ESPNW has launched an original series, What Makes Us, about five “of the world’s greatest female athletes and their journeys to become sports icons.”
Three of the five athletes are soccer stars taking part in the World Cup: Sydney Leroux and Megan Rapinoe, plus Vero Boquete of Spain.
Megan Rapinoe. (Nike Women)
Watch the episode about Rapinoe — entitled, simply, Pinoe — here. (I wrote about the Leroux episode earlier, here.)
The 13-minute film focuses on the 2011 World Cup, which had its highs and lows for Rapinoe.
The day before the tournament began, she says, she was pulled from the starting lineup by coach Pia Sundhage — without notice or explanation.
“The coach didn’t even tell me I was being benched,” she says. “She just put the lineup up, and it was different. … It was tough. I mean, I was pissed. Obviously.”
The high point of that World Cup — not just for Rapinoe but for the entire U.S. team and its fans around the world — came in the final seconds of the quarterfinal match against Brazil, when Abby Wambach headed in a long, flawless cross from Rapinoe to tie the game.
“It was just the most insane sports moment, definitely, that I’ve ever been a part of,” Rapinoe says.
“Everything that I’ve trained for, and everything that I’ve gone through up to this point kind of paid off.”
Megan Rapinoe and Abby Wambach whoop it up after defeating Brazil in the 2011 World Cup. (Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images)
The last part of the film deals with Rapinoe’s decision in the summer of 2012 to come out as a lesbian.
What Makes Us was created by ESPNW and Rena Mundo Croshere and Nadine Mundo of Los Angeles. The Mundo Sisters previously directed an acclaimed ESPNW short on mixed martial arts fighter Ronda Rousey.
The episodes on Leroux, Rapinoe, and Boquete are available for viewing here.
The other two, featuring champion surfer Carissa Moore and U.S. Olympic hockey star Hilary Knight, premiere later this summer.
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