The prowess of the USWNT is indisputable; they are clearly the No. 1 women’s team on the planet. So there isn’t much to discuss about that; nobody would deny that they are good from a skill standpoint.
But from a likability standpoint, ISTM they seem to be significantly disliked more than any other men’s or women’s national soccer team. I have never known any Americans who rooted against the U.S. men’s team in a tournament, but last year there were Americans rooting online against the USWNT during the Women’s World Cup. Adding to that Morgan’s tea-drinking taunting of England, or the U.S. celebrating its latter goals in that 13-0 win over Thailand the way they’d celebrate the first few goals of a game, etc., it appears that the U.S. women are viewed as Goliaths - powerful, no doubt, but hard to like, similar to the way Team USA is regarded in Olympics men’s basketball - but apparently even less likable.
I don’t follow soccer closely at all, but I’ve only heard praise for the woman’s team. More than I hear about any other soccer team anywhere, including the Sounders.
People seemed very excited when they won a title of some sort a few years back (world champs?)
When the US Men’s Team played horribly in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and didn’t make the cut, American media, ex-players, and fans were calling out the players, the coaches, and the head honchos. The team was roundly criticized all over the place. After the first few losses, there were plenty of fans saying they didn’t deserve to get a spot, that the team should be burned to the ground and rebuilt, etc. So I think you missed that whole scene.
As for the US Women’s Team, they’ve taken some stands that are at odds with the status quo (equal pay) and ruffled many feathers. I’m sure there are some people who find that unlikable, and those people tend to have loud voices. But their fan base remain very strong and numerous. Well behaved women rarely make history.
You hit the nail on the head without even realizing it. How many people rejoiced when the big favorite 2014 Brazil team got THUMPED 7-1 by Germany in the World Cup semifinals? People love to see the big overwhelming favorites go down.
Some of the other stuff is because Rapinoe (especially), especially has been at odds with Trump, and therefore fans of Trump can’t stand her as a result.
They generate plenty of excitement around here. Plus, while they’re favorites, they’re not like Dream Team of basketball favorites – during the last World Cup, there were some tight games.
OP, I have not heard that other soccer teams don’t like them – do you have any cites? I can believe that some righties in the US don’t like them. In addition to dumping on Trump, they are also very LGBT friendly. I think there’s at least one married couple on the team, right?
There’s also some people who got on the women’s soccer bandwagon because of the anti-Trump stuff. Many of them had always been the type to sneer at sports and now they’re all, ‘Go USA Women!!!’ There’s a significant overlap with the type that disdain NFL football but all of a sudden became experts over Kaepernick.
Not large in numbers, but definitely loud on social media.
No one likes a bandwagoner and especially if it’s because of off the field stuff
Andres Escobar was murdered by his own countryman because he accidentally scored an own goal in the 1994 World Cup. So no - I think the USWNT ranks at most #2 in terms of most hated national team ever.
(Also, you may or may not be aware that Brazil and Argentina hate each other’s soccer teams with white hot fury.)
I think US soccer, and US women’s soccer in particular, have a higher percentage of bandwagon fans than other teams. Probably 50% plus of people that watch the men’s WC and like 90% that watch the women’s WC only watch those tournaments. I think that transience lends itself to quick judgement. The 13-0 blowout, for instance, isn’t really that big of a deal in the context of women’s soccer and group stage tournaments (I do think that Rapinoe was over the top in celebrating, but meh). However a lot of fans coming from other sports where just running the clock out is the norm, found it very distasteful.
I’ve heard people take issue with individual players’ politics, but I’ve never heard anyone disrespect the team when it comes to the actual sport. Like, if you aren’t rooting for the U.S. team, what are you doing at my house???