International Football
DONALD TRUMP AND US WOMEN’S FOOTBALL CAPTAIN, MEGAN RAPINOE IN TWEET WAR
US Women National Team captain, Megan Rapinoe and President Donald Trump at war on Twitters.
Rapinoe has been having a protest in the past few years and had refused to sing the American national anthem during matches, saying it is owing to “inequality and injustice throughout the United States.”
As a step further she remarked that she would not follow the team to the White House should the team win the on-going Women World Cup.
This Wednesday morning, Trump fired back at Rapinoe for her comment about not wanting to visit the White House, using his very favorite social media platform, Twitter.
Eight by Eight magazine then released a months-old video of Rapinoe saying definitively, “I’m not going to the f—ing White House. … We’re not going to be invited. I doubt it.”
Now that you’re all caught up, here’s what Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning.
As always, there’s a lot to unpack. Trump starts by talking about Rapinoe, but quickly pivots to the NBA, invoking the Golden State Warriors refusing to visit the White House after their NBA championship.
He then mentions NBA commissioner Adam Silver wanting team owners to be called “governors” due to the slavery connection of the word “owner,” and goes off on a tangent about “Criminal Justice Reform,” “Black unemployment,” and the poverty index. None of that is about Megan Rapinoe.
He comes back to the topic at hand by professing his fandom for the “American Team,” chastises Rapinoe for mentioning a White House visit before the USWNT wins the Women’s World Cup, then he throws all of that out the window and invites the USWNT to the White House, win or lose. Of course, he ends by scolding Rapinoe about being “disrespectful” through her protests, and telling her to “Be proud of the Flag that you wear.”
Of course, Rapinoe has already visited the White House, and been visibly proud of the flag that she wears. But things were a little different in 2015.
Rapinoe has already made her feelings about visiting this current White House abundantly clear, and it doesn’t seem like an invitation from the man she’s called ““misogynistic,” “small-minded,” and “racist” will change her mind.
RELATED STORY:https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/2019/06/14/france-2019-us-skipper-rapinoe-rebels-against-american-anthem/
And beyond all of that, that three-tweet thread was his second attempt. He had to delete them the first time around because he made a critical mistake in the first tweet, tagging a different Megan Rapino who is not the soccer player. (She even spells her name differently.) The mentions of this non-soccer Megan Rapino are likely a garbage fire now, but she was able to maintain her sense of humor and totally own the guy who made them that way.
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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