Megan Rapinoe Celebrates World Cup Victory with a Kiss from Girlfriend Sue Bird
It’s a second World Cup win for U.S. star forward Megan Rapinoe!
The co-captain of the USWNT, 34, celebrated her hard-earned (and well-deserved) victory after the game, finding her WNBA girlfriend Sue Bird on the sidelines and sharing a celebratory kiss.
The team beat the Netherlands thanks to a penalty kick by Rapinoe in the second half and a goal from Rose Lavelle in the 69th minute, thus bringing on America’s fourth championship overall.
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Bird has been sitting out of the current WNBA season due to knee surgery, allowing her to come to France to support Rapinoe, USA Today reported.
The couple has been dating for over two years after first connecting during the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics. Bird, who plays for the Seattle Storm, recently came to Rapinoe’s defense amid the public back-and-forth with President Donald Trump, writing a piece for The Player’s Tribune about how proud she was of her partner.
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It took all of U.S. We love you. WE WON THE WORLD CUP.
A post shared by U.S. Soccer WNT (@uswnt) on Jul 7, 2019 at 3:07pm PDT
“Megan, man….. I’ll tell you what. You just cannot shake that girl,” Bird proudly wrote about Rapinoe. “She’s going to do her thing, at her own damn speed, to her own damn rhythm, and she’s going to apologize to exactly NO ONE for it.”
The striker has been making headlines for her refusal to visit the White House upon winning the title and her vocal disapproval of the Trump administration. She has been an outspoken social and political advocate — becoming one of the first athletes to kneel in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, leading the lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation for equal pay and fighting for LGBTQ rights.
After the team’s win on Sunday, Trump told reporters, “We haven’t really thought about it,” when asked about inviting the champions to the White House
Last week, ahead of France’s Pride Day, Rapinoe expressed he pride in the LGBTQ community, sports columnist Dan Wetzel reported.
Told ya. pic.twitter.com/tWbbpyUhZY
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) July 7, 2019
“Go gays. You can’t win a championship without gays on your team,” she reportedly said last week. “It’s never been done before. Ever. That’s science right there.”
The USWNT retweeted the quote, sharing a photo of their LGBTQ-identifying players — Rapinoe, Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris — kissing their World Cup medals after the game, along with the caption: “Told ya.”