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Watch: Rapinoe Loudly Boasts 'I Deserve This' During Victory Parade

By Joe Saunders July 11, 2019 at 9:38am

She’ll never be confused with someone who has class.

Megan Rapinoe, the co-captain of the World Cup-winning U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, is an undoubted champion on the soccer pitch.

But there’s more to being a winner than outscoring your opponents, and as a quick clip from Wednesday’s victory parade in New York City showed, that’s where Rapinoe has a habit of coming up short.

“I deserve this,” Rapinoe said in the clip, which has rocketed around social media and racked up millions of views.

Megan Rapinoe standing on a parade float in Manhattan with a bottle of Veuve in one hand and the World Cup trophy in the other shouting “I DESERVE THIS.”

There will never be a bigger mood. pic.twitter.com/GjHMjGkgsS

— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) July 10, 2019

It’s a telling construction.

There were 23 women on the soccer team that barreled through this year’s World Cup tournament from the 13-0 rout over Thailand to the 2-1 nail biter against England to the 2-0 final victory over the Netherlands on Sunday.

Every one of them was part of the team, and though none was as controversial as Rapinoe, every one “deserved” the honor of Wednesday’s parade and the national applause they’ve received.

Rapinoe knows that, of course. Every great athlete knows how important the team is.

But what she said didn’t reflect that.

“I deserve this.”

From an athlete who doesn’t have Rapinoe’s baggage, the statement could be overlooked as a slip of the tongue by a woman caught up in the excitement of what had to be a gratifying moment.

Do you think Megan Rapinoe embarrassed herself?

But even the millions of Americans who don’t follow women’s soccer know that Rapinoe has spent her time in the global spotlight of this year’s World Cup glorifying herself while disparaging her country’s national anthem and its president.

Her treatment of the American flag after Sunday’s victory didn’t endear her to many Americans.

And Wednesday’s self-centered “I deserve this” line didn’t either.

Narcisist. Apparently she is the only member of her team.

— M.O.M. (@nrasmuss) July 10, 2019

*** We deserve this ***. It is a team game Megan, incase you never noticed.

— Salmo ? (@APS14Salmo) July 10, 2019

Megan Rapinoe – if she wasn’t playing soccer she would be on Antifa’s team fighting against American patriots.

— VANGUARDWORLD (@SDHYPE13) July 11, 2019

Rapinoe’s behavior throughout the World Cup has made it clear that she doesn’t care about the feelings of half her countrypeople – and apparently cares even less about sportsmanship.

Yes, she’s a winner. Yes, she’s a champion. But no one is going to confuse her for someone with class.

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Tags:

Culture, Soccer, Sports

Joe Saunders

Story Editor

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Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro desk editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He's been with Liftable Media since 2015.

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Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He's been with Liftable Media since 2015. Largely a product of Catholic schools, who discovered Ayn Rand in college, Joe is a lifelong newspaperman who learned enough about the trade to be skeptical of every word ever written. He was also lucky enough to have a job that didn't need a printing press to do it.

Birthplace

Philadelphia

Nationality

American