Hopefully, this iteration of the United States Women’s Soccer team is better at soccer than public relations. Recently, captain and veteran Lindsey Horan made some ill-advised comments about American soccer fans in an interview with The Athletic. Her comments have drawn the ire of American soccer fans, and considering last year’s early exit from World Cup play, as well as the bad taste Megan Rapinoe has left in American sports fans’ collective mouths, she may have been better served just to talk soccer.
In the interview, Horan said: “American soccer fans, most of them aren’t smart. They don’t know the game. They don’t understand. (But) it’s getting better and better.”She immediately seemed to realize what she said and tried to shift the focus to her own family, “I’m gonna piss off some people, but the game is growing in the U.S. People are more and more knowledgeable, but so much of the time people take what the commentators say, right? My mom does it! My mom says, ‘Julie Foudy said you had such a good game!’ And I’m here, just going, ‘I was f—ing s— today.’”
Not exactly a welcoming statement for the casual fan. Perhaps folks don’t understand soccer because they don’t want to. Soccer still hasn’t taken hold in America like it has in the rest of the world, and at this point, it probably won’t, especially if so-called stars like Horan continue to insult fans for listening to the announcers.
Now, after considerable blowback, Horan has backtracked and apologized to fans for pointing out their perceived ignorance. Speaking during an event for the CONCACAF W Gold Cup, the women’s captain apologized to those she insulted. She said: “First and foremost, I would like to apologize to our fans. Some of my comments were poorly expressed, and there was a massive lesson learned for me.”
Horan’s tune changed drastically from the critical tone she previously expressed. Now, it is all love and respect. She continued: “When I think about our fans, I love them so much. The team loves them so much, and I can’t begin to explain how much they mean to us. Every time we step out and train, every time we step out and play in games, you know we play for you guys. You’re our inspiration, our motivation, and seeing you wear our jerseys and seeing you screaming our names, and chanting USA, that’s what we play for and I never wanted to take any of that away.”
Those comments are markedly different from the dismissive, elitist comments he made just a couple of weeks prior. Horan was asked if she would like to elaborate on what she really meant, but instead said she doesn’t think “what I meant really matters right now.” She also claimed to apologize because she wanted “to express how much the fans mean to me personally.”
Horan went on to actually talk about soccer and the women’s team’s upcoming Olympic tuneup. She continued: “What we do here can really train us and mentally prepare us for what we might have to deal with in France. We take each game at a time and we get better throughout the tournament, and we keep increasing now what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to play.”
It is more likely that the bombastic captain’s coaches had something to do with the apology rather than Horan’s own contrition, but that is unknown at this time. What is known is the last iteration of this team wasn’t particularly likable with anti-American Megan Rapinoe, and Lindsey Horan’s comments insulting folks who haven’t devoted their lives to kicking a ball isn’t making this team any more warm and cuddly. Perhaps she has learned and will tone down the rhetoric in the future.
Rapinoe, for her part, has remained on the attack against her culture war enemies despite being off the team. Recently, for example, she attacked and mocked Christians. Watch Rapinoe here:
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