What a Kick: How a Clutch World Cup Win Propelled Women's Soccer
Kristine Lilly battled for the ball She would be one of the five shootout kickers for the Americans Who would kick for the American team Lauren Gregg the U S assistant coach wrote down four names team captain Carla Overbeck defender Joy Fawcett midfielder Kristine Lilly and superstar forward Mia Hamm There were two possibilities for the fifth spot co captain Julie Foudy and midfielder and defender Brandi Chastain If the score was still tied after four kicks per team the fifth could win the World Cup They would need a clutch performer Someone who could handle the pressure of being the possible decider Someone who could surprise China’s goalkeeper
Co-captain Julie Foudy who played on four World Cup teams was the possible fifth kicker Gregg walked over to Chastain She wasn’t the obvious pick She had become predictable kicking with her right leg with the ball going to the goalkeeper’s right Chastain had missed more than half of her penalty kicks that year But she had a special skill she could shoot with either foot She could kick left-footed if she had to Maybe most important she had the guts to try it in a World Cup final Chastain was lying facedown on the turf with her eyes closed fighting a leg cramp Do you want a kick Gregg asked Chastain said she did Then Gregg suggested a new tactic Kick it with your left foot Chastain agreed And just like that the decision had been made The list was complete The United States was watching The world was watching Little girls teenage boys fans in face paint body paint USA shirts and hats soccer fans of every type packed the Rose Bowl Four years before in 1995 the Americans had played in the World Cup
semifinals in Sweden in front of 3,000 people Before the 1999 World Cup finals that many fans showed up just to watch practice The players were so mobbed they needed police escorts just to get off the field Just 21 days before the United States had hammered Denmark 3-0 in front of nearly 79,000 screaming fans Now 90,185 people filled the stadium Another 40 million watched on TV in the United States One billion people watched worldwide It was the biggest event in the history of women’s sports And it had come down to five kicks The ball was placed on a dot 12 yards 11 meters from the goal The teams would alternate kicks Chinese player Xie Huilin was up first Briana Scurry the American goalkeeper danced nervously in the box but Xie shot easily past her into the upper left corner of the net Goal for the Chinese Carla Overbeck the team captain was the first American kicker She jogged up to the ball the picture of casual confidence She was even chewing gum The entire stadium held its breath Overbeck kicked Chinese goalkeeper Gao Hong lunged for the ball the wrong way The ball sailed into the net and the stadium exploded in cheers
Defender Carla Overbeck leaped high in the air after her successful penalty kick Chinese player Qiu Haiyan shot next scored Joy Fawcett American defender scored The tension in the stadium was rising The score was tied 2-2 On the next penalty kick Scurry blocked Chinese player Liu Ying’s shot The dive to block the shot was so explosive that for three months Scurry thought she’d torn an abdominal muscle Two more Americans shot and scored Kristine Lilly and Mia Hamm Zhang Ouying and Sun Wen had also scored for the Chinese The score was tied 4-4 Chastain was up If she scored a goal the Americans would win the World Cup 5-4 If she missed a new round
