Alex Morgan slams critics after her ‘tea-sipping’ goal celebration against England at Women’s World Cup: ‘You see men celebrating all around the world, grabbing their sacks’
- Alex Morgan drew criticism following her goal celebration against England
- She sipped on imaginary tea after scoring the winner in the 2-1 victory for the US
- But she has laughed off critics, claiming there are double standards for females
Alex Morgan has slammed her critics following her ‘tea-sipping’ celebration against England in the Women’s World Cup semi-final.
Morgan scored the winner in Lyon as the United States narrowly overcame the Lionesses 2-1 but her celebration drew plenty of criticism back in England.
But she has hit back at those slamming her, questioning why it has caused such a storm when compared to men ‘grabbing their sacks’ in major tournaments.
Alex Morgan drew criticism following her ‘tea-sipping’ celebration against England
Diego Simeone produced this celebration against Juventus in the Champions League
Cristiano Ronaldo got his revenge on Simeone by copying his celebration vs Atletico Madrid
The United States star hit back at critics following her goal celebration at the World Cup
Morgan appeared to be referring to both Diego Simeone and Cristiano Ronaldo, with the latter imitating the manager’s celebration as he got revenge in the Champions League with Juventus against Atletico Madrid.
Morgan said: ‘My celebration was actually more about, “That’s the tea”, which is telling a story, spreading news.
‘Sophie Turner does it quite often, she’s one of my favourite actresses, so it wasn’t a hit to England in any way.
She celebrated with the gesture after scoring the United States’ second goal on Tuesday
‘I feel that there is some sort of double standard for females in sports to feel like we have to be humble in our successes and have to celebrate, but not too much, and have to do something but it always has to be in a limited fashion.
‘You see men celebrating all around the world in big tournaments, grabbing their sacks or whatever it is, and when I look at sipping a cup of tea, I’m a little taken aback.
‘You have to laugh about it to see all of the criticism.’
England and Juventus forward Lianne Sanderson called the celebration ‘distasteful’ shortly after the game.
Morgan running away after heading the ball into the back of the England net on Tuesday
Sanderson, working as a pundit on beIN Sports, said: ‘I expected Alex to grab a goal but I’m not that happy with that celebration.
‘You can celebrate how you want, but for me that is a bit distasteful, and I don’t think she needs to do that.
‘I’m a big believer in the American’s and how they celebrate but for me this was a little bit disrespectful.
‘For me, I could be wrong, but it’s based upon playing against England, we love our tea in England, I’m not a tea drinker but that’s what we’re connected with so I think it’s a little bit distasteful.’
Morgan leapt highest as a cross came into the England box and headed the ball into the net
There had been accusations of ‘arrogance’ levelled towards the United States generally ahead of the game.
MailOnline columnist Piers Morgan slammed the celebration on Twitter after the game, and wrote: ‘It’s bordering on a declaration of war.’
He added that ‘that is NOT how you sip tea. Dope, not tea.’
Piers continued on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, saying: ‘No one in Britain drinks with the pinky out like that.
‘The sneering nature of using our great national past time of tea drinking to hurl at us in our moment of defeat, I was willing us to beat them so we could then mimic them eating Big Macs and large fries.’
Morgan commented on Friday afternoon: ‘You have to laugh about it to see all of the criticism’