The American winger continued her protest of racial inequality, taking a knee while the national anthem played ahead of Thursday’s friendly with Thailand. “Therefore, our national anthem has particular significance for U.S. Soccer”, the federation said in a statement on ESPN2.
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Megan Rapinoe knelt during the national anthem before a US women’s national team match against Thailand on Thursday night.
Rapinoe on September 4 became the first active non-black professional athlete to show support for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s cause by kneeling during The Star Spangled Banner prior to a game with the Seattle Reign. She first knelt during the anthem earlier this month, expressing her support for Colin Kaepernick before an NWSL game between her Seattle Reign and the Chicago Red Stars. As part of the privilege to represent your country, we have an expectation that our players and coaches will stand and honor our flag while the National Anthem is played.
It is unclear what, if any, role the incident played in Rapinoe’s decision to follow through on her protest during the national anthem, although she retweeted a tweet from journalist and Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King that connected the shooting with the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was playing with a pellet gun when he was fatally shot by Cleveland police in 2014.
The substitute role for Rapinoe was not a surprise; she hasn’t started for the national team since tearing an ACL last December, and one of the starting places she might otherwise have contended for was occupied by Heather O’Reilly in the veteran’s final global game.
Thursday’s worldwide friendly against Thailand in Columbus, Ohio, also is midfielder Heather O’Reilly’s final game after 15 years with the women’s national team, a span that included three World Cup and three Olympic appearances.
Rapinoe has already protested the anthem during a Seattle Reign game. “Ultimately, it will be up to me and what I feel convicted about, what’s in my bones and what I feel like is right”, Rapinoe told reporters Wednesday.
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Rapinoe also has been vocal about pay equity, and was among five national team players who lent their names to a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging wage discrimination.
