SAY GOODBYE: FUTURE UNCERTAIN AS EIGHT YEARS OF TRIBUTES LONG GONE

Megan Rapinoe showed up 11 years ago, and now, she and the faded U.S. soccer initiative can encounter a distant future after a 2023 tournament loss to Sweden — and a sad “Dancing Queen” song

     There weren’t many practitioners in sports when Megan Rapinoe finally came out, declaring her homosexuality in 2012. She had world championships to win, in 2015 and 2019, and she should have quit four seasons ago. What did she have to achieve in international soccer? Would a third have bettered a second?

     She now knows it was a grievous mistake. At 38, with one shot to move the United States into the quarterfinal round, Rapinoe approached the ball … and missed, as Sophia Smith and Kelley O’Hara had done from the penalty slot. The ball wound up high atop the goal, where Zecira Musovic didn’t have to move after spending the day keeping 11 saves from her net. All we awaited was Lina Hurtig to clinch the shootout, and once the VAR confirmed, the Swedes began dancing to the tune we learned more than four decades ago.

     “Dancing Queen,” they sang, as the losers sobbed.

     This would be the end of the Americans, which now bids goodbye to Rapinoe, O’Hara, Alex Morgan, Julie Ertz, Crystal Dunn and goaltender Alyssa Naeher. They  were marvelous successors to the original ’99 team, but what were they thinking in 2023? Rapinoe couldn’t do the math from 34 to 38. Morgan couldn’t from 30 to 34. And Naeher from 31 to 35, whose final thought was losing “the World Cup by a millimeter” on Sunday night in Melbourne.

     Four years mean nothing in your 20s. In your 30s, they mean everything.

     “I mean, this is like a sick joke to f---ing miss a penalty. For me personally, this is like dark comedy,” Rapinoe said as tears fell down her face. “This is the balance to the beautiful side of the game. I think it can be cruel.”

     Rapinoe will continue to move forward into a “better, more full person” in life. She’ll continue to be an advocate for LGBTQ rights, equal pay and racial justice. “You made this sport matter,” First Lady Jill Biden said on Twitter. “You inspired us with your grit, determination. We are proud of you. Always remember that you encourage women and girls everywhere to show up and fight for their dreams.”

     But in the end, we have no idea where the Americans are headed. This was the earliest stage they’ve lost in the tournament, with one goal scored in the last three games. Rising powers like the Netherlands, Spain and England have been carrying on, but no one should be alarmed by the Swedes and Germans.

     “Unfortunately, soccer can be cruel sometimes,” said U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski, who might find out soon enough. “I never came into the job, never came into the locker room with the mindset that I wanted to do something to save my job. I was always focused on doing a good job, doing my job in the best possible manner to prepare this team for the challenges they have in front of them, and to prepare them to represent our country.”

     For now, eight years of memories are filed away as young players like Trinity Rodman — yes, Dennis’ daughter — move forward. “We didn’t put anything in the back of the net,” Ertz said. “The penalties were tough. It’s just emotional because it’s my last game ever. It’s just tough.”

     “Just devastated. It feels like a bad dream,” Morgan said.

     And in the end, there was Rapinoe. “Well, now that I’m 38 and in therapy. I was like, ‘This is life,’ ’’ she said. “I joke too often, always in the wrong places and inappropriately. … That's why I had that smile on my face. Like, ‘You got to be f---ing kidding me. I'm going to miss the penalty?’ I honestly can't remember the last (time) I missed a penalty. Not in a game for a very long time.”

     She’ll have a long time to reconsider. The rest of life, in fact.

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     Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.