Megan Rapinoe once called Sarah Bouhaddi 'overrated.' Now the French goalie is her newest teammate.
- Megan Rapinoe called French goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi "overrated" during an Instagram live series.
- The USWNT star famously scored twice on Bouhaddi during their 2019 World Cup semi-final match.
- The keeper is now officially joining Rapinoe's NWSL club, OL Reign.
Things are about to get pretty awkward in the OL Reign locker room.
Two Olympique Lyonnais superstars - goalkeeper Sara Bouhaddi and midfielder Dzsenifer Marozsan - have signed with the National Women's Soccer League club on loan for the 2021 season.
The only problem? US Women's National Team and Reign superstar Megan Rapinoe once called Bouhaddi "overrated."
During a booze-fueled episode of her Instagram live series, "A Touch More," the pink-haired striker said The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper of 2020 is "too much of a liability."
"Controversial - I think the goalkeeper at Lyon and for France is overrated," Rapinoe said of Bouhaddi in May 2020. "She's really good at a lot of things, but she comes flailing. Sorry, Saha."
"I played with her," she added as an aside to her fiancée, WNBA legend Sue Bird. "She comes flailing for s--- and is too wild. Too much of a liability."
Rapinoe's comments only added insult to injury after she torched Bouhaddi during their 2019 World Cup semifinal bout. En route to winning the tournament's Golden Ball and Golden Boot awards, Rapinoe scored both goals for the USWNT in their 2-1 victory over the hometown French squad.
Bouhaddi was between the pipes for each finish.
Still, adding Bouhaddi onto the roster undoubtedly bolsters OL Reign's already competitive squad. Both she and Marozsan have long been rumored to be heading stateside and were both all but certainly joining the Utah Royals before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted everyone's plans.
The news also comes after Olympique Lyonnais President Jean-Michel Aulas announced in late January that two stars from the powerhouse European club - which has won the Champions League on the women's side in each of the past five seasons - were slated to join their NWSL counterpart in 2021. The OL Group gained majority ownership of Reign in late 2019, which has streamlined the transition overseas for athletes on both sides of the Atlantic.
Aulas teased at the time that Bouhaddi, Marozsán, and defender Wendie Renard - three members of Insider's list of the 50 best soccer players in the world - were eligible to make the move stateside to join OL Reign.
The world-class netminder has long been vocal about her interest in playing overseas, and now, her chance has finally arrived.
"Since I was a little child, I have watched the US national team," Bouhaddi said in OL Reign's release. "They are way ahead of what is happening in Europe. The American league and the fans have made me dream about playing in the US, but I didn't come just to have a dream - I came to learn, to discover a new experience, and above all, to win as many matches as possible and win the championship."
Bouhaddi and Marozsán stars will not compete in the NWSL until after their European season with Lyon ends. But Rapinoe undoubtedly has some explaining to do now that Bouhaddi has officially wound up as one of the two players suiting up for OL Reign beginning in June.