Megan Rapinoe is confident the hamstring strain that kept her out of USA’s World Cup semi-final victory over England won’t rule her out of Sunday’s final. The winger was injured late in the second-half of her team’s quarter-final against France.

“It just tightened up a little bit toward the end. Just wasn’t going to be ready for today,” Rapinoe told reporters after the victory against England moved the US closer to a fourth World Cup title. “But it’s feeling much better and I expect to be ready for the final.”

When asked how confident she was of playing, she replied: “It’s a combination of how it feels and how it looks and what I can do. I expect [with] how it feels now to be ready. As is with these things, you just have to go day by day and see how it is.”

The fearless Megan Rapinoe embodies the best of America Read more

Rapinoe watched nervously from the bench as England had a goal from Ellen White ruled out for offside and, with just a few minutes remaining, watched US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher save an England penalty. “It’s terrible. It’s so stressful [to watch from the bench],” she said. “It’s hard. You put everything into this game ... You have everything invested in it and no way to get rid of your anxiety.”

At the final whistle, she jumped into the arms of her teammates, embracing them one by one. When she reached Naeher, she bear-hugged her first and then lifted her off her feet. “That was a huge performance from her, to be in that moment,” Rapinoe said. “It’s one thing to take a penalty, it’s another to save one and keep your cool. To make a save like that is just fantastic for her.”

Rapinoe’s replacement, Christen Press, opened the scoring, heading home Kelley O’Hara’s pinpoint cross after just 10 minutes. “Maybe they don’t need me for the final. Maybe I just got pushed right to the side,” Rapinoe said. “It’s ridiculous, we’ve talked about our depth for a long time now as something we’re going to need throughout this tournament ... and it was on full display tonight.”

Rapinoe had scored four goals in the past two games, and five overall during the tournament. Last week, video surfaced of her saying she wouldn’t visit the White House if the team won the World Cup and she accompanied the comments with an expletive.

While the interview was from January, it attracted Donald Trump’s attention and he tweeted: “Megan should never disrespect our Country, the White House, or our Flag, especially since so much has been done for her & the team.” Trump added that he would invite the team to Washington, win or lose. Rapinoe stood by the statement except for the coarse language she had used.

