The United States will not win a gold medal in Tokyo after being defeated by the Canadians
U.S. women’s national team star (USWNT) Megan Rapinoe admitted “we haven’t had our joy” at the Olympics after her team’s semi-final defeat to Canada on Monday.
The USWNT fell 1-0 after Jessie Fleming’s second-half penalty kick, sending the pre-tournament favorites into the bronze medal game.
After winning the Golden Boot and Golden Ball at the 2019 Olympics, Rapinoe has failed to register a goal or assist at the Olympics thus far.
What was said?
When asked why the USWNT has underpeformed at the Olympics, Rapinoe told NBC: “I think about it every single day. I feel like we haven’t had our joy a little bit. It just hasn’t been easy.
“I think we’ve tried to find it. It’s not for lack of effort or anyone not giving everything they have. You can see everything is all the way out there every single game but it just didn’t didn’t click for us.
“I can’t quite put my finger on it, I’ve kind of been thinking about the whole tournament we just didn’t have that juice that we normally do.”
Rapinoe emotional over Lloyd connection
Rapinoe, 36, grew emotional when she was asked about a moment she shared after the game ended with longtime teammate Carli Lloyd.
“Obviously you know we’ve been in this a long time together,” Rapinoe said of the 39-year-old Lloyd. “We’re both closer to the end than the beginning and we shared a lot of those happy moments on the field and not that many sad moments but we’ve had a few.
“We don’t even really need to say anything, it just is tough. One of the greatest players that’s ever pulled this jersey on. Who knows – it might not be her last Olympics, but it probably is. Obviously we want to send everybody out on the happiest note and we weren’t able to do that today.”
What’s next for the USWNT?
After a tournament that has seen them win just one of five matches so far, the USWNT will aim to take home a bronze medal on Thursday when they face either Sweden or Australia.
The USWNT fell 3-0 to Sweden in the group stage, while they drew with Australia 0-0.
