chapter 1 The Game That Started a Movement Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world The earliest records show a form of soccer called Tsu’Chu played in the Han dynasty in the third to fourth century In 1863 London clubs codified the game Soccer officially split from rugby and became its own sport Millions of people spanning six continents play soccer each year Clubs camps and tournaments help players of all abilities practice their skills and technique The biggest soccer tournament is the World Cup which is played every four years Millions of fans watched the Women’s World Cup in 2015 Interest in women’s soccer exploded in 1999 The 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup brought country wide and global attention to women’s soccer China 4 21st century skills library
Representing the United States of America in the 1999 Women’s World Cup and the United States played excellent offense and defense Following the regular 90 minutes of play and 30 minutes of extra time neither team had scored Despite her typical brilliant performance forward Mia Hamm widely considered the best female soccer player in the world was unable to score With the temperature in the 90s Fahrenheit 30s Celsius both exhausted teams chose five players to take penalty kicks The ball was placed on a circle 12 yards 11 meters from the goal China and the U S took turns shooting China missed its third penalty kick 5 Sports Unite Us Photo Caption
The Americans win the 2015 Women’s World Cup The game ended in a thunder of cheers when U S defender Brandi Chastain sent the ball flying into the goal with her nondominant left foot Sixteen years later the American women played again in the 2015 Women’s World Cup Finals this time against Japan With 26 7 million viewers it was the most watched soccer game in American history Star forward Carli Lloyd scored a hat trick three goals during the game Her third goal scored with a kick from the halfway line remains one of the most impressive goals 6 21st century skills library
ever scored Lloyd is the only woman to score a hat trick in a World Cup Final Her hat trick was the earliest in World Cup history and the fastest hat trick in Women’s World Cup history The 1999 and 2015 Women’s World Cups showed that the U S Women’s National Team USWNT was the best team in the world They proved that women’s soccer was an elite sport and that people around the world enjoyed watching women’s sports The 1999 and 2015 squads inspired girls of all ages to play soccer and encouraged men to support women as outstanding athletes Greatest Living Players Mia Hamm is one of the greatest soccer players of all time She was named one of FIFA’s 125 greatest living players by Pelé Pelé was a retired Brazilian forward thought to be the greatest soccer player of all time Hamm had the highest number of international goals until 2013 more than nine years after she retired After her brother passed away in 1997 Hamm created a foundation to help those who need bone marrow or cord blood transplants 7 Sports Unite Us
