Megan Rapinoe kneels during anthem before U.S. match vs. Thailand

USWNT star Megan Rapinoe knelt again during the playing of the national anthem, this time as the US played the Netherlands in a friendly on Sunday night in Atlanta. She was in full uniform and available to play, just like she always would be.

The national team next plays on 19 October in Utah in the first of two games against Switzerland.

Her actions in particular have angered U.S. Soccer, which released a statement saying that her protest goes against everything the organization stands for.

After Rapinoe, clad in red, white and blue, took a knee in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick’s fight to raise awareness about racial inequality in the country against Thailand last week, U.S. Soccer said that there is “an expectation that our players and coaches will stand and honor our flag while the national anthem is played”.

Rapinoe first knelt during the anthem September 4 before a game with her National Women’s Soccer League team, the Seattle Reign.

Rapinoe also says she is very much focused on the conversation and has no plans to stop kneeling for the anthem. She had told ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap this week that she thinks her message is even more important to convey in a us uniform.

Rapinoe also knelt before the team’s game against Thailand in OH on Thursday. “It was a little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he’s standing for right now”.

Rapinoe told ESPN that she was met with a mixed reaction from the 15,000 fans at the Georgia Dome. Discussion of methods of protest is fine and should be embraced as part of a broader discussion of how, when, and why Americans can or should draw attention to important issues that affect the country, as long as it doesn’t ignore why Rapinoe is kneeling, which is once again the unjust treatment of Black Americans, particularly the deaths of Black people by police brutality. “There are people who don’t feel as protected as I do every day”. It was her first opportunity to protest as a national team player.

“I haven’t talked to U.S. Soccer outside of these guys, and they’re the ones here with me so I expect that would be who I would talk to”, Rapinoe told ESPN.

“We need to look at all the things the flag and the anthem represent and all the things it means, and is it protecting everybody?” I know it’s a time-honoured tradition.