The U.S. Women's National Team is celebrating their World Cup championship with a ticker tape parade in New York City. Throngs of fans packed Manhattan's famed "Canyon of Heroes" to greet the squad led by Megan Rapinoe.
"This group is so resilient, is so tough, has such a sense of humor — is just so bad-ass," Rapinoe said as she praised her teammates.
The parade started at 9:30 a.m. ET, when Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Rose Lavelle and their teammates embarked from Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan. From there, the parade moved north up Broadway to City Hall, where a banner declared, "One nation. One team."
As the athletes and coach Jill Ellis made their way through the confetti, the cheers turned from a rumble into a roar. By the time they slowed to a stop at the corner of Broadway and Barclay St. near City Hall, the mood was one of joyful uproar — pandemonium under sunny skies.
"USA! USA! USA!" the crowd shouted, whenever the cheers let up. And referring to the players' push to be paid on equal terms as the men, they also chanted a rhyming phrase: "Equal pay!"