Megan Rapinoe misses World Cup semifinal with hamstring strain, plans to play in final

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USA TODAY

LYON, France — Megan Rapinoe doesn’t plan on missing the World Cup final.

It’s far too stressful. 

Rapinoe missed the semifinal against England on Tuesday night with a strained hamstring. She said she hurt it late in the quarterfinal against France, though she was able to play another 10 minutes or so after. 

“Just a minor hamstring. Not really even a strain, but not really able to go today,” Rapinoe said after the U.S. women advanced to their third consecutive World Cup final with a 2-1 win over England.

“I just felt like it wasn’t going to hold up. We’ve been talking about this depth we have … and it was on full display tonight.” 

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Rapinoe’s replacement, Christen Press, scored in the 10th minute. 

Rapinoe had scored all four of the U.S. goals in the previous two knockout games, and her absence from the starting lineup came as a shock. U.S. Soccer would say only that it was not for disciplinary reasons, but it became obvious when she spent most of pregame warmups on the sideline that she was likely hurt. 

“Every coach wants to keep their cards as close to the chest as possible,” coach Jill Ellis said. “Once she was warming up, you guys could figure it out.”

Though Rapinoe agreed the decision was best both for her and the team, it’s not one she wants to repeat. 

“Oh my God, it was so stressful!” Rapinoe said. “I always say this about our friends and families here. It’s awful for them. … You have no way to expend all of this anxiety that you have. Now I’m just left with this body full of anxiety and stressed out about the game.

“But also, it’s pretty amazing to be able to cheer for that team,” Rapinoe added. “That’s the team that we get to watch and we get to get behind and we usually seem to be coming out on the right end of things in those stressful games.”

Already one of the more high-profile members of the team before the World Cup, Rapinoe has become the breakout star of the tournament, the face of this butt-kicking, name-taking group of Americans.

She scored all four U.S. goals in the first two knockout games — the second two after President Donald Trump directed his (latest) Twitter rage at her. Trump was unhappy over a months-old video in which Rapinoe said she wouldn’t go to the White House if the U.S. women won, and her even older stance on the national anthem.

But while some “patriotic” Americans sided with Trump and said they would no longer root for her or the U.S. women, Rapinoe made far more new fans. Her pose after her first goal against France — arms outstretched, defiant smile on her face — has been turned into endless memes.

BODYARMOR, a sports drink, unveiled an ad Monday that features her.  

“Nothing like a 30-something, purple-haired, outspoken, goal-scoring, relentless competitor that stands for all that is beautiful, all that is good, all that is us,” the caption read. “Now that’s America. Thanks, Megan.”  

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.

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