Champion US Women’s World Cup team merits praise and equal pay

New York Post: Congrats to the United States Women’s National Team for scoring their second straight World Cup with Sunday’s 2-0 win over the Netherlands.

The U.S. team also won its record fourth Women’s World Cup title.

The team members embody excellence not just as global champs, but as one of the top teams ever.

Co-captain Megan Rapinoe was the clear star all tournament long, the top scorer and rightful winner of the Golden Ball award for best player.

That she nailed what proved to be the winning score, her sixth goal of the tourney, is just icing on an extremely sweet cake.

WIN NEEDED FOR PAY EQUITY

Here’s hoping the USWNT can score one more win, in their suit against the US Soccer Federation for pay equal to the men’s team.

It’s now hard to see why the women don’t earn more: They’re not only markedly more successful, they also bring in more revenue.

In any case, Mayor Bill de Blasio was clearly right to invite America’s newest champions to a ticker-tape parade on Wednesday, the city’s first such celebration since the one for the 2015 USWNT.

That was the city’s first ticker-tape honor for a women’s team; perhaps the most important legacy of this team is that they’ve surely inspired countless girls to pursue athletic excellence themselves — and make women’s-team marches a regular future Canyon of Heroes feature.