US Women's Soccer Made a Bold Statement Last Night by Wearing Their Shirts Inside Out

Update, March 13: Since this article was originally published on March 12, US Soccer Federation President Carlos Cordeiro announced his resignation. The current vice president, Cindy Parlow Cone, will act as the interim president until 2021.

The US women’s national soccer team knows a thing or two about being bold – this isn’t news to us. But on March 11, during the final match of the SheBelieves Cup, which the team ended up winning, these players made a powerful statement in response to seemingly sexist comments made by the US Soccer Federation (USSF) earlier this week. In a March 9 court filing leading up to the USWNT and USSF’s class action trial slated for May, lawyers defending the Federation in the USWNT gender-discrimination lawsuit claimed that women’s soccer requires less skill and their work is less demanding than the men’s. In response, these women wore their warmup shirts inside out, which hid the US Soccer crest but still showcased four stars, representing their four FIFA Women’s World Cup victories.

US Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro issued an apology right before the conclusion of Wednesday night’s game. “On behalf of US Soccer, I sincerely apologize for the offense and pain caused by language in this week’s court filing, which did not reflect the values of our Federation or our tremendous admiration of our Women’s National Team,” Cordeiro said in the statement, according to ESPN. “Our WNT players are incredibly talented and work tirelessly, as they have demonstrated time and again from their Olympic Gold medals to their World Cup titles.” He also announced that the Federation was seeking to make a change to their legal counsel in some way.

Ahead, check out images from the players’ protest and ultimate sign of solidarity. Megan Rapinoe said it best. “To every girl out there, to every boy out there who watches this team, who wants to be on this team, or just wants to live their dream out, you are not lesser just because you are a girl. You are not better just because you are a boy,” she stated. “We are all created equal and should all have the equal opportunity to go out and pursue our dreams, and for us that means playing on the soccer field.”

Related: Before the 2019 Women's World Cup, Revisit the Biggest Moments in USWNT History