The American women’s soccer team chose to play the national anthem before facing Brazil in the SheBelieves Cup on Sunday.
American defender Crystal Dunn explained to reporters after the 2-0 victory that the team did not feel the need to kneel and felt that “they passed the protest phase and started putting the whole conversation into practice”
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“I think those who were kneeling collectively felt as if we were kneeling to call attention to police brutality and systemic racism. I think we decided that, going forward, we will no longer feel the need to kneel because we are doing the work behind the scenes. We are fighting systemic racism. And we never felt we were going to kneel down forever, so there would always be a time when we felt it was time to get up, “said Dunn, via ESPN. “I think we are all proud to be doing the work behind the scenes and it was just a game that we felt we were ready to move to the next phase and continuously strive for change.”
Dunn added that the team’s choice to stand does not mean the talks will stop.
PRESS, RAPINOE SCORE, US BEATS BRASIL 2-0 AT SHEBELIEVES CUP
“Even if we are choosing to stay, that does not mean that the conversations will go away or stop,” she said. “It is all to say that we are now, I think, ready to move beyond the protest phase and really start putting the whole conversation into real work.”
It was the first time this year that the US team applied for the anthem.
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The USA beat Canada 1-0 in the opening match of the tournament.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.