Jane Fonda had never attended a soccer game or a women’s sports game before Sunday. But thanks to the electric atmosphere at Angel City FC’s match against OL Reign, count the 85-year-old actress and activist as a fan.
“It was so exciting; I want to make it a regular thing,” she wrote in a blog post after attending Sunday’s match at BMO Stadium.
In particular, the match gave Fonda the opportunity to watch U.S. women’s national team and OL Reign legend Megan Rapinoe play her final match in Los Angeles. The 38-year-old forward is set to retire at the end of the 2023 NWSL season, and she will make her final USWNT appearance in September at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
“I admire her profoundly on many levels,” Fonda wrote of Rapinoe, who not only ranks in the top 10 in goals and assists in USWNT history but helped lead the charge for equal pay for the women’s team.
Despite her admiration for Rapinoe, though, Fonda was pulling for her home team in Angel City — which, as she acknowledged, “which happens to be owned by a number of my friends including Natalie Portman, Cindy Holland and Eva Longoria.” In the end, she got the best of both worlds, as Angel City took a 2-1 victory but Rapinoe scored the lone goal for OL Reign on a penalty kick.Glennon Doyle, author and wife of USWNT legend Abby Wambach, posted her excitement over meeting Fonda at the match.
“Angel City fans, does anyone have a pic of Jane Fonda kissing me on the Jumbotron tonight?” Doyle wrote. “I need to make it my family Christmas card this year. Thanks and love you. Also that happened, right?”
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