Megan Rapinoe walked into the conference room at the Parc des Princes on Friday night holding the trophy for the player of the match.
She is the kind of woman who can command any stage with her charisma and who lives for evenings in the spotlight. As she gazed around at the crowd of faces staring at her, she grinned. ‘C’est magnifique, ce soir,’ she said. ‘It is everything you want.’
Even if forward Alex Morgan hit the headlines for her five-goal haul against Thailand in the group stages, Rapinoe has become both the heartbeat and the moral compass of this US team at the Women’s World Cup and it was her two goals that knocked hosts France out and propelled the US into a semi-final showdown with England in Lyon on Tuesday.
Megan Rapinoe has been the star of the US team at the Women's World Cup this summer
It was the end of a busy week for the US star, who has a streak of lavender running through her pale hair and spent much of last week embroiled in a public argument with President Trump after she said in forthright terms that she would shun a visit to the White House if the US retain their title by winning the trophy next weekend.
Over the years, Rapinoe, 33, who describes herself as ‘a walking protest’ and does not sing the US anthem before games, has called Trump ‘sexist’, ‘misogynistic’, ‘racist’, ‘small-minded’ and a ‘jerk but entertaining’. She supported Black Lives Matter campaigner Colin Kaepernick by kneeling when the national anthem played before a club game in the US. ‘Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties,’ she said.
Trump told her in response to her White House jibe that ‘Megan should win first before she talks’. In another Twitter outburst, Trump upbraided her again. ‘Megan should never disrespect our country, the White House or our flag,’ he wrote, ‘particularly as so much has been done for her and the team. Be proud of the flag that you wear. The USA is doing great.’
People worried that the furore would be a distraction for Rapinoe. It wasn’t. She could barely have proved that more emphatically. In a game where the US again seemed to be clinging on a little towards the end, as they had against Spain, Rapinoe decided the match with a goal in both halves against the French and a performance that oozed ruthless class.
‘She is so good at coming up in the big moments,’ US midfielder Sam Mewis said. ‘Pinoe is the bravest person I know. She’s fighting so hard for everything she believes in and then backing that up on the field as well. It’s an honour to be her team-mate. I back her 100 per cent. A World Cup is about coming up in the big moments and that’s what she’s doing.’
Rapinoe scored a brace in the win over hosts France on Friday night to reach the semi-finals
Rapinoe has recently been involved in an angry exchange with President Trump on Twitter
Rapinoe gave every impression of relishing the showdown with England, who are full of momentum of their own after their crushing quarter-final win over Norway on Thursday in Le Havre. When it was pointed out to Rapinoe that Phil Neville had asked his team if they were ready to win the World Cup after their last eight win, her eyes danced.
‘If you’re at this stage of the
