It was, with all due respect to Alyssa Naeher, the most iconic moment of the USWNT’s 2-1 victory over England in the Women’s World Cup semifinals. Alex Morgan scored what proved to be the match winner, ran toward the sideline and pantomimed drinking a cup of tea.
For most Americans, it was a funny jab at their former colonizers. For some in England, it was decried as “distasteful,” including by a former NWSL teammate of Morgan’s.
Alex Morgan scored a goal then sipped some tea.
People got very mad online. pic.twitter.com/Hm87SEg09N— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 3, 2019
@liannesanderson calls Alex Morgan's tea sipping celebration "distasteful."
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) July 2, 2019
Was sipping some tea really that bad of a celebration?
No, of course not. It’s just another case of false outrage that’s prevalent in today’s social-media-propelled society. For those in England, it’s just another case of the English finding stupid things to complain about or make excuses over. For those in America, it’s another way to hate on a team that has used its platform to push social activism to try to create a better country.
The only one who has legitimate beef with the celebration is Megan Rapinoe, who now has to find a way to one-up Morgan in the final.
U.S. forward Megan Rapinoe on Alex Morgan's tea cup celebration: "I think I might have been upstaged. That was next-level."
And on English criticism of the tea cup celebration: "Wah, wah, wah... I don't think anyone truly believes we disrespect opponents."@sntvstory pic.twitter.com/XaCgGTsiKq— Davidde Corran (@DaviddeCorran) July 3, 2019
It’s a sad testament to today’s society that Morgan had to defend her goal celebration in the buildup to the Women’s World Cup final, which by the way is on Sunday against the Netherlands.
Morgan called out a double standard against female athletes, saying men celebrate all the time by “grabbing their sacks,” so sipping a cup of tea is pretty tame by comparison.
Alex Morgan defends her tea-sipping celebration... pic.twitter.com/Sw7hXOkJ3Y
— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 5, 2019
Morgan definitely has a point. It’s absurd for anyone to call out Morgan’s celebration as inappropriate unless you also want to call out 90 percent of men’s celebrations.
Also on Friday, Morgan said at a news conference that her celebration was partly an homage to Sophie Turner, the “Game of Thrones” actress (Sansa Stark), who ends Instagram stories posts with “And that’s the tea,” and not a hit at England. We’re not really sure how much we buy that explanation — and honestly we’d prefer it if she had just been mocking England — but that’s what she said.
The Queen of the North has spoken
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 5, 2019
Hopefully now the attention can turn to Sunday’s big final against the Netherlands. Maybe Rapinoe will score and mimic smoking a blunt, because that seems like something people would get up in arms about.
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