On Aug. 1, the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team (USMNT) prevailed over longtime rivals Mexico (“El Tri”) in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. In stark contrast to performances from the U.S. Women’s National Team and their supporters in 2019, no political grandstanding accompanied the U.S. victory. Only good feelings and pride over having our extremely inexperienced and second-youngest national team in history overcome all odds to beat our international rivals dominated the national discourse.
(Photo by Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
As supporters of the men’s national team continued to applaud their boys until the following morning, the United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) faced its own struggles in the Tokyo Olympics. In a shocking upset, the USWNT fell to Canada 1-0, knocking the 2019 Women’s World Cup champions from their position as the top team in the Olympics. The USWNT has long been criticized for its obsession with woke political pandering, especially from veteran star Megan Rapinoe. The media’s over-the-top glorification of Rapinoe since 2016 inspired some critics to contend that endorsement deals and political posturing had begun to matter more to the aging women’s team.
Although soccer has not been as popular with Americans as basketball, football, and baseball, soccer has thus far been the only sport spared from recent double-digit drops in viewership. In particular, fans of basketball and football repeatedly voice their exasperation with the politicization of their beloved sports. Every week, spectators are forced to watch and listen to regurgitated speeches about the privilege they hold from multimillionaire athletes. It’s one thing to peacefully protest racial inequality. It’s vastly different when this protest extends to lecturing your supporters about their supposed privilege that stems from the color of their skin or socioeconomic backgrounds -- aspects of their lives they have no control over.
Unlike many other American sports, soccer is not as populated with superstars who constantly browbeat fans to support their political positions. Protests and slogans against racism are genuine attempts to condemn the fanatics, or “ultras,” that hurl racial slurs from the stands or throw bananas and peanuts at black soccer players on the field. This ugly side of the sport rarely rears its head, but a vast majority of the fans are disgusted by such actions.
If American sports needed anything, it was some success in men’s soccer. Players on the USMNT hold a wide variety of political views and come from various cultural backgrounds that genuinely represent the land of opportunity. But the abuse and injustices aren’t figments of the players’ imaginations. Of course, as the mainstream media begin to take more notice of soccer’s rising popularity, perhaps the sport will become intensely politicized, like all others in America. So far, the USMNT has done an excellent job of focusing all the energy on the game and performance on the field, making their supporters proud. That’s what America deserves in these polarized times.
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