AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Now that the United States ladies have received equal pay with their male counterparts, there’s no want for his or her supporters to once more chant for equity when the Americans play the Netherlands on Thursday of their rematch of the 2019 Women’s World Cup ultimate.
The Americans defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in France for his or her second straight World Cup trophy, and fourth general. They have been within the midst of a lawsuit and a contract battle on the time over pay with U.S. Soccer, and the gamers have been feted with shouts of “Equal Pay!” from the followers.
The crew’s pursuit for equal pay was lastly resolved final 12 months, when a deal was struck that paid the ladies the identical because the U.S. males’s crew and, importantly, evenly break up the event prize cash earned by each groups.
“Everything where we were in 2019 to where we are now is almost the same but couldn’t be more different,” Alex Morgan mentioned. “We were fighting a legal battle off the field and trying to also win over the world on the field.”
So the group at Wellington on Thursday doesn’t have to struggle for the Americans to obtain equal therapy. They can as a substitute concentrate on the rematch and cheer for one more win over the Dutch.
The recreation is the second Group E match for each groups, and each the U.S. and the Netherlands opened the event with wins.
The trophy isn’t on the road for this match because it was in 2019, and each groups are already in place to advance to the knockout spherical. But the sport stays essential for the ultimate group standings: the winner has a neater path to advance to the following stage.
The Netherlands has received simply one in every of its 10 matches towards the United States, though solely a type of matches was in a World Cup – that 2019 ultimate. The solely Dutch victory within the collection got here within the first assembly in 1991.
The two groups additionally met within the quarterfinals on the Tokyo Olympics, with the Americans advancing on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
“Super excited for that game,” ahead Megan Rapinoe mentioned in looking forward to the matchup. “Obviously we’ve seen them a number of times in big tournaments over the last few years. Ready for a good one.”
The United States is coming off a 3-0 victory over Vietnam within the crew’s event opener in Auckland. Sophia Smith scored a pair of objectives, with captain Lindsey Horan contributing the opposite.
U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski rolled out a considerably shocking lineup for the primary match, shifting midfielder Julie Ertz to heart again and beginning Savannah DeMelo at midfield. She made her first begin in simply her second look with the crew.
Ertz returned to the crew earlier this 12 months after the start of her son. She had not performed for the United States for greater than 600 days however was capable of ramp up whereas enjoying for her membership crew, Angel City.
While Ertz has some expertise on the backline from earlier in her nationwide crew profession, the latest transfer was prompted by the lack of captain Becky Sauerbrunn, who injured her foot and couldn’t play within the World Cup.
“When we knew that Becky was not going to be able to make it, that’s something that we started looking into even deeper. We had a conversation with Julie before we tried it, did a lot of work before we even got in camp in terms of video analysis on both sides. We were helping her out but also she wanted to get adjusted, committed as soon as possible,” Andonovski mentioned.
The United States might want to shore up its assault for the Netherlands, which beat Portugal 1-0 in its event opener. Stefanie van der Gragt scored within the thirteenth minute.
“I think if there’s one thing we need to do better besides finishing the opportunities, it is just how can we help the players that are in the position to finish those opportunities and give them a little better service,” Andonovski mentioned.
At least there’s not the drama of the previous impacting the crew’s preparation.
“Any time you take your focus off of playing, off of what’s in front of you and what your job is, of course, that’s taking your focus away from what you need to be doing, that’s distractions that are unnecessary,” Morgan mentioned. “So not having distractions like that, like having to struggle for equal pay, equal working circumstances shifting ahead in any respect, ever once more, it feels actually good.
“And I hope that will soon be the case for all of the players around the world on the international level.”
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