U.S. Women’s National Team co-captain Megan Rapinoe was not in the starting lineup for Tuesday’s 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup semifinal game between the USA and England.

Rapinoe, a former University of Portland star, started in four of the USA’s first five games at the World Cup last month. She netted two goals against France in the quarterfinals of the tournament last Friday to lead the U.S. to a berth in the semifinals. Rapinoe is tied for the tournament lead with five goals in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup so far.

Rapinoe has made headlines over the last month both for her play on the field at the World Cup and statements off the field.

President Donald Trump criticized Rapinoe in a series of tweets last week after Rapinoe said in a viral video that she was not going to the White House if the United States won the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Rapinoe had made the comments months ago to Eight by Eight.

Earlier in the week, Trump had criticized Rapinoe for her protest during the national anthem.

In 2016, Rapinoe knelt during the national anthem in solidarity with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and to protest police brutality and other forms of discrimination. In response, the U.S. Soccer Federation introduced a rule requiring players to “stand respectfully” during the anthem. During the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Rapinoe has stood respectfully during the national anthem, but has abstained from singing or putting her hand over her heart during the ceremony.

“Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties,” Rapinoe told American Soccer Now in 2016.

Following Trump’s tweets, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez invited Rapinoe and the rest of the U.S. Women’s National Team to tour the House of Representatives. Rapinoe accepted Ocasio-Cortez’s invitation on Twitter, responding to Ocasio-Cortez by saying, “Consider it done.”

Rapinoe was then able to put all the outside noise aside and star for the U.S. in their game against France last Friday, scoring twice to lead the USA to a 2-1 victory over the host country.

The decision to leave Rapinoe out of the lineup for Tuesday’s semifinal game was tactical, according to multiple reports. Soccer writer Caitlin Murray reported Tuesday that the decision to leave Rapinoe out of the starting 11 was not injury-related or related to disciplinary reasons.

Rapinoe did not participate in warm-ups with the U.S. team ahead of Tuesday’s game either, suggesting that she will not play in the match.

Megan Rapinoe is not starting. US Soccer spokesman couldn’t say if it was injury-related, but she is on the bench as a sub. Spokesman said not disciplinary though. #USWNT — Caitlin Murray (@caitlinmurr) July 2, 2019

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg

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