"To be honest, I think to be on this team is to understand how to deal with and withstand distraction and pressure of any magnitude, whether it's large or small," Rapinoe told Robin Roberts of "Good Morning America" on Monday. "We're in our little bubble here and have a monumental task at hand. It's hard, to be honest, not to focus on it."
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Last week Rapinoe said she stood by her comments about not wanting to visit the White House following the World Cup, but she accepted an invitation by New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to tour Capitol Hill.
Rapinoe and Kelley O'Hara, who also spoke to "GMA," are both playing in their third World Cup. They'll face off with England on Tuesday in a semi-finals match.
O'Hara reflected on what makes this year special.
"We still have that grittiness and that heart that this team has always had, but we've added a lot of technical and tactical experience," O'Hara said.
Roberts also asked Rapinoe about the arms-wide-open victory pose she used after her second goal during Friday's game against France, which became a meme.
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Rapinoe explained that she thinks of the soccer field as a sort of stage.
"I'm looking at myself as a performer and trying to entertain," she said. "It's kind of a funny playful pose, and we're always looking for good celebrations so this one's stuck a little bit more than the other ones."
Rapinoe encouraged all the fans back in the U.S. to keep up the support.
"We're definitely feeling the love," she said. "Obviously we have a lot of our friends and family here, but we have so many people back home, and the country at large. We're feeling that love, so keep it up. We love that."
And the love extends to helping their fans stay out of hot water at work. Ahead of their quarter-final match against France Friday, they promised to write you a totally legit excuse for ditching out on work to cheer them on.
Kelley O'Hara and Allie Long begged bosses to let workers take a sick day, posted to the team's Instagram account.
"We kindly ask that you give every employee the day so that they can eat a hearty lunch, get emotionally ready, bust out all their USA gear, and mentally prep for what will be an EPIC GAME!"
Though the team said they're working on another video that they hope will help employees who are having trouble getting their bosses to let them watch the game, Rapinoe had some advice for employees in that situation.
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"I would say to all those employees, just, 'Sorry, not sorry. I ain't coming to work,'" she said.
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