You hope that Thailand’s soccer team didn’t take too personally Tuesday’s 13-0 opening round pounding by the United States in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Because when it was all over in Reims, France — and even before it had begun, actually — it really had very little to do with the Thais at all.

They were just first up on the schedule for the U.S., an unenviable position to be in for Thailand when you are facing a U.S. team that is not only supremely talented and No. 1 seeded, but, as we are learning, also super motivated.

For this appearance in the World Cup is not just about taking home the trophy but also about making a point back home regarding equality. Or, as was the case in Tuesday’s World Cup record-setting blowout, a whole barrage of them to drive home the message. Five by forward Alex Morgan alone.

The USWNT has an expanding storehouse of hardware: three previous World Cups, four Olympic gold medals, eight Gold cups, 10 Algarve Cups and a whole bunch of other trophies.

What it clearly doesn’t have is the respect of its governing body, the U.S. Soccer Federation, no matter what the USSF says, at least not at the level that should have long ago been attained given their lengthening success. That includes three out of the seven World Cup titles and nothing lower than a third-place finish. Plus a championship or runner-up in all but one Olympics.

Still, the USWNT is treated as the stepchild of the USSF and has been for some time. The women receive less money, less favorable playing conditions and, it would seem, far less promotion than their male counterparts, the U.S. Men’s National Team.

Which is hard to figure when you compare the resumes, both historical and recent.

You need only look at the last couple of weeks for the latest examples. The US men got blanked 1-0 by Jamaica and then 3-0 by Venezuela over the weekend in Cincinnati during a friendly tune-up before the Gold Cup.

Yes, Venezuela, a nation of painful hardships these days whose team, the Vino Tinto, have never, even in prosperous years, appeared in the World Cup.

But they managed to take it to the USMNT. So much so that the home team got roundly booed at halftime.

Meanwhile, the women are 34-4 (six draws) in World Cup competition and 26-2 (five draws) in the Olympics.

Yet, the men, who didn’t qualify for the last World Cup, annually get the lion’s share of the bucks, the travel, choice of facilities and degree of promotion. The enduring situation was part of the undercurrent that prompted the USWNT team to make its 11th-hour pullout of that friendly with Trinidad and Tobago at Aloha Stadium in 2015.

It is also what led — on International Women’s Day in March, no less — 28 members of the USWNT to file a class action gender discrimination suit against the USSF.

That’s why it sure looks like the folks at the USSF are, for most intents and purposes, the real competition for the women in this tournament on a daily basis. Not 34th-ranked Thailand.

Which is probably not good news Sunday in Paris for the next opponent up, Chile, which was 39th in the last FIFA rankings.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.