(Flipboard)
Let’s be honest. You never cared about women’s soccer. You joked to your friends when you saw promotions for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, sarcastically telling them you “can’t wait to watch women’s soccer for a month.” But now, you’re going to a bar later this afternoon to wear red, white, and blue to support your country as they look to claim their first World Cup since 1999. The best part? Nobody is mad about you. 

The nation was united last summer with the USMNT (U.S. Men’s National Team)’s run in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, especially when John Brooks headed in the game winning goal against Ghana. People cared about the team because our team was finally winning on an international stage. Since then? You probably haven’t watched the USMNT’s Gold Cup qualifying matches, and perhaps you saw something on SportsCenter about the team beating Germany and Netherlands in their European friendly tour.

Most American soccer fans in general are bandwagon fans, but especially for the women’s game that only comes around basically during the World Cup and Summer Olympics. Casual sports fans know who Abby Wambach is for her long tenure as an American soccer star (P.S. she still has never won a World Cup), Alex Morgan mainly for her looks, Hope Solo for her domestic violence issues, and recently Carli Lloyd for her heroics in the semifinals against Germany. But, that’s probably it. You should also know that Julie Johnston has emerged as possibly the USWNT’s best player, Morgan Brian is an emerging star, and the team’s defense and Solo have not given up a goal in 513 consecutive minutes.

But, this game is about more than soccer. This is about the freaking U.S. flag emoji that everyone tweets out, the pride in the red, white, and blue, and the fact that we can celebrate women, including three players and a head coach who are all openly gay, winning a championship, something not every nation can say. It’s about bringing home something for the United States of America to celebrate besides its 239th birthday yesterday: a champion in the new Millennium in a major world tournament. Sure, we can celebrate the Olympic champion men’s basketball teams, Michael Phelps’ triumphs, Shaun White, or winning the most medals at the Summer Olympics, but when was the last team sport the U.S.A. won on a competitive international stage? Your answer: the USWNT winning the 1999 Women’s World Cup.

We lost to Japan in 2011, and you probably weren’t watching, unlike today. For whichever one of these reasons you are watching, rally behind the USWNT, because America needs this one. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

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