It was the 2011 World Cup. The US Women’s National Team had their eyes on what could potentially be their third World Cup title. Before one of the games, Lauren Cheney Holiday and Megan Rapinoe went to a meeting room. Pinoe was the older of the two and had more experience. So it was natural for her to start. But while watching the first World Cup game together, on the screen both came across a weird ESPN news ticker!

Guess what the news ticker read? “Lauren Cheney is starting for Megan Rapinoe.” Only true, ardent fans would’ve caught what was off about that line. For those unaware, during their playing days, the two actually occupied completely different positions on the pitch. Weird, right? That’s exactly how both of them reacted at the time — instantly saying, “What?” — and adding that Lauren doesn’t even play on the left side of the field.

Feeling a bit intimidated, the Indianapolis, Indiana native turned to Pinoe and said, “Meg, I can’t play left mid.” Now, at this point, the situation could’ve gone one of two ways: either the former Olympique Lyonnais Féminin forward could have agreed and questioned why she wasn’t starting in her natural spot, or she could’ve just let awkward silence prevail. But you won’t believe what Megan actually said — something that even left Lauren completely star-struck. 

The 2019 FIFA Women’s Ballon d’Or winner replied, “I don’t know if you should be playing left mid, but you should be on the field.”

Holiday revealed this little gem quite recently during her lengthy chat on a rather unique episode of the A Touch More podcast, co-hosted by Rapinoe herself alongside her partner Sue Bird — an episode that was actually recorded live at MIT’s annual Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.

Further continuing with the story with everyone in the audience, the UCLA Bruins star added, “I was like, ‘Oh damn. She believes in me.’ She could be like, ‘Screw you, why are you starting over me?’ To be fair Meg should have been starting also,” insisted the former Kansas City versatile. Hilariously, Pinoe agreed to her former USWNT teammate during the live conference by proudly saying, “That’s right,” leaving the entire MIT audience in splits.

Yet, Rapinoe did what’s typically a testament to her nature both on and off the pitch. Further continuing on what Megan said, Lauren added, “She was like, ‘This is what you need to focus on; this is your strength, this is what you do. You got this, you’re going to be fine.’ I think that was my favorite part of 2011.”

Although Rapinoe was shell-shocked on learning that Holiday would be starting the game ahead of her, the response Lauren received from her teammate was a supportive and sincere: “No, you got it.”

The funny part is, while Rapinoe offered her full support to Holiday, she later admitted she was still quite pissed with the situation. But, as fate would have it, everything worked out in the end, with both players eventually making the starting lineup in their respective positions.

Yet the real talking point was Rapinoe’s selflessness — putting her teammate’s moment above her own frustrations, a gesture that left a lasting impression on Holiday. Reflecting on it, Cheney later admitted, “That is what women’s sport should be about.”

While the story itself is heartwarming, the harsh reality was that the U.S. team would go on to suffer one of the most heartbreaking losses that year — an outcome Lauren never saw coming.

Lauren Holiday would have loved to lift the 2011 World Cup with Megan Rapinoe!

During a similar conference, host Sue Bird touched on the significance of winning a prestigious tournament like the World Cup. She asked Holiday whether the 2x gold Olympic medalist would participate in three World Cups and win all three or participate in five but only win three. Though the first option sounded pretty good to her, Lauren surprisingly chose the latter option. The reason, you ask? Well, the 2011 heartbreak summed it up perfectly.

Interestingly, Holiday never really imagined her nation would face such a defeat. She recalled that everyone in the squad had a really good feeling about lifting the trophy, insisting everything was aligning for them perfectly. Defeating Brazil in the quarter-finals, followed by a strong semifinal win over France, only made the American ladies think, “This is our tournament; this is our game.”

The result? A 2-2 draw with Japan, ultimately leading in 3-1 penalty shootout loss. Even though Lauren described it as a “brutal” loss and felt like things were “written in the stars,” she still managed to take away a positive lesson from it, saying, “I learned more in that loss than I ever learned in a win. I forgot about the lessons.”

Sure, both Lauren Holiday and Megan Rapinoe lost their chance to win the 2011 World Cup together. But in 2015, it felt like God finally answered their prayers, as they helped their nation lift its third emphatic title. Funny how things work out, isn’t it?