Report: US Soccer pressuring Rapinoe to reconsider kneeling during anthem – CBSSports.com

Megan Rapinoe made waves across the sports world earlier this month for kneeling during the national anthem at a Seattle Reign NWSL match against Chicago, showing support to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and keeping the conversation going.

But will she do it on the national team level? The USWNT faces Thailand in a friendly on Thursday, and she is feeling some pressure from people inside the federation to not kneel.

According to Grant Wahl of SI, U.S. Soccer told the player that taking kneeling would be disrespectful, adding that it would take attention away from Heather O’Reilly, 31, who will be retiring from international soccer after the game.

As of this writing, Rapinoe is still unsure if she’ll take a knee on Thursday. In her last club game on Monday, against the Washington Spirit, Rapinoe and her Seattle Reign teammates locked arms during the anthem, similar to what the Seattle Seahawks did the previous day against the Dolphins.