New York City will honor the winning U.S. women’s World Cup soccer team with a ticker-tape parade on Wednesday.
“You have inspired the entire country — and New York City knows how to celebrate champions,” Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted, minutes after the U.S. team’s 2-0 victory over the Netherlands on Sunday.
It was the U.S. team’s fourth World Cup victory and second in a row.
The parade will start at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. The team will be feted on the stretch of lower Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” the mayor’s office announced.
Fans gathered at bars and public spaces throughout the city on Sunday morning to watch the final match broadcast from Lyon, France, in which center Megan Rapinoe converted a penalty kick and Rose Lavelle scored a goal.
“It’s like history. I don’t know how to feel right now. It is ridiculous,” said Rapinoe after the victory, Reuters reported. “We’re crazy — that’s what makes us special. We just have no quit in us. We are so tight. We will do anything to win.”
Notable figures who congratulated the team included former President Barack Obama, who tweeted, “Yes! Fourth star. Back to back. Congrats to the record breakers on the @USWNT, an incredible team that’s always pushing themselves—and the rest of us—to be even better. Love this team.”
President Trump tweeted that “America is proud of you all!” weeks after picking a fight on social media with the team’s star center.
On June 26, Trump criticized Rapinoe, an LBGTQ activist who said she wouldn’t go “to the f**king White House” if the team won because of her opposition to Trump’s policies. “I am a big fan of the American Team, and Women’s Soccer, but Megan should WIN first before she TALKS,” Trump tweeted then. The president said he was “inviting the TEAM, win or lose,” adding that “Megan should never disrespect our Country, the White House, or our Flag.”
Rapinoe had also been outspoken about the pay disparity between the men’s and women’s World Cup teams. The champion women are set to receive $250,000 in bonuses for winning the title, a fraction of the men’s prize, according to the New York Times.
At the award ceremony, FIFA chief Gianni Infantino was greeted with chants of “equal pay, equal pay” by American fans, Reuters reported.
