They should just shut up and play soccer.

What are they complaining about?

They are so unlikable. I hope they lose.

That was some of the chatter going around about the United States women's soccer team during its run to a second consecutive World Cup title and fourth overall.

The only thing more predictable than the U.S. win was the misogyny the team faced leading up to it.

Because they had the gall to stand up for what they believed in.

Because they had the nerve to celebrate goals like football players celebrate touchdowns in the NFL.

Because they were vocal about being treated equally and fairly when they were at times grossly underpaid and grossly undervalued.

Megan Rapinoe, the pink-haired unquestioned leader of the U.S. women's team, was the lightning rod for the ire and controversies.

Put aside her political statements, which were well-documented and endlessly debated, she has been one of the leading proponents of equal pay for women's soccer players.

Each player on the winning men's World Cup team made $420,000. The United States women earned $110,000 each for winning the women's World Cup this year.

While that looks like a huge pay gap, it is a bit misleading.

The prize pool for the men's World Cup was roughly $400 million while the prize pool for the women was just $30 million.

Quick math actually suggests the women earned a much higher percentage of the prize money than the men.

That makes the whole equal-pay issue a bit murky.

What isn't murky is the discrepancy outside of the World Cup.

The collective bargaining agreement is inherently unfair to the women's game as opposed to the men.

The U.S. women have actually brought in more revenue than the men over the past several years. Part of that, of course, has to do with the success they have had, which has been far greater than the men.

The men lost to Trinidad and Tobago in the World Cup last year. Remember that?

Perhaps the silliest criticism of the women's team was its penchant for bold celebration.

Again, Rapinoe was caught up in that furor.

So was Alex Morgan, who mimed sipping tea after a goal against England.

It was the tea-sip heard around the world, it seemed.

Morgan was knocked for the celebration.

It was incredibly hypocritical given some of the outlandish celebrations in other sports and the NFL especially.

It's the World Cup. If they can't celebrate during the World Cup, when can they celebrate?

It's not like she made an obscene gesture (see Lynch, Marshawn) or pretended to urinate on the goalpost (see Beckham, Odell) or fake moon the crowd (see Moss, Randy).

Time and time again the women shined despite the scrutiny.

Has any team risen to this kind of kick-butt level as these women? They put on a clinic on not caring what anyone said or what anyone thought of them.

And has anyone performed better under immense pressure than Rapinoe?

There were people openly rooting for her and her team to fail.

She went out and dominated anyway.

So did the team.

They should be celebrated, not shunned.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.