Megan Rapinoe maintains national anthem protest before final USWNT match

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Megan Rapinoe stayed consistent before she played her final U.S. women’s national soccer team game on Sunday night against South Africa.

Before the Americans took home a 2-0 victory, Rapinoe stood for the national anthem but continued her protest during the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" – she didn’t sing and kept her hands behind her back.

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Megan Rapinoe is shown during the playing of the national anthem before the game against South Africa at Soldier Field on Sept. 24, 2023, in Chicago. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Rapinoe was the first American pro athlete to follow Colin Kaepernick in 2016 and kneel during the national anthem. Amid backlash, she decided to stand but protest in her own way. She told Yahoo Sports at the time that the anthem, for her, was a "somber moment" for a "peaceful protest" against inequality and injustice in the United States.

She told Yahoo Sports it would "take a lot" for her to sing the anthem again, including criminal justice reform, closing the inequality gap and progress on LGBTQ rights.

"I'll probably never put my hand over my heart. I'll probably never sing the national anthem again," she added at the time.

One thing Rapinoe noticed about soccer matches over the course of about seven years was the diversity of the faces she saw in the crowd.

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Megan Rapinoe takes the field for her final game at Soldier Field on Sept. 24, 2023, in Chicago. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

"It's a really beautiful thing to look out and see little Black girls and little trans