Liberty unified by World Cup — even as rooting interests differ
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SAN FRANCISCO — A recent Liberty bus ride was interrupted by jubilation.
The team’s French trio of Marine Johannès, Pauline Astier and Marine Fauthoux all were glued to their phone screens before erupting in joyful screams because their nation scored a goal during FIFA World Cup group play.
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“It’s been really cool to see,” Sabrina Ionescu said as she recalled her teammates celebrating.
The men’s World Cup is one of those global sporting events that captures fan attention for more than a month.
It takes center stage every four years, and this year’s competition is even more prominent because it’s the first time the World Cup is being played on U.S. soil since 1994.
And World Cup fever has infiltrated the Liberty’s locker room.
It has become a regular topic of conversation, regardless of whether the players are soccer fans.
At least one bet has been made, and two players said they’re reserving trash talk until the later stages of the tournament.
The Liberty have one of the most diverse locker rooms in the WNBA, with international players hailing from France, Spain, Germany and Australia — all of which qualified for this year’s World Cup.
Johannès and Astier are among those following the World Cup as closely as they can.
Johannès is a huge fan of French soccer star Kylian Mbappé and as a teenager attended the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The Liberty are in the midst of their season, playing games almost every other day.
It feels almost like a tease that Johannès is playing basketball in cities hosting World Cup matches but is unable to attend because of scheduling conflicts.
“It’s all cool now,” Johannès said in advance of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup final scheduled for Tuesday at Barclays Center. “We’re all sad because we can’t go to a French game now because we are on the road trip, so a little disappointed, but we are going to watch it.”
Satou Sabally hasn’t followed the World Cup as closely as in past years because she has been focused on getting acquainted with her new team.
Of course, Sabally said she’s joining Leonie Fiebich in rooting for their native Germany.
“When the games are on and someone watches it, obviously, we talk about it,” Sabally said. “I also like the French national team, so they’ve been having good games, and then obviously when [Argentina star Lionel Messi has a great game, you talk about the great players and just the memorable moments in sports. I think soccer is just such a cool world sport, so obviously it also captivates the locker room.”
Spanish forward Raquel Carrera is a year-round soccer fan.
She follows Spain’s La Liga closely and identifies as a fan of Real Madrid.
Being a part of a team with so many different rooting interests has made enjoying this year’s World Cup unique, Carrera said.
“We know that we have a lot of different countries to represent in the World Cup,” Carrera said. “We have a lot of countries that are good in soccer; I think Spain is one of the best ones. So I always say that, but I’m always a big fan of Argentina, too.”
Carrera said she hasn’t made any bets during the group phase, but that may change with the knockout Round of 32 underway.
Australian forward Rebecca Allen did make a bet with one of her American teammates when her country played the U.S. earlier this month.
The U.S. won 2-0, so Allen owed coffee to a teammate, though she declined to say who.
“I was told not to throw them under the bus,” Allen said. “The Aussies, we’re typically not — that’s not our first sport, do you know what I mean? That’s not the one that we all really get behind, but it’s sort of cool. It’s cool being a major sporting city to host something like that.”