TOLEDO, Ohio – Few drivers come into the ARCA Menards Series making their their start and are considered one of the favorites to win.

That’s exactly the case for Logan Seavey as he returns to the Illinois State Fairgrounds in the Allen Crowe 100 presented by Lucas Oil on Aug. 18.

Seavey is the defending USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series champion, the 2017 Lucas Oil POWRi National Midget League champion and last year’s ARCA winner on dirt at DuQuoin.

In his series debut at Springfield last year, Seavey qualified fourth and had a steady day, crossing the line third behind winner – and Venturini Motorsports teammate – Christian Eckes and eventual series champion Sheldon Creed. The tables were turned at DuQuoin, where he again qualified fourth, but grabbed the lead with 35 laps to go and drove to a three-second victory over Will Kimmel. That margin belies the fact that the race finished with a short dash to the checkered flag.

With all of that success already on his resume, Seavey is ready to write a new chapter at Springfield.

“Coming off our success last year at these races, I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to run the dirt races again this year,” Seavey said. “Venturini brings the best cars in the field and with my experience from last year’s races, I’m confident we will have good runs at both tracks.”

Despite not having a lot of stock car experience, Seavey’s extensive dirt track background should give him a distinct advantage over most of the ARCA regulars who come from a pavement racing background. Seavey will be able to anticipate track conditions throughout the race, something that anyone hoping to win will have to do well throughout the day. That includes practice and qualifying, not just the 100-mile main event.

“Dirt tracks change drastically throughout an event so having so much experience will definitely help me as the track changes from practice to qualifying, and throughout the 100-lap race,” he said. “Knowing what to look for on the racing surface and what is coming gives me an edge over most of the field.”

While he is not in the hunt for the series overall championship, his team is chasing the owner’s title. Team owner Billy Venturini currently has a 170-point lead over second-place Chad Bryant’s No. 22 team headed into Springfield.

Venturini’s other two drivers, Michael Self and Eckes, are currently battling for the driver’s championship but based on five wins throughout the season with Harrison Burton and Chandler Smith, Seavey’s No. 20 team is on top of the owner’s standings. Not only is it his job to come out and race for the win it’s his job to collect as many points as possible to maintain that owner’s points lead with just five races remaining.

“Even though there is a points battle going on, my goal is always the same, to win,” he said. “The best way to stay in the points lead is to win. That’s what the 20 team has been doing all season and my goal is to keep that momentum going.”

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – The NASCAR Hall of Fame will serve as the entitlement sponsor for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race on Oct. 26 at Martinsville Speedway.

“So many of the historic moments we celebrate at the NASCAR Hall of Fame took place at Martinsville Speedway,” said Winston Kelley, executive director of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “It is an honor for us to be the entitlement sponsor for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race taking place at NASCAR’s oldest active track on the Cup Series schedule. Sponsoring the truck series is also a perfect reminder that the NASCAR Hall of Fame celebrates the history and heritage of all NASCAR series.”

The NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 will be the second race in the NASCAR Playoffs’ round of six for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, with six drivers still in championship contention coming into the historic half-mile oval.

Following the Martinsville weekend, the Truck Series will race at ISM Raceway in Phoenix. Post-Phoenix, the list of contenders will be reduced to an elite four, going into the season finale on Nov. 15 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“Having the NASCAR Hall of Fame as entitlement sponsor for the Gander Trucks is a perfect fit,” said Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell. “The hall honors our sport’s history; Martinsville Speedway embodies that history.”

The NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 will preface the Oct. 27 First Data 500 at Martinsville, the first of three round of eight playoff races for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

“This is about as good as a short-track doubleheader weekend gets,” Campbell said. “The Gander Trucks have been coming to our race track since 1995. Through the years at Martinsville, that series has provided some of the very best racing you will see, anywhere. The NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 is certain to continue that tradition.”

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Matt DiBenedetto has confirmed he will not return to Leavine Family Racing next season.

DiBenedetto, who took over driving duties of the No. 95 entry for the team this season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, confirmed the news via a Twitter post on Thursday morning.

“I got the devastating news that I will not be able to return to Leavine Family Racing next season,” DiBenedetto said in his statement. “I can’t express how thankful I am for Bob (Leavine), Sharon, Matt Diliberto and everyone at LFR and Toyota for allowing me to do exactly what I set out to do, which was showcase my talent.

“It has been exciting for us as a team to get top-fives, top-10s and lead the most laps in the Daytona 500.”

pic.twitter.com/rTkPcQoqCk

— Matt DiBenedetto (@mattdracing) August 15, 2019

This is DeBenedetto’s fifth full season at NASCAR’s top level. He previously drove for BK Racing and Go Fas Racing, earning four top-10 finishes between 2015 and 2018.

DiBenedetto joined Leavine Family Racing this year and has put together the best season of his career. In 23 starts this year he has earned two top-five and four top-10 finishes. He also led 49 laps in the Daytona 500, more than anyone else.

Leavine Family Racing has not confirmed who will replace DiBenedetto in the No. 95 Toyota next season, though reports indicate it is likely to be NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor Christopher Bell.

United States women's national team co-captain Megan Rapinoe says players have not closed the door on resolving their equal pay dispute with U.S. Soccer out of court, but any conversations with the federation must begin with women's players receiving equal pay to their male counterparts.

Rapinoe and teammate Christen Press appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" and NBC's "Today" on Thursday, a day after mediation between the U.S. Soccer Federation and the 28 members of the women's team who filed a gender discrimination suit in March reached an impasse. Both sides issued strongly worded statements of frustration following the breakdown.

"We're always open to hearing that conversation if they're ready to have it," Rapinoe said on NBC. "That's the only federation we can play for. We're the only team that they have. ... So we're sort of tethered together in that way. But at any point if they want to have a serious conversation and are willing to not only talk about paying us equally and valuing us in that way, but actually doing it and showing us that they'll do it, our ears are always open.

"I don't think anybody wants to go to litigation. But with that said, we're very confident in our case."

A letter dated Aug. 12 -- signed by all 28 players involved in the lawsuit and sent to U.S. Soccer officials as mediation began -- outlined optimism for a resolution, but Press said Thursday that the two sides never progressed past the primary philosophical difference.

"I think, unfortunately, it was just the concept of paying us equally," Press said of where mediation broke down. "We never even got past that. We were very hopeful in our discussions with them that they were going to take our proposals and our positions seriously, which is simply that every game that we play, we get compensated the same way a man would for playing or winning that game. And it broke down right there."

Rapinoe and Press reiterated throughout their appearances on the morning television shows that players seek full equality of pay.

"When we play a game and we win that game -- or we tie that game or we lose that game -- that we should be paid the same as our male counterparts," Rapinoe said on NBC. "I don't think that that's an unrealistic or unreasonable ask to have equality."

Most recently in an open letter from president Carlos Cordeiro released on July 29, U.S. Soccer has long used the word "fairly" rather than "equally" as the baseline of its position on pay.

Complicating the issue is that the men's and women's teams operate with separate collective bargaining agreements and separate pay structures. Rapinoe acknowledged Thursday the "realities are different" for the two teams, but she insisted there is little flexibility.

"This isn't bargaining," Rapinoe said.

Both sides voiced frustration at Wednesday's impasse.

"We always know there is more we can do," U.S. Soccer said in its statement after mediation broke down. "We value our players and have continually shown that, by providing them with compensation and support that exceeds any other women's team in the world."

No new mediation is currently scheduled to prevent the dispute from reaching a federal court. The dispute is therefore unlikely to be resolved before the U.S. begins preparations for the 2020 Olympics.

U.S. Soccer named former World Cup winner Kate Markgraf as its first general manager for the women's national team. Markgraf will run the search for a coach to replace Jill Ellis, who will step down at the conclusion of the team's current Victory Tour. The new coach will then have to prepare the team for Olympic qualifying, likely in January or February of next year.

Press offered no hint Thursday that players would look to use Olympic participation as leverage and said past results -- with the World Cup the most recent example -- demonstrated their ability to separate off-field issues from on-field performance.

"I think that we've shown that we're able to do a lot of work off the field and still have successful results," Press said. "This has been going on -- this fight actually has been going on forever. I think being part of being on the women's national team means that you're taking part in this torch-carrying for women. And we take a lot of pride in that, and it gives us a great purpose."

Faith begins when reason ends. You get to the outer limits of your rational tether and then you take that big leap. It's not necessarily a bad thing: Belief is central to sports. History is filled with stories of those who believed in themselves, thereby achieving great things. There's also a rich trove of "outside the box" thinkers who are rewarded when they defy conventional wisdom and mainstream opinion to do things differently, whether in terms of tactical innovation or recruitment approach.

Then again, relying on faith more than reason can also amount to a whole lot of smoke and mirrors. And Manchester United's summer transfer campaign requires a leap of faith, because reason and evidence won't get you far enough. Certainly not if you want to divine some kind of path forward in the medium term.

But first, let's deal with the aspects of United's summer that were not leaps of faith.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka may have just one Premier League season as a starter under his belt, but he has shown more than enough in the past year to suggest he belongs at this level. Add the fact that he's 21, which means you'll either amortize the fee over a decade of service or, if he comes up short, still get a fair chunk of your money back thanks to the Premier League midtier's insatiable hunger for competent English footballers.

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Extending Marcus Rashford's contract also falls into the no-brainer category. It's true that a reported £200,000 a week is a hefty pay package, but a striker of comparable quality and age (21) probably would have cost close to that in wages, plus a massive transfer fee. What's more, he's Mancunian, he's likeable, he's a good professional and he's homegrown, all of which tick marketing and "club values" boxes as well.

Harry Maguire, at £80 million, is a bit more of a stretch but still no more than a calculated risk for a club of Manchester United's financial might. There's enough of a body of work there to suggest that, at worst, he'll be an upgrade over the guys he's replacing. He turns 27 this season, so you probably won't get much resale but at best, he'll be one of the top central defenders in the league for six or so years.

Move along the reason-to-faith continuum and the needle moves a little further into the "faith" category.

Daniel James has excited many and he too seems like a thoroughly likable guy. At £15 million (plus potential bonuses), he wasn't overly expensive to poach from Swansea, either. But he turns 22 in November and made his league debut only a year ago. Compare him to another Welsh winger, Liverpool's Ben Woodburn, and you'll note that he has four international caps to Woodburn's 10. Note that Woodburn is nearly two years younger and plays his league football in League One this season.

Maybe the Welsh FA are fools. Maybe James is a late bloomer. Maybe coaches and scouts just missed out on him. Maybe United spotted something beyond his absurdly good goal that went viral last year, but there's no denying that it's rare for players at that fee and with that résumé to have a lasting impact at Old Trafford. Again, it takes a leap of faith, in both James and United's scouting, that he won't turn into the Welsh David Bellion.

David De Gea's new contract -- agreed to but apparently not yet signed -- is a leap of faith either way. If the club signs off on paying him £110 million over the next six years, the leap of faith is that they believe the real De Gea is the one from two years ago, not the one from last season (who was humdrum, by his standards). Any way you slice it, that's an enormous wage, particularly since it's not as if Europe's other big boys were beating a path to his door: most are already well-served between the sticks.

(Of course, if there's a more sinister reason why he has reportedly yet to sign, like holding out for even more money or running down his contract, then that's even more worrying, though truth be told, the mishandling of De Gea's deal in letting it go this far predates the summer.)

Cycle backward and there was the appointment of the manager.

As an interim boss to muck out Jose Mourinho's mess, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was just fine. But giving him a permanent deal (three years, no less) in April when they could have spent another two months evaluating him (and deciding if there were better options out there) was another massive leap of faith.

How about the striking department and the decision to let Romelu Lukaku go without replacing him, and to do it at the very end of the English transfer window? United have five forwards on their books, which sounds ample until you remember that one of them (Rashford) has never started more than 36 games in all competitions or scored more than 13 goals. Another (Anthony Martial) does double duty as a winger and has started fewer than half of United's league games over the past three seasons. Then there's Alexis Sanchez, who is coming off a Copa America, scored only twice in all competitions last year and has generally been a bust since moving to Old Trafford.

United's other two forward options, Tahith Chong and Mason Greenwood, are 19 and 17 respectively and had eight appearances, one start and no goals between them heading into this season.

There are many leaps of faith in there. You need to believe that Rashford and/or Martial can double their productivity, just like that. You need to be confident that Sanchez can regain his mojo (a seriously long shot), and you need to believe that Greenwood and/or Chong can step up.

(Greenwood, especially, is a highly rated prospect but he turns only 18 this season. Reason and history suggests 18-year-olds don't generally contribute greatly even when we're talking GOAT candidates. Lionel Messi had 25 appearances and eight goals the year he turned 18. Cristiano Ronaldo clocked in at 31 and five. Sure, there are players who blossomed at a tender age -- Michael Owen, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar -- but they're the exception. Are you sure you want to take that leap of faith with Greenwood?

Maybe the biggest leap of faith of all is in midfield.

Compared to a year ago, United lost Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera this summer and neither was replaced. Instead, your leap of faith is that Scott McTominay -- who is 22 and started only nine league games last season on a pretty average team by United standards -- will blossom or, if that doesn't happen, that 31-year-old Nemanja Matic, whose output declined sharply last season, will turn back the clock. Or that Fred, who struggled in his first season at Old Trafford and started only 10 of 29 games with Solskjaer in charge, will go back to being the player he was in Ukraine. Or that Andreas Pereira, now in his sixth season at the club (he has seven league starts to show for it) will suddenly, at 23, go to the next level.

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(You'll note at this point that I haven't mentioned the club's most expensive player, one Paul Pogba. I have faith, as does the club, that he won't leave between now and the end of the Spanish transfer window and that he'll have a strong, productive season. Many do not.)

There's nothing wrong with faith. It comes down to trust. The people making the decisions at the club, from Ed Woodward to Solskjaer to assistant coach Mike Phelan, to the gaggle of scouts and coaches on the payroll, see these guys every day and do this job for a living. If you trust them enough to take that leap of faith, then great. Maybe they'll be vindicated.

But when it comes to reason, that's another matter. Reason, when you have the sort of resources United have, would have suggested a different path, one with fewer leaps of faith and a couple more reasonable certainties. Provided, of course, the conspiracy theories being peddled in the darkest corners of the internet aren't true and Man United's goal is to genuinely restore the club to a status befitting its history and achievements over most of the past three decades and not simply to milk it further commercially while making the balance sheet look better in case a prospective buyer turns up.

Either way, it could be a long season at Old Trafford.

St Lucia Zouks will make a return to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), replacing St Lucia Stars for the upcoming season.

Zouks was the name of the original franchise from St Lucia when the league was launched in 2013. In 2016, Stars replaced Zouks, but last week the CPL terminated its participation agreement with Royal Sports Club, LLC, the entity that operates the St Lucia franchise.

CPL didn't elaborate on the reasons behind Stars' termination, but said it was "in the process of establishing and operating a new franchise to be based in St Lucia" for the upcoming season, which begins on September 4.

Jay Pandya, the chief executive and owner of Royal Sports Club, LLC, termed the CPL decision "an attempt to bully us", one which, he said, the franchise would fight legally. "CPL Limited has absolutely no basis, legal or otherwise, to terminate our contractual rights to operate St Lucia Stars," Pandya told ESPNcricinfo. "We vehemently dispute CPL's decision and will use all means necessary to vindicate our rights. This is an attempt to bully us, plain and simple. We are confident in our position and look forward to securing justice against CPL's blatantly illegal act in the appropriate court of law."

More to follow...

Enoch Nkwe, South Africa's interim team director, has long been inspired by the feats of Pep Guardiola, the former Spanish football international who famously coached Barcelona to success while still in his 30s. Nkwe is 36, slightly younger than Guardiola was when he took charge at Barcelona, and is faced with what is as daunting a prospect as winning La Liga: a tour of India.

"I understand that it's going to be a big challenge, but I strongly believe that we can really make an immediate impact," Nkwe said at the first official press conference of his (albeit temporary) appointment. "And if it doesn't happen, it's not going to be the end of the world. There's always a big picture to everything."

Given South Africa's recent football-style restructuring of the national men's side, the comparison between Nkwe and Guardiola is particularly apt. "He's on another level," Nkwe said of Guardiola. "I've followed his work over the last couple of years. I just enjoy how he really backs his philosophy, his values as a person as a coach, and tries to set new boundaries and break records. That really encourages me, and when I see opportunities like this, it really excites me.

"There's a lot of things you can always learn from different sporting codes. Just watching his growth over the years, having started coaching one of the biggest clubs in the world at the age of 37, it really did motivate me that, if he can do it, it is possible.

"More details will come out in the near future with regards to what the big picture is going to be, so that everyone can start understanding what the actual plan is going to be post-cricket World Cup" Enoch Nkwe

"Certain things could take a while, and I don't know how successful we can be in a short period of time, but I believe that we can make a quick turnaround. I strongly believe that we have the players to. But we need to identify the areas that held back the team not to perform to their full potential, and get them to perform as soon as possible."

Time is not something that Nkwe has a lot of right now. In exactly one month, South Africa will play the first match of a tour of India that includes three T20Is and three Tests. He will have to hit the ground running, but he has at least worked with several of the current South Africa players in different circumstances, coaching Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen at the Lions, Kagiso Rabada and Quinton de Kock at the Under-19 level, and Dean Elgar with South Africa A.

The interim nature of his role - and indeed, the short-term nature of many roles in CSA's set-up at the moment - won't make things any easier for him. There seems to be a lot of uncertainty in South African cricket at the moment, which is perhaps inevitable in times of flux, but the large-scale reshuffles have only added to the confusion over where, exactly, South African cricket is headed. Even team selection was unclear - until today.

"I'm also the interim convener of selection," said CSA's acting director of cricket, Corrie van Zyl, on Thursday, by way of an explanation as to who would be selecting playing XIs on the India tour. "So I'm acting and interim. And then we have the interim team director as an interim selector. And then we also have the captain, who is not interim, as a selector. So that is currently the selection panel."

Nkwe is at least positive about the challenge ahead and seems to have an idea about the future of South African cricket - even if he's not giving away the details just yet. "Yes [the tour] is going to be a tough one, but there is a big picture," he said. "More details will come out in the near future with regards to what the big picture is going to be, so that everyone can start understanding what the actual plan is going to be post-cricket World Cup. From my side, it's very exciting, and I'm looking forward to this trip."

Distancing himself from previous coach Ottis Gibson's focus on fast bowling, Nkwe drew attention to his playing experience as an allrounder in domestic franchise cricket, saying, "Talking from my experience, as a professional cricketer I was an allrounder, so I'm always open to all departments. That's how I've been leading sides over the years. Really understanding different departments of a team."

But like Gibson, Nkwe's mandate is simple: win. "The mandate for the national team and Enoch as team director is obviously to win and be successful in India," van Zyl said. "Very important is that the Test series is the start, for us, of the Test championship, so the mandate can't be different than getting off to a good start. The appointment of Enoch as interim team director is because CSA believes that he has got the characteristics that can do exactly that."

Nkwe certainly got the Lions to click quickly, guiding them to success in both the CSA 4-Day Series and T20 Challenge during his first season in charge. He also led Jozi Stars to success in the inaugural Mzansi Super League, and has worked in a variety of environments, including in the Netherlands and at the Global T20 Canada.

"Wherever you go, whatever environment you get confronted with, there's always going to be certain challenges," he said. "The last year has been very meaningful and massive in my own coaching career as a person."

The trip to India, in charge of a team in transition, is not a suicide mission, he insisted. "I don't feel it's a suicide mission, to be honest. Personally, as a coach, I was asked a similar question when I took over the Lions. I strongly believe that every challenge is an opportunity for a person to thrive, or the team to thrive. It's important for us as team management that we create that thriving environment as soon as possible."

Misbah-ul-Haq is set to lead a 17-day training camp for 20 Pakistan cricketers starting next week. The pre-season camp, according to a PCB media release, has been organised with a view to an upcoming year in which most of Pakistan's international commitments will be in the five-day format, with one eye on the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which begins on September 12. Fourteen of the 20 Pakistan cricketers called up are centrally contracted players. Two days of fitness testing will be followed by by the conditioning camp, which runs from August 22 to September 7.

Misbah, whom the PCB release has termed the "camp commandant", will "craft the training programme and overlook of the camp until the recruitment process has concluded. During the pre-season camp, the players will undergo fielding drills and net sessions, along with fitness and other cricketing activities.

"The camp has been set up to prepare the players for a competitive and challenging domestic and international cricket season, which is expected to begin with the prestigious Quaid-e-Azam Trophy from 12 September."

It is not clear whether much can be read into the PCB giving Misbah the responsibility in the absence of a coaching set-up. When the PCB decided not to renew the contracts of head coach Mickey Arthur and his entire coaching staff, there was some media speculation that Misbah could be given the top job, though it is worth noting he has yet to complete the coaching badges or acquire the necessary experience the PCB is looking for in the next head coach.

It is more likely, perhaps, that Misbah's reputation for high levels of fitness well into his 40s as a Test cricketer have resulted in the PCB hand-picking him as an ideal candidate for the job. In 2016, when Misbah was the Pakistan captain, the side underwent a rigorous training regime with the Pakistan military at an academy in Abbottabad before a tour of England. When Misbah scored a century in the first Test following that course, he famously dropped to his hands and knees and reeled off ten push-ups on the Lord's turf, in tribute to the people who had put Pakistan through such a gruelling schedule, and as proof of his physical prowess.

Azhar Ali will join the camp after concluding his stint with Somerset, while Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim, Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman have been exempted to allow them to complete their time with their respective counties in England.

Zakir Khan, Director of International Cricket at the PCB, said: "This conditioning camp is of great significance. The players will undergo strenuous training sessions to prepare for a demanding season, which will see Pakistan spend 30 of their 42 cricket-playing days in Test cricket.

"Misbah-ul-Haq, who has been Pakistan's most successful captain, understands the arduous demands of the format in this day and age. With the advent of the World Test Championship, the PCB wants Pakistan to turn up with their best red-ball game when they face Sri Lanka in the two-match Test series at home."

Players called up

Centrally contracted: Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah.

Non-centrally contracted: Asif Ali, Bilal Asif, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mir Hamza, Rahat Ali and Zafar Gohar.

United States women's national team co-captain Megan Rapinoe says players have not closed the door on resolving their equal pay dispute with U.S. Soccer out of court, but any conversations with the federation must begin with women's players receiving equal pay to their male counterparts.

Rapinoe and teammate Christen Press appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" and NBC's "Today" on Thursday, a day after mediation between the U.S. Soccer Federation and the 28 members of the women's team who filed a gender discrimination suit in March reached an impasse. Both sides issued strongly worded statements of frustration following the breakdown.

"We're always open to hearing that conversation if they're ready to have it," Rapinoe said on NBC. "That's the only federation we can play for. We're the only team that they have. ... So we're sort of tethered together in that way. But at any point if they want to have a serious conversation and are willing to not only talk about paying us equally and valuing us in that way, but actually doing it and showing us that they'll do it, our ears are always open.

"I don't think anybody wants to go to litigation. But with that said, we're very confident in our case."

A letter dated Aug. 12 -- signed by all 28 players involved in the lawsuit and sent to U.S. Soccer officials as mediation began -- outlined optimism for a resolution, but Press said Thursday that the two sides never progressed past the primary philosophical difference.

"I think, unfortunately, it was just the concept of paying us equally," Press said of where mediation broke down. "We never even got past that. We were very hopeful in our discussions with them that they were going to take our proposals and our positions seriously, which is simply that every game that we play, we get compensated the same way a man would for playing or winning that game. And it broke down right there."

Rapinoe and Press reiterated throughout their appearances on the morning television shows that players seek full equality of pay.

"When we play a game and we win that game -- or we tie that game or we lose that game -- that we should be paid the same as our male counterparts," Rapinoe said on NBC. "I don't think that that's an unrealistic or unreasonable ask to have equality."

Most recently in an open letter from president Carlos Cordeiro released on July 29, U.S. Soccer has long used the word "fairly" rather than "equally" as the baseline of its position on pay.

Complicating the issue is that the men's and women's teams operate with separate collective bargaining agreements and separate pay structures. Rapinoe acknowledged Thursday the "realities are different" for the two teams, but she insisted there is little flexibility.

"This isn't bargaining," Rapinoe said.

Both sides voiced frustration at Wednesday's impasse.

"We always know there is more we can do," U.S. Soccer said in its statement after mediation broke down. "We value our players and have continually shown that, by providing them with compensation and support that exceeds any other women's team in the world."

No new mediation is currently scheduled to prevent the dispute from reaching a federal court. The dispute is therefore unlikely to be resolved before the U.S. begins preparations for the 2020 Olympics.

U.S. Soccer named former World Cup winner Kate Markgraf as its first general manager for the women's national team. Markgraf will run the search for a coach to replace Jill Ellis, who will step down at the conclusion of the team's current Victory Tour. The new coach will then have to prepare the team for Olympic qualifying, likely in January or February of next year.

Press offered no hint Thursday that players would look to use Olympic participation as leverage and said past results -- with the World Cup the most recent example -- demonstrated their ability to separate off-field issues from on-field performance.

"I think that we've shown that we're able to do a lot of work off the field and still have successful results," Press said. "This has been going on -- this fight actually has been going on forever. I think being part of being on the women's national team means that you're taking part in this torch-carrying for women. And we take a lot of pride in that, and it gives us a great purpose."