Monday, May 27, 2019
Equal opportunity exists, with the women taking center stage; 2nd HWCI Women's WC Pool deadline is Friday 6/7 Noon PDT
FREMONT, CA (smt) -- On International Women's Day (March 8), the 28 U.S. women's national team (USWMT) players sued the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) for gender-based discrimination in an attempt to level the playing field with their USMNT brethren. Considering their success as 3-time and defending World Cup champions vs the USMNT who failed to qualify for the last World Cup, it's odd the USSF continues to downplay the USWMT and pick this fight rather than at least offering significant merit-based bonuses. But at least some sponsors are correcting their ways, with LUNA Bar and Adidas now giving equal bonuses to both teams. At least the U.S. women will play in the WWC as Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg will sit out the WWC in protest (since '17) over lack of respect for female players in Norway.
Will this be a distraction to the #1 ranked team in the world? Will host France (ranked #4) do what their men's team did when they last hosted the WC ('98), win the Cup? Will USA coach Jill Ellis coach correctly from the start instead of experimenting (remember those 0-0 draws at halftime?) and waiting for the fans to cause the course-correction like in '15 (maybe not, as 273-cap Carli Lloyd is not happy being on the bench)? Will #7-Japan bounce back from their shellacking in the final in '15? Will English-speaking countries of #3-England, #5-Canada, and #6-Australia make a splash finally? Will current Olympic champion #2-Germany win their 3rd WC to equal the U.S.?
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