But to put blame on the United States ignores two obvious points. First, the Americans didn’t make the rules under which the number of goals scored is part of deciding the outcome of the tournament. Goal differential counts. The U.S. women want to win its group. Unlike just about any other sport, the Americans have a vested interest in running up the score.

And second, it isn’t the United States’ fault it can’t clear its bench. It is allowed three subs. It used three subs.

…But beyond that, why is it the obligation of the U.S. team to act in the interest of creating a picture of a falsely level playing field? Why shouldn’t FIFA or the Asian Confederation get blamed for not doing more to promote the women’s game in places where it lags behind?

Are we really going to blame players for celebrating a goal, in many cases in their first World Cup, instead of looking at the underlying reasons for the disparity in the first place?

Women’s World Cup 2019 – Are we really going to blame USWNT players for scoring, celebrating goals?

To answer the question posed in the headline:

As long as it is a team composed of women? Apparently yes, we are.