Chicago Red Stars Vs Washington Spirit: 3 things we learned

1. The anthem had an impact

In the lead-up to the game, a lot was said about the fact that this would be the first game for U.S. Soccer since the lifting of the rule stating that players would be ineligible for the national team if they were seen kneeling for the national anthem in protest. This comes after weeks of protests for the Black Lives Matter movement.

There was a planned moment of silence for all players and staff to kneel before the game started, as has been the case in the Premier League and other leagues around the world, but when it came to the national anthem, players could respond as they saw fit. Some pundits called for the anthem to not be played as it would only be a distraction from the game itself. However, here, they played the anthem.

There were outspoken leaders among the Chicago Red Stars dressing room in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Still, despite the rest of the starting line-up taking a knee, Rachel Hill remained standing. Kneeling next to her was Casey Short and Julie Ertz. The cameras captured this moment as Short began crying during the anthem, with Ertz attempting to console her. Hill remained standing.

This left an air of unease over the Chicago Red Stars. They were out of it, especially those who have played for the club for a long time. This influenced the game. As Rory Dames told reporters afterwards:

"“It’s been an incredibly emotional day for our team. Probably one of the reasons why it took us 50 minutes to get into the game. I would say we were pretty emotionally spent before we got here.”"

This is just your constant reminder that sports don’t happen in a vacuum. Athletes are humans and you cannot expect them to not be affected by problems outside of sports. The Chicago Red Stars were affected on Saturday.