biggest names from the championship team took their turns thanking the fans and reliving a month they will not soon forget. Even after everything they accomplished in the previous six weeks, the excitement still stunned them. We need to have some more male allies who will say this is not acceptable.
This years figures have not been released, but four years ago the Women’s World Cup brought in nearly $73 million.
“It is so good to be back home!” yelled Solo, the goalie who yielded just three goals in the entire tournament.
The players also led a sing-along to Queen’s “We Are the Champions” before leaving the stage.
The parade has been scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m. along Broadway from the Battery to City Hall.
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Normally that task falls to embattled FIFA president Sepp Blatter but he opted not to come following corruption investigations by United States and Swiss authorities which include scrutiny of how FIFA awarded World Cup hosting rights to Russian Federation and Qatar for the 2018 and 2022 men’s tournaments. “Just the visibility of it, I think, is huge”, Rapinoe said.
