I have a little different perspective, but respect your opinion...I'm a free speech absolutist so I believe the players have every right to kneel, not sing, not put their hand over their heart, etc. In some ways that's more representative of what our country is about than following tradition, or "forced" patriotism. (BTW I'm a huge fan of our anthem, and its amazing when your at an event and thousands of people are singing it).I think this shows you where their heads were at before the game even started. Don't sing if you don't want to. But you should still have your right hand over your heart. Show some respect for those that fought for your freedom. You live in the best country on the planet. If you don't think it is, find a relative that can link you to play on the National Team for some other country. They were too busy worrying more about being non-patriotic and trying to make a statement vs getting ready to play their butts off for 90+mins.
England vs Nigeria. Even in OT the girl from Nigeria with the long braids that missed her KFTM was running all over the place as if the game had just started. That's playing with heart and grit, knowing if you don't get it done you are going home.
The header that Horan put in the goal vs Netherlands..if I'm not mistaken..there was some trash talk and some pushing before that corner kick. Then she buries it into the back of the net. If they all had that kind of intensity they might still be on the field instead of in front of the tv.
My issue is how motivated are you when your not proud of or not enthusiastic to represent the country on your jersey? Are you going to give your job 100% if you don't like the company you work for? Certainly some people, regardless of their circumstances, have a enough self pride and dignity to always give it their all, but many do not. In the USWNT case I have to wonder if this had an impact individually, or on team chemistry. My gut instinct tells me some of the women wanted to belt out the SSB, but didn't want to upset the most vocal SJWs on the team. It also smacks a little bit of entitlement when your country has given you this great opportunity (and paid you) to showcase you skills on a world stage. To me its less about patriotism, and more about showing appreciation and respect for the opportunity. Maybe there are more effective ways to support your causes, without being a distraction, then doing it on the field of play.
At the end of they day, they didn't lose because they weren't enthusiastic about the National Anthem, but you do have to wonder if it had some impact on the team.