FIFA Football Awards: USA's Megan Rapinoe wins Best Women's Player

Megan Rapinoe, the football superstar from the USA was declared as the best Women's Player at the 2019 FIFA Football Awards. Rapinoe, who wears the Number 15 jersey, helped the USA Women's Team lift the World Cup in France, earlier this year. Rapinoe used her acceptance speech to lay emphasis on the value of speaking up for change. She won the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot at the recently-concluded World Cup.

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An Inspiration to Millions

Rapinoe was in contention for the best player in the 2018 Awards as well. She finally won this accolade in 2019 after competing with talented players like England's Lucy Bronze and her teammate Alex Morgan. The award was presented at the ceremony in Milan and Rapinoe used her acceptance speech as a tool to propagate her vision. She spoke about how she was inspired by Sahar Khodayari, the Blue Girl, who self-immolated to fight for women's rights to watch men's sporting events in Iran.

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She also talked about Manchester City star Raheem Sterling and Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, citing how these two stand up against racism. Rapinoe highlighted the lack of equal pay in Women's football and LGBTQ+ acceptance. She emphasised on how universal empathy for issues like racism, homophobia and unequal pay is the only route to solve these issues. She urged footballers to use their platforms to share positive ideas with their fans and followers. She also focused on how women being recognised in sport is a heartening move towards the future.

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About Megan Rapinoe

Rapinoe has been a mainstay in USWNT in the last decade. The 34-year-old has 158 international caps and has scored 50 goals in these games. She was instrumental in the USA's World Cup-winning campaign. She scored a penalty in the final against the Netherlands. Moreover, she was the Player of the Match in the final.

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