Women's Soccer

Athletic apparel company Title Nine gifted the USWNTPA $1 million on Wednesday — the largest sum the players association has ever received — saying it’s to help solve the pay gap between the men’s and women’s national soccer teams. It’s an awesome gesture similar to when LUNA Bar made a large donation in 2019. What does it really mean for how much the USWNT is paid for the Olympics? Let’s dig in.

After a 0-0 draw with Australia confirmed the USWNT’s runner-up finish in Group G of the Summer Olympics, our collective focus shifted to Group F with the U.S. scheduled to play the winner on Friday in Yokohama. 

With a 2-0 win over New Zealand, Sweden locked up top spot in Group G at the 2020 Summer Olympics, rendering Tuesday morning’s 0-0 draw between the USWNT and Australia somewhat meaningless. Both the U.S. and the Matildas will be joining Sweden in the quarterfinals, where the Americans will meet either the Netherlands or Brazil.

For all the talk about building momentum and playing their best stuff come the knockout rounds, the USWNT has very little momentum and could put you into a soccer-induced coma heading into a quarterfinal against either the Netherlands or Brazil after drawing Australia 0-0 on Tuesday morning.

The optimist might say “job done.” The USWNT had nothing to gain here with Sweden locking up the top spot in the group, but the team could’ve still dropped to third with a defeat. The realist will say “yeah but that was terrible.”  

Cleaning toilets, mopping floors, 10-hour days packing Amazon boxes, working at least two side jobs, living with parents. These are the lengths many NWSL players have gone through just to be “professional” athletes. The NWSLPA hopes to ensure a living wage for all NWSL players with its new No More Side Hustles campaign launched this week.

Speaking from firsthand experience, I know how hard it can be on your body to wake up in the middle of the night to watch Olympic soccer played in Japan. I thought it was fun in 2002 for the World Cup, but my body rebelled hard after the first day of play on Wednesday. 

And yet, I can’t wait to wake up early for the next Group F match, because those games have been stupidly entertaining at the 2020 Olympics.

The USWNT bounced back, as basically everyone expected it to do, taking care of New Zealand 6-1 on Saturday in Saitama, Japan. After they were crushed by Sweden in the Olympic opener, the Americans needed a response, and this was a pretty good one. It was a fairly straightforward victory, though not necessarily the sort of performance that will scare the other medal favorites in Japan. 

One thing Team USA did accomplish was providing one of the few audience members a profound understanding of the intricacies of the offside rule. 

The USWNT on Friday filed an opening brief in the appeal of its lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, saying the decision to dismiss it was based on flawed legal reasoning.

The brief, filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, asks that the ruling be reversed and the case sent back to district court to be heard by a jury.

OL Reign and Canada midfielder Quinn made history on Wednesday, becoming the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics. Their comments afterword highlighted both the pride of being the first and the disappointment of the realities trans women face in sports around the world.