Fansided

USWNT largely ignoring the haters by staying off social media

By Clemente Lisi

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 02: United States midfielder Samantha Mewis (3) takes a selfie with a fans phone after the She Believes Cup match between the United States and England at Nissan Stadium on March 2nd, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 02: United States midfielder Samantha Mewis (3) takes a selfie with a fans phone after the She Believes Cup match between the United States and England at Nissan Stadium on March 2nd, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The USWNT has been hit with criticism for celebrating goals during their 13-0 rout of Thailand. The players have responded by staying away from social media.

The United States continues to prepare for Sunday’s game against Chile in Paris still having to deal with the fallout of scoring too many goals against Thailand, then having had the gall to celebrate them.

In response, the players have largely ignored the haters by staying off Twitter and Facebook since Tuesday’s lopsided win.

“It can be really consuming if you’re caught up in it,” midfielder Sam Mewis told reporters on Thursday. “We’re just staying focused on our goal here to win. Everything else is just secondary and not super important.”

The criticism lobbed at the U.S. players following the record-breaking 13-0 result has come from everywhere, including TV analysts in Canada, a former U.S. player and loads of other people on social media who rarely watch soccer.

“I don’t really think we as a team are super involved in watching and reading a lot of media about ourselves, to be honest,” said Mewis, who scored two goals against Thailand in her World Cup debut.

“We had heard that there were some things going on. We’re really just trying to focus on the next game and on Chile,” she added. “We respect Thailand a lot, and we’re just looking at the next game now.”

The comments came after Alex Morgan, who scored five goals in that game, told ESPN: “I mean, I’m going to celebrate Mal Pugh’s goal. I’m going to celebrate Sam Mewis and Rose Lavelle. This is their first World Cup and I’m so proud of them. And I couldn’t have dreamt of scoring five goals in a World Cup. So it’s incredible for us all.”

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Morgan does appear to have been on Twitter since the Thailand demolition, even posting a tweet in support of her teammates who scored for the first time at a World Cup.

If not passing the time on their devices, what have the American players been doing outside of team practices?

“We’re just eating and resting,” Mewis said, “and having coffee.”