PASADENA, Calif. — The 23 members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team and their outgoing coach regrouped here for the start of a victory tour celebrating the World Cup championship won four weekends ago in France.
Their mission, however, was always about more than winning games and lifting trophies.
It was about leveling the financial playing field with the less successful men’s program and leading the global campaign for equality in a sport historically favoring men.
So as the Americans prepared to play Ireland on Saturday at the Rose Bowl, off-field issues overshadowed on-field concerns associated with the first of five celebratory friendlies and renewed attention on the players’ legal challenges to the U.