Beating the Brits at their own beloved game is one thing, but bulldozing a team made up entirely of people of color — who have far less cultural and economic power than ours does — feels, I’ve got to say, rather different.
But what, then, would you have the USWNT do? Go easy on the Thai team? No. It's insulting for athletes to "take it easy" on a lesser team. Thailand should be so proud that they qualified this year, and now have a taste for what it takes to win the whole thing. A good athlete isn't discouraged by a defeat like that, they're angry. They're pumped up. They go home and practice until their feet are bruised.
It's a double-standard to criticize the USWNT for crushing Thailand and for celebrating outwardly for it, when the men's teams do that all the time.