U.S. Soccer cheapens women's team's feat with misogynistic filing

U.S. soccer fans should be focused on the U.S. women's national team's performance at the SheBelieves Cup, which was extremely impressive. Despite being in the players' offseason, despite playing three top teams, the United States hammered England and Japan and powered past a scrappy Spain side to take the tournament title.

Thanks to the deep-seated issues at the U.S. Soccer Federation, though, the team's performance was overshadowed by the ongoing equal pay lawsuit between the players and the governing body. U.S. Soccer released a misogynistic legal filing, one that used "science" to explain that women's national team players could never compete with men's players, and therefore could not expect to be paid equally. It was a shocking example of the same tired arguments that have been rolled out to attempt to devalue women's sports for decades. That they'd come up again, in 2020, laid bare just how deep the sexism runs at the top levels of U.S. Soccer.

U.S. Soccer Federation President Carlos Cordeiro resigned on Thursday amid the fallout, but the lawsuit may still make it to court on May 5. The federation's dealings with its most successful team have been embarrassing for years. All that can fix this is establishing equal pay.

• It was an odd juxtaposition to see U.S. Soccer arguing that playing in front of hostile crowds was one of the things that made things more difficult for men's players, while at the same time club teams around the world were grappling with the difficulty of playing games in front of empty stadiums. It's been an example of just how important the energy from the stands is, not just for broadcasters but for the players themselves.

• The CONCACAF Champions League is suspended, like so many other competitions, but the quarterfinals weren't going well for MLS teams anyway. Montreal, NYCFC and Atlanta all lost the first leg of their quarterfinal games, with the first two losing at home and Atlanta losing 3-0 to America on the road. If the tournament resumes, none of the three will be favored to make a comeback. MLS hopes may rest with LAFC, and its game with Cruz Azul was postponed indefinitely.

Liga MX: Cruz Azul at America, 9:15 p.m. Sunday, UniMas / TUDN. Games with fans in the stands are already starting to feel like a novelty, but the bitter crosstown rivalry between the teams that share Estadio Azteca will still feel like a big event. Cruz Azul leads the league at the halfway point of the Clausura and is looking stronger than it has in years — but America could take the league lead with a win.

Writer Jon Marthaler gives you a recap of recent events and previews the week ahead. E-mail: jmarthaler@gmail.com