What a Kick: How a Clutch World Cup Win Propelled Women's Soccer
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
of kicks would begin Superstar Mia Hamm scored a penalty kick beyond the reach of goalkeeper Gao Hong Chastain later said all the sounds became muffled when she set the ball on the mark Still Chastain recalled I felt very confident My team trusted me Chastain curled her toes under and fired with the laces of her shoe This kind of shot is called an instep shot and it’s meant to be powerful but not necessarily accurate I didn’t hear any noise I didn’t look at Gao she recalled later As soon as the whistle blew I just stepped up and hit it I just kind of lost my mind The goalkeeper Gao read where the shot was going and dived the right way But Chastain had struck the ball so precisely and with such force Gao couldn’t react in time The ball flew into the upper right corner of the net out of Gao’s range The United States had won
Brandi Chastain screamed with joy after her successful penalty kick clinched the World Cup win for the U S Women’s National Team Thunderous applause filled the stadium Confetti cannons fired the American team screamed and Chastain whipped her shirt off Wearing her black sports bra she dropped to her knees on the turf muscles and tendons standing out in clear relief her white jersey clutched in her upraised fist She screamed with the sheer joy and triumph of the moment Temporary insanity Chastain said later We had been carrying the weight of the World Cup on our shoulders and this was a release of that weight On the sidelines sports photographers cameras fired rapid shot after rapid shot Roberto
