Products You May Like
The U.S. Women’s Soccer team wasn’t feelin very patriotic during their World Cup opener — and it showed on their faces … with mostly closed mouths during the National Anthem.
The U.S.’s debut game against Vietnam went down Friday in New Zealand, and a lot of people couldn’t help but notice that most of the American players were choosing not to sing along to “The Star-Spangled Banner” while the famed music played before kickoff.
THE NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS AT THE 2023 FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP FOR THE FIRST TIME pic.twitter.com/czqIXr5zBT
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 22, 2023
@FOXSoccer
It was awkward — the camera pans across the entire row … and just about everyone, except for a few stray players, had their mouths shut. Some even had their arms behind their back.
The starters who opted to skip the Nat’l Anthem included … Alex Morgan, Andi Sullivan, Sophia Smith, Naomi Girma, Emily Fox, Trinity Rodman and Crystal Dunn, among others. A couple were notably mouthing the words … Alyssa Naeher and Lindsey Horan.
Tiến Quân Ca
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, VIETNAM’S NATIONAL ANTHEM IS PLAYED AT THE FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP! pic.twitter.com/gflhypkC0r
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 22, 2023
@FOXSoccer
To make matters worse … the Vietnamese players were pretty much all singing their national anthem, loudly/proudly it seems — with hands over hearts. Ditto for just about every other international team we can see — FOX is cutting all the national anthems on their social page.
On its face, it looks like every other country — besides the U.S. — is belting out their tunes.
US. pic.twitter.com/zMy5YL5J3v
— U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (@USWNT) July 22, 2023
@USWNT
It remains to be seen if the U.S. is going to do this every time they play another team — the National Anthem will, in fact, be played before each of their matches … and so, it seems like they’re making a statement — which has, no doubt, pissed off some along political lines.
The Americans won their first game, and they’re playing the Netherlands on Wednesday.