I’m sure it’s happened on other occasions around the world, but the two times that stand out the most to me when a soccer player has scored a goal and taken an on-field microphone to blast a message have involved Philadelphia Union midfielder Alejandro Bedoya—who implored Congress on Sunday to “do something now. End gun violence. Let’s go” after the weekend’s mass shootings—and U.S. winger Megan Rapinoe.
Rapinoe’s case happened at World Cup 2011 when she scored a goal, grabbed a mic and sang Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.” The circumstance was certainly different from that of Bedoya, which happened in Washington D.