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Hi, everyone!
Two public service announcements: that’s goalkeeper Becky Spencer at the top today, and if you’re looking for some wholesome Son Heung-min and Harry Kane content, click here and here.
Ramble of the Day
Midway through yesterday’s match, I decided I needed a bit of a palate cleanser and started looking through my list of Hoddle topics. I found a perfect one, quick enough to change my stream of consciousness while requiring very little effort, and actually had a football hook: Jennifer Lopez’s “Let’s Get Loud.”
Catchy and fun in its own right, I recently found out the official music video for the song is Lopez performing the song at the 1999 women’s World Cup final. The minimum requirement a song performed at a World Cup opening or closing ceremony is that it should pair well with people spinning large flags of participating countries, and “Let’s Get Loud” meets that pretty easily. The favor seems to go the other way, too — a packed Rose Bowl is a pretty good venue for a song like “Let’s Get Loud.”
This probably makes Lopez one of the few (if not the only) person to perform at a women’s and men’s World Cup — she was part of the 2014 opening ceremony in Brazil as a guest artist with Claudia Leitte on the official song of the tournament, Pitbull’s “We Are One.” I may look this up at a later date, though I have no idea how readily available this information is (FIFA doesn’t even have a video of a performance of “We Are One” on their official YouTube channel). It also makes me curious to rank “Let’s Get Loud” amongst songs performed at World Cups — I obviously don’t have that ranking, but I can already tell you I’d rank it above “We Are One.”
One more thing on “Let’s Get Loud” — Aria Gerson remembered the performance as part of the legacy of the 1999 women’s World Cup in the U.S. for USA Today, a final that eventual two-time World Cup winner Christen Press attended. I wonder if she remembers it.
tl;dr: I just learned the official music video for Jennifer Lopez’s “Let’s Get Loud” is her performing the song at the 1999 women’s World Cup final!
Stay informed, read this: Lindsay Gibbs and Tori Burstein on the lack of WNBA coverage during the league’s playoffs for Power Plays
Links of the Day
AC Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma and Jens Petter Hauge tested positive for COVID-19.
Manchester City’s Sergio Agüero will likely miss a month after picking up a hamstring injury.
Racing Louisville acquired Yuki Nagasato and Savannah McCaskill in a trade from the Chicago Red Stars.
A longer read: 14-year-old Brittany Waite on a campaign supporting natural Black hairstyles and what it means to her as a young player in England for The Telegraph