Watch: Rapinoe kneels during U.S. anthem on international duty

U.S. women's national team midfielder Megan Rapinoe once again took a knee during the playing of the national anthem Thursday, this time in an international friendly against Thailand in a follow up of a similar incident earlier in the month.

Rapinoe previously took a knee during an NWSL match between the Seattle Reign and Chicago Red Stars in a show of solidarity with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

In a statement released after Thursday's match, U.S. Soccer expressed its displeasure with Rapinoe's demonstration:

Representing your country is a privilege and honor for any player or coach that is associated with U.S. Soccer's National Teams. Therefore, our national anthem has particular significance for U.S. Soccer. In front of national and often global audiences, the playing of our national anthem is an opportunity for our Men's and Women's National Team players and coaches to reflect upon the liberties and freedom we all appreciate in this country. As part of the privilege to represent your country, we have an expectation that our players and coaches will stand and honor our flag while the national anthem is played.

For her part, Rapinoe told ESPN she was simply doing what she could to bring awareness to social inequality in the country.

"As of now I plan to keep kneeling," she said. "I'm trying to kind of formulate a better plan and an action step moving forward. But until then, this is how I can help, this is how I can use my voice going forward and this is how I can be an ally in this space."

After her initial display, Rapinoe explained she wanted to shed light on the issues of race relations and police violence in the United States, a conversation Kaepernick wished to start by first sitting during the anthem and later taking a knee, all while drawing heavy criticism.

"I am disgusted with the way he has been treated and the fans and hatred he has received in all of this," Rapinoe told espnW's Julie Foudy. "It is overtly racist. 'Stay in your place, black man.' Just didn't feel right to me. We need a more substantive conversation around race relations and the way people of color are treated."

She added: "Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it."

Rapinoe intended to continue with the controversial display in her next club match against the Washington Spirit, but the NWSL outfit moved the playing of the anthem to before Seattle could take the field, a decision that upset the 31-year-old.