The World Cup champions have made enemies, and many more fans. Whether they succeed or fail, they know people will be watching
A seven-a-side match featuring a collection of retired Wrexham pros and guests against a team of mostly retired US women’s players isn’t particularly newsworthy. But when the score wound up 12-0 in favor of the men, the knives were out.
Some outlets, notably Fox News, either ignorantly or deliberately misidentified the American players as “the US women’s team”. Some played up Heather O’Reilly’s playful callout of Wrexham’s celebrity owner Ryan Reynolds as a hysterical, delusional fit. From newsrooms to their parents’ basements, men rejoiced at the supposed humbling of women who dared to demand a place in the sports marketplace.
Celebrating wildly upon scoring goals 11, 12 and 13 against an overmatched World Cup opponent? No problem.
Morgan pretending to sip tea after a goal against England? A meme-worthy moment, even though many couldn’t tell whether it was a dig at the team’s tea-crazed opponents, a homage to Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner’s Instagram account, or a shoutout to Kermit the Frog. (As it turns out, the correct answer was Turner.)
Rose Lavelle diving to get a call at the World Cup? Either we all missed the foul, or hey, the men do it all the time. (Sadly, that’s not wrong.)
