(FeaturedNews.com) – The United States women’s national team has developed a complicated relationship with the national anthem over the last year, as many team members have taken a knee during the anthem prior to the start of a match.
Most recently, as the USWNT entered the field ahead of their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup opening, most of the members of the team remained completely silent while the “Star Spangled Banner,” was playing.
This drew a large contrast as the Vietnamese team passionately sang their anthem “Tiến Quân Ca,” or “Song of a Marching Army,” and all of the players placed their hands over their hearts.
On the American team, out of the eleven soccer players, six of them chose to either place their hands behind their back or on their side while the national anthem was playing. Five of them did place their right hands over their hearts while the anthem was playing.
An even smaller number of players chose to sign or rather mouth the words of the national anthem, as only Lindsey Horan, Julie Ertz, and Alyssa Naeher mouthed the words. The remaining eight players elected to remain quiet and stoic during the national anthem.
USWNT, which has won the FIFA Women’s World Cup twice, managed to defeat Vietnam with an impressive 3-0 score.
U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe, who is going to be retiring following the end of this year, was the first prominent female athlete to take a knee in 2016. She had also stated in 2019 that she was most likely never going to place her hand over her heart during the national anthem again.
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