Unsurprisingly, after people became aware that the U.S. women’s soccer team took a knee before its Olympic match on Wednesday, July 21, they took to social media in response.
And, also unsurprisingly, there were those who support what the team did. And, there were those who did not.
Here are a few of the negative reactions posted to Twitter:
“Good, they don’t represent us. Should be disbanded,” user @rlbridges01 shared.
User @SeattleIndpdnt said: “U.S. Women’s soccer team kneels and loses in their Olympic opener, ending a 49 game winning streak. Learn some respect, ladies.”
“They’ve clearly been practicing kneeling more than their soccer skills,” @CheckedOut37 said to the news of the soccer team’s loss.
There were, however, individuals who supported what the U.S. women’s soccer team did on Wednesday. One supporter noted that the team did not kneel during the National Anthem.
“Women’s #Olympic soccer (team) took a knee before their #Sweden match. BUT: not during anthem, so no problem. The issue has always been anthem disrespect. The #USWNT ladies may do whatever they wish at other times when permitted,” @MarkDavis shared.
Here’s another post from @neticall: “So all the US folks cheering AGAINST the US soccer team for taking a knee during the natl anthem for BLM – Is it ok to kneel to pray? To show respect? Yet it is just fine to actively root against your own national team in an international sporting event for expressing their views?”
“Sweden kneeled too.. in all games of the European cup they took a knee.. It’s time to stop racism.. Them taking a knee didn’t make them (lose) either,” @keepitsimplezz shared.
U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Reportedly Took a Knee to Protest Racism, Discrimination, and Inequality
The U.S. women’s soccer team reportedly took a knee after taking the field against Sweden on Wednesday. After the teams were on the field, the referee blew the whistle to start the match. At that time, both the American and Swedish soccer teams knelt for a moment. The match started shortly after that.
The players did so in order to protest racism, discrimination, and inequality, according to Fox News.
“It’s an opportunity for us to continue to use our voices and use our platforms to talk about the things that affect all of us intimately in different ways,” Megan Rapinoe said.
“We have people from Team USA, from all over the country, from all backgrounds, and people literally from all over the world for every other team so I obviously encourage everyone to use that platform to the best of their ability to do the most good that they possibly can in the world, especially as all eyes are on Tokyo these next couple weeks,” Rapinoe also said.
Team USA and Sweden weren’t the only women’s soccer teams taking a knee at the Tokyo Olympics. Britain and Chile both knelt during their match as well.
The U.S. women’s soccer team lost to Sweden 3-0. The United States is part of Group G, which also includes Sweden, New Zealand, and Australia. Team USA is scheduled to face New Zealand on Saturday, July 24. They will play Australia on Tuesday, July 27.
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