I see this headline anytime there is a conversation about equal pay or the quality of women's soccer, and I want to more fully flush out why this one misleading result is incredibly stupid to keep trotting out like this. /1 
First off, the very article that this exact headline comes from downplays the significance of the result, saying it shouldn't be taken to mean anything, but I guess actually READING the article for context would be hard when the headline itself fits so neatly with the agenda /2
Second, and this is also found in the article, the team hung around to take pictures with younger players. Clearly not upset by the game. Hardly the shocking and disappointing result you would expect if this had been a competitive game. /3
A little more context for this result: this was a scrimmage at an organized practice. The US women were preparing to play Russia in just a few days time. The entire point of the scrimmage was a little field time for the women, and a chance for the boys to learn from them /4
Anyone who has ever coached younger kids and played against them knows that when you lower the intensity and play for learning and fun things happen. Kids score on adults, the adults try some ambitious things that either work or don't, and it's all fun in the end. /5
World champion women have nothing to prove against 15 and 16 y/o academy boys.
BUT they do have everything to risk. An injury to anyone of them risks their professional ambitions. We have no actual insight into the intensity of the game, but surely they weren't going all out on these kids.
Also, a scrimmage like this is the exact time to try the risky things that lead to giving up goals when you are preparing to the world stage. Want to try that back 3 you haven't played yet? Want to play your youngest central midfield to see how they move together?
People who use this ONE result over and over to try to impugn female athletes are giving this zero thought, and just pulling a headline that meets what they've already decided is true. But they would never apply this standard equally across the game b/c that would make sense
If they do however, I look forward to everyone dismissing Liverpool's title for all of time because they lost one game to Watford
And something else, we can also pull out results that point in the complete opposite direction
Also, while we’re idiotically misinterpreting individual results to push wild agendas: the New York Red Bulls should be playing in the English Premier League. I look forward to your support in this matter
