WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND: All Megan Rapinoe could do was watch as the US Women's National Team faced the Netherlands in a crucial group-stage match. Despite her belief that she could have made a difference, Rapinoe found herself out of the starting lineup for the US Women’s National Team’s 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in its second group-stage match and was not used as a substitute throughout the game.
Expressing her thoughts ahead of the team's next group-stage game against Portugal, Rapinoe said, "I think I could've helped." Manager Vlatko Andonovski made one change during the match, replacing Savannah DeMelo with Rose Lavelle at halftime, and the decision proved fruitful as Lavelle provided the game-tying assist in the 62nd minute. However, despite having several attacking options on the bench, Andonovski chose not to make any further changes during the second half, including bringing on Rapinoe.
Why didn't Megan Rapinoe play the game against the Netherlands?
Rapinoe, who won the Golden Boot and was the joint top-scorer at the 2019 World Cup, along with the other players on the bench, remained ready and prepared to contribute whenever called upon. “All of us on the bench, we think we should be on the field as much as players on the field think they should be on the field,” Rapinoe said. “Every player on the field that starts the game thinks they should play 90 minutes, and every player who doesn’t, who’s a sub, thinks that they should be on at some point," reported New York Post.
'We just didn’t want to jeopardize anything!'
“We’re always ready,” she added. “We know at some point during this tournament, obviously, the bench will be huge. That’s a huge asset of ours, a huge reason why we’ve been so successful with this group [and] obviously historically, winning championships in our past.” Nevertheless, at 38 years old, Rapinoe's role has evolved compared to her previous performances in the last three World Cups, where she played a more prominent role in leading the USWNT to consecutive titles. Despite the change in her role, she respected Andonovski's decision regarding the lineup.
Further, Andonovski defended his choice of not making more changes during the match. “We were around the goal the whole time and I just didn’t want to disrupt the rhythm at that point because sometimes a substitute comes in and it might take a minute or two to get into a rhythm,” Andonovski said after the game. “We just didn’t want to jeopardize anything because I thought all three of our forwards were very good today, dangerous, created opportunities and were a handful.”
