Megan Rapione celebrates with Alex Morgan after scoring a penalty kick in the World Cup. Photo via: Leah Asmelash and Brian Ries, CNN
July 9, 2019 — Were you aware this team was predicted to win it all? Sundays performance by the Women’s Soccer team was exactly what we could’ve expected of them. The past matchups were difficult, especially against Spain, but as each player repeated during their interviews, “this team is resilient.”
There was a recorded 14 million viewers on Fox and another 80k in the Stade de France for this Finals matchup.
Although there were multiple attempted shots on Netherlands goalie Sari Van Veenendaal, midfielder Megan Rapione hit the first goal in the 61′ on a high-boot penalty play against Alex Morgan. Rapione has scored six goals in five matches and won the golden boot following her penalty in this game.
Morgan and Rapione were tied for six goals and three assists, yet Rapione was awarded gold in the end and Morgan won silver. Sari Van Veenendaal, the goalie for the Netherlands won the golden glove, which was well deserved. She had three shutouts and only conceded three goals in all the matches in France. (Brown, Luke – http://www.independent.co.uk)
Rose Lavelle, age 24, scored another goal eight minutes later and brought the lead 2-0. The way she carried the ball across the field was simply poetic. After a slide tackle steal, to a pass which led to a great carry from Lavelle. She dribbled towards the goal and faked a pass with her left foot. As she dribbled inside, she then faked the other defender and scored with her left foot. From there the final 21 minutes seemed to go on forever as the US team was hovered along the sidelines prepared for their celebration.
“But despite these accomplishments, the total prize money from FIFA for the 2019 Women’s World Cup was $30 million — just 7.5% of the Men’s World Cup prize in 2018. As the champions, the USWNT will take home $4 million in prize money. Last year’s men’s champions, France, took home $38 million.
According to documents obtained by The Guardian, the USWNT’s contract with the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) guarantees players $200,000 each for their first-place performance at the World Cup, while the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team (USMNT) would have earned $1.1 million each for the same achievements.” (Hesss, Abigail – http://www.cnbc.com)
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