Biden to award Medal of Freedom to Biles, McCain, Giffords
The White House says President Joe Biden will present the nation's highest civilian honor to 17 people, including gymnast Simone Biles, actor Denzel Washington and the late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, with whom Biden served in the Senate.
Athletes react to the Supreme Court's abortion decision
U.S. national soccer team star Megan Rapinoe is among a group of leading sports figures who have expressed anger over the Supreme Courtโs decision to strip the nationโs constitutional protections for abortion, decrying an erosion of rights that women have had for a generation.
Ex-US Soccer president running again 2 years after quitting
Carlos Cordeiro is running to regain his job as U.S. Soccer Federation president, two years after he quit amid a backlash to the groupโs lawyers filing legal papers claiming the womenโs national team players had less physical ability and responsibility than their male counterparts.
US Soccer says it has offered men, women identical contracts
The U.S. Soccer Federation says it has offered identical contract proposals to the playersโ associations for the menโs and womenโs national teams, and the governing body said it would refuse to agree to a deal in which World Cup prize money is not equalized.
US women tell 9th Circuit trial court didn't factor success
Players on the U.S. womenโs national soccer team urged a federal appeals court to reinstate their equal pay lawsuit, saying their greater success than the American men was not taken into account by a trial court judge who dismissed their case.
Women's soccer stars join Biden to promote closing pay gap
Biden and his wife, Jill, hosted a roundtable with Margaret Purce and Megan Rapinoe of the U.S. womenโs national soccer team, and other members of the squad who attended virtually. โDoesnโt matter if youโre an electrician, an accountant or part of the best damn soccer team in the world,โ Biden said. The suit was dismissed in May because the women had accepted a different base pay structure than the men's soccer team. The women's team plans to appeal the dismissal. The National Women's Law Center found that Black women earn just 63 cents for a dollar paid to a non-Hispanic white man, while Hispanic women make only 55 cents.
US Soccer council member removed after controversial speech
The USSF board of directors voted to repeal the policy last June, a decision the online annual meeting affirmed Saturday by 71.34% voting in favor of repeal. โEvery race in the history of mankind has been enslaved by another demographic at some point time." He suggested athletes who wish to take a knee do so on their own individual platforms but not while representing the U.S. on a soccer field. AdMembers of the women's team who had kneeled for the anthem announced last week that they would no longer do so, preferring instead to focus on projects within the team and their communities to fight systemic racism. ___More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Rapinoe-led US beats Argentina 6-0 to win SheBelieves Cup
The defending champion U.S. team blanked Canada in the round-robin tournament opener and then downed Brazil 2-0 on Sunday. Argentina, a late addition after Japan dropped out because of coronavirus concerns, did not win a match but did impress with gritty performances. Rapinoe is the top SheBelieves career leader with seven goals, including three in this edition. It was Lloyd's 124th international goal and it came in her 299th appearance with the national team. โIt's always nice to be recognized, but I think there were other people that deserved it more.โThe United States improved to 4-0 against Argentina.
Press, Rapinoe score, US beats Brazil 2-0 in SheBelieves Cup
The United States sits atop the SheBelieves Cup standings with two wins. But not only a goal, the way we played our attack in the first 20 minutes," Brazil coach Pia Sundhage said. It was Press' 10th goal in her last 13 national team games and 59th international goal. Alex Morgan made her first start for the national team since giving birth to daughter Charlie last year. The U.S. beat Canada 1-0 in its SheBelieves Cup opener on Thursday, while Brazil beat rival Argentina 4-1.
Rapinoe returns to US national team after nearly a year
That's changing now that Rapinoe has returned to the U.S. national team for its January training camp in Florida after sitting out most of last year. The last time Rapinoe played for the national team was on March 11, when she scored in a 3-1 SheBelieves Cup victory over Japan. The national team settled its dispute with the federation over unequal working conditions in December, leaving the pay dispute still unresolved. Rapinoe, 35, has scored 52 goals with 68 assists in 168 appearances with the national team since her first call-up in 2006. She scored on a penalty kick in the United States' victory over the Netherlands in the 2019 World Cup final.
Women's World Cup winner Nagasato joins men's club in Japan
ATSUGI Womens World Cup winner Yuki Nagasato is joining Japanese mens club Hayabusa Eleven on loan from the Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL. The mens team plays in an amateur regional league that is several levels below the countrys top pro soccer league, the J-League. Nagasato, who won the Womens World Cup with Japan in 2011, joined Chicago in 2017 after playing in several other leagues. It was very inspiring to hear the social message about gender inequality and other messages that Rapinoe was trying to deliver during the (2019) World Cup, Nagasato said. For over a decade shes been telling me that her ultimate dream is to play in a mens team, Genki Nagasato said.