U.S. Ousts Host France In 2-1 Quarterfinal Win After Trump/Rapinoe War Of Words
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. The United States women's soccer team knocks out the host nation, France, in a 2-1 victory and is headed to the World Cup semifinals now. The spotlight mostly fell on star player, Megan Rapinoe, who has been all over the headlines this week following a back and forth with the president over whether or not she would visit the White House if the U.S. wins the World Cup. Rapinoe scored both the goals in last night's match and was instrumental in the team's success. Amanda Davies joining us from Paris. Amanda, with so much focus on Megan Rapinoe, do you think she lived up to the pressure? She really exceeded it. But it looks like she works even better under pressure.</s>AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Frederica. Boy, did she live up to expectation. It almost seems like it was written in the stars after all those headlines that she'd made in the run-up to the game. As you said, her verbal sparring with President Trump about a prospective visit to the White House. It was only ever going to be Megan Rapinoe who stars on the pitch last night. And Coach Jill Ellis said we really shouldn't be surprised. It's these moments that Megan Rapinoe has consistently shown through her career that she thrives on. She has always talked about how she wants to use the platform of what she does on the pitch to highlight the causes, the political causes, the social causes that she's so passionate about off it. And really, she stepped up and put in the performance last night. But she's done that consistently. She's a player who made her debut for the U.S. women's team 13 years ago. She helped them to Olympic gold in 2012 in London, World Cup success four years ago in Canada, and now is having the World Cup of her life, five goals in four games so far. She said she was under no doubt that everything around her was going to distract or not distract her in the game yesterday. And you feel as the tournament goes on, this platform, this stage of hers is just going to get even bigger.</s>WHITFIELD: OK. And then, up next, right, against England?</s>DAVIES: Yes. And I'm afraid this is where my loyalties come to the fore, very much.</s>DAVIES: USA against England, USA against England on Tuesday night. Interestingly, I was messaging with the England coach, Phil Neville. He said he really wants his side to face the USA, the defending champions, the top-ranked team in the world, because he feels that England step up and play better and bigger the better their opponent. On paper, though, you have to say it's the U.S. who are the favorites. They have their World Cup pedigree. But England are threatening a shock. We're going to Lyon tomorrow to speak to both sides. Hopefully, we'll have a little more insight as to how it's shaping up tomorrow.</s>WHITFIELD: It's going to be a nail biter. All right, Amanda, thank you so much, in Paris. Cities around the world are holding events to mark PRIDE weekend. Coming up, how one night 50 years ago helped spark a revolution and bring the fight for gay rights to the forefront.