PARIS - United States soccer star Megan Rapinoe went from controversy off the field to triumph on it, handling all the scoring for the Americans on Friday as they won 2-1 in their highly anticipated Women's World Cup quarterfinal clash with host France.
The top-ranked U.S. women are trying to repeat as champions and win for the fourth time overall since the quadrennial tournament debuted in 1991. They advanced to face No. 3 England - a 3-0 winner against Norway on Thursday - in a semifinal Tuesday in Lyon.
France was trying to become the first nation to simultaneously hold both World Cup trophies after the French men won last summer in Russia. However, the women fell well short as their aggressive play, home-field advantage at Parc des Princes and flag-waving crowd that belted out "La Marseillaise," the national anthem, failed to faze the ever-confident Americans.
"I mean, you have to give it up to the French team," Rapinoe said. "I think they outplayed us for sure with the ball, but we were so good defensively, so strong. We hit them where it hurt. We took our chances.
"This team - unreal, unreal amount of heart."
Rapinoe, a 33-year-old attacking midfielder and team co-captain, was called out on social media by President Donald Trump earlier this week after video surfaced of her saying she wouldn't visit the White House if the United States won the title in France. A day after addressing the matter, she appeared anything but distracted by it.
Rapinoe scored on a free kick in the fifth minute that bounced between French players and past goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi. After the goal, she went to a corner and raised both arms in celebration for the American fans in the sold-out stadium.
She raised her arms again in the 65th minute after blasting a cross from Tobin Heath that Bouhaddi dove for but couldn't stop. It was Rapinoe's fifth goal of this tournament, tied for the lead with teammate Alex Morgan, England's Ellen White and Australia's Sam Kerr, whose team lost in the first round of the knockout phase.
Fourth-ranked France pulled back on Wendie Renard's header off Gaetane Thiney's free kick in the 81st minute. It was the 6-foot-2 defender's fourth goal at a World Cup.
"It did live up to expectations, I'm happy to say that," Morgan said of the match.
The U.S. women are used to grabbing attention both on and off the field, including suing U.S. Soccer in March, charging institutionalized gender discrimination due to unequal pay and benefits for the national men's and women's teams.
Rapinoe was caught up in a controversy when video surfaced of her using an expletive while vowing not to visit the White House. While the interview was from January, it attracted the president'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."
On Thursday, Rapinoe said she stood by her comments, though not the coarse language. Rapinoe, who also had a pair of goals on penalty kicks in a 2-1 victory over Spain on Monday, even suggested the uproar might help her team.
"I think, if anything, it just fires everybody up a little bit more," she said Thursday.
On Friday, Rapinoe credited the team's defense for a "huge performance." U.S. defenders repeatedly kept the aggressive French team at bay, and goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher was stellar in the second half, fighting off a flurry of attempts until Renard's header.
The Americans have played the French 24 times, with France winning just three of those matches. However, the teams' three meetings prior to Friday's quarterfinal had tilted toward the French as they netted two wins and a draw. The last meeting was a friendly in January, when Kadidiatou Diani, who wasn't named to France's World Cup roster, scored twice in a 3-1 victory.
"The media and fans and everyone bought into this being a final being played as a quarterfinal match. And it was. I feel like it was a great match," Morgan said. "I think we have the edge on them in World Cups and major tournaments, but lately they've had the edge on us with friendlies. So I think it was a great match for both of us."
Friday's match was the 125th for Jill Ellis as the U.S. women's soccer coach, surpassing April Heinrichs for the career record.
Because of the loss, France does not qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The top three European finishers at the World Cup qualify, and the Euro-centric quarterfinals will wrap up today with Italy facing the Netherlands and Germany taking on Sweden.
"Yes, it is a failure on a footballing level," France coach Corinne Diacre said. "I don't think we should shy away from that."
"Les Bleues" also reached the quarterfinals at the 2015 World Cup in Canada - where the Americans rolled past Japan 5-2 in the final - but fell to Germany on penalties after a 1-1 draw. The team's best finish at the tournament was fourth in 2011, when it lost 2-1 to Sweden in the third-place match.