Reign FC well represented at World Cup. ‘That was just an amazing experience to be a part of’
While U.S. national team star Megan Rapinoe stole the show in France, the Reign FC captain wasn’t the only representative from the team at the Women’s World Cup.
Rapinoe was one of nine Reign players at the Women’s World Cup. She was joined on the title-winning team by Allie Long, who logged 31 minutes as a reserve in the group stage match against Chile. While Long’s playing time was limited, she was witness to all that happened in that eventful month for the U.S. team that faced high expectations to repeat as World Cup champions, criticism for defeating Thailand 13-0 in their opening game and the ongoing issue of equity for the women’s team.
“It almost seems like no matter what we do, someone’s going to say something,” Long said. “People don’t want to watch women’s soccer, they think it’s boring, so we score 13 goals. They think we don’t celebrate right, then celebrations happen and it’s disrespectful.
“We’re so unfazed, that’s the perfect way to put it. It’s like whatever we do someone is going to say something anyways so you might as well be true to who you are. They are going to talk, you just have to ignore it.”
Other Reign players had bigger roles, if not as controversial experiences, for their home countries.
Before England was knocked out by the eventual champion U.S., Jodie Taylor scored the game-winning goal for the Lionesses in a group stage matchup against Argentina. The international veteran scored her 18th international goal on a tap-in after a cross in the 62nd minute.
The Australian national team boasted two current Reign FC players — Steph Catley and Lydia Williams. They team won a group stage match against Brazil and almost upset Norway in the first round of the knockout stage before falling in penalty kicks. While the Aussies just won one game in France, it was still a very positive experience for Catley, the team’s vice captain, and the others.
“My favorite moment was probably running out for the warmup in the first game and seeing all the green and gold in the stands,” Catley said. “I think none of us were expecting the amount of support that we got. There was all these different traveling groups, and hundreds and hundreds of people supporting us. It was a very cool feeling. Your always a little nervous about the first game and feeling that support was my favorite moment.”
Rosie White, who was acquired by the Reign on July 16, logged significant minutes for New Zealand. White, just 26, has already been in two World Cups previous to this one, and despite their losing all three games, is excited to see the team grow and progress as a result of a fierce World Cup competition.
“It was definitely the biggest and the best,” White said. “It was amazing to see the hype around France and the media attention growing and the fans. That was just an amazing experience to be a part of.”
Other Reign FC World Cup participants included were Canada’s Rebecca Quinn, who was also acquired by the Reign on July 16, Spain’s Celia Jiménez Delgado and Japan’s Rumi Utsugi.
Now with the 2019 World Cup in the rearview mirror, questions have already arisen about Rapinoe and her Reign teammates’ involvement in the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics, to which Rapinoe has said she plans to participate. As for the expectations associated with being on the United States multi-time championship-winning team? Long and Rapinoe have set them pretty high for the foreseeable future.
“Anytime we have a tournament we’re not even thinking about anything else,” Long said on competing for the gold medal. “If you’re not first, you’re last. We want to win everything, always.”
This story was originally published July 26, 2019 at 6:01 AM.