The gods of sports are a funny bunch.  Sometimes they say thumbs down, and that's the end of a team's fortunes.  Am I the only one who thinks they had enough of a team with these toxic attitudes?

On Sunday morning, the U.S. women's soccer team lost on penalty kicks.  As I recall hearing from the experts on Fox, the stunner is that this team had to do penalty kicks in the first place — i.e., zero goals during regulation time.  After all, wasn't this team presented to the country as the top candidate to win again?

So what happens now?  Let me add a couple of thoughts:

First, it was indeed a brutal loss.  The missed kick was like magic, less than an inch, as we saw in the replay.  That's brutal.

Second, the U.S. soccer leadership needs to disinfect itself of any woke attitudes.  Players, and there are plenty to choose from, should be selected on their ability to play and gratitude about the country they represent.  No respect for the National Anthem means you stay home and watch it on TV.  This is about playing soccer, not promoting social causes.

Third, the team's loss is another example that socialism does not work.  Check this out from Dan Zaksheske:

From a financial perspective, the 2015 and 2019 women's teams relied on winning the World Cup to make money. The players were hungry. No surprise, those teams played far better.

But this year's version already got paid. And, sure, the players wanted to win more money.

But they didn't NEED to.

And their performance reflected that. The USWNT didn't score a single goal in their final two World Cup matches. Not one.

Yet, after their shocking draw against Portugal that forced the team into playing Sweden in the Round of 16, they were dancing and smiling.

Why not?

This is not to say that the only reason the USWNT did not win the World Cup -- or even advance out of the Round of 16 -- is because of the prize-splitting policy.

But it sure is an interesting coincidence that the USWNT's worst World Cup finish EVER came in the first World Cup since that decision came down.

Are they related? Maybe, maybe not.

Honestly, who knows?  I did hear from many soccer analysts that this team did not play hungry.  Maybe they had something else in their minds.  Maybe the young women from Sweden had more fun on the field.  They looked like it.

Last, but not least, the era of Megan Rapinoe is finally over.  She can now move on to advertising sandwiches or Biden's re-election.  Her attitude polluted this team and had many of her countrymen actually cheering that she missed the penalty kick.

Let me get back to baseball or the NFL, and I will consider another soccer post when the World Cup comes to the U.S.

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Image: Jamie Smed.