It had been sixteen years since the women's soccer team last
won the World Cup in Women's Soccer. Long
gone were the memories of that 1999 group who produced the second World
Cup championship for the USA .
Here in America
we are not only used to winning, we expect to win, practically any kind of
sports competition. Yet soccer or
football, one of the most popular sports in the world, always struggled to get
a foothold in America .
No doubt, the American brand of football, not to be confused
with soccer or football everywhere else, never gave the other football a chance
here in the colonies. While American football
became one of the most popular contact sports in history, and one of the
richest in terms of the money it could generate, soccer remained far in the
background.
Of course, it did not help that the USA men's
soccer team has never achieved the fame of their women's counterpart. In fact the only time in history the men's
team reached the semi-finals of the World Cup was way back in 1930, eighty-five
years ago.
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Brandi-Chastain-Womens-World-Cup-July-10-1999
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So, the women had to carry the burden of success to keep soccer
alive in the USA .
There are professional leagues but they
seldom draw major crowds and certainly do not draw major investment. Only winning can do that, thus people paid
attention when the women won the first World Cup in women's soccer back in
1991.
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| Mia Hamm - Superstar |
In 1999 they won their second World Cup powered by Mia Hamm and
throughout the relatively young history of women in the World Cup the USA women
have consistently been one of the top three teams in the world.
This year the team is much more media savvy, much more
physical, and got stronger in every match until meeting Japan in the finals
just like the last World Cup in 2011 when Japan won on penalty kicks. This year they never had a chance as four
American goals in the first sixteen minutes sealed the eventual American 5-2
victory.
In addition to drawing record TV audiences in their victory
drive, the Women's team became the first female team in our history given a
ticker tape parade through downtown Manhattan . It was a fitting tribute followed by an Espy
award for the best team in sports.
Thank you for reigniting American pride and taking the
negative news out of our lives for a time.
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