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Photograph by Mark Abrhams

"It was on July 10, 1999 that the U.S. women's soccer team faced China for the championship of the third Women's World Cup, the first one played in the U.S. At the Rose Bowl, the most storied football stadium in the country, a body filled every seat. The announced crowd was 90,185, the largest ever to see a women's sporting event. Today, five months later, a million people will swear to you that they were there. ... It was the most significant day in the history of women's sports, bearing the fruit of the passage of Title IX in 1972 and surpassing by a long shot that burn-your-bra night in '73 when Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs, the late goofball showman, in a made-for-TV tennis spectacle at the Houston Astrodome. That night's drama, of course, required the services of a man. The three-act play performed at the Rose Bowl -- the game, the overtime, the shootout -- required nothing but women, 40 of them (44 if you want to include the match's four officials). In the final summer of the 20th century, the era of the woman in sports finally arrived."

Text by Michael Bamberger
Issue date: December 20, 1999

In the summer of 1999, women's soccer broke out on the global stage, thanks in large part to the United States women's team. With a combination of skill and determination the squad powered its way to the Women's World Cup final. Before a Rose Bowl crowd of more than 90,000, the U.S. battled China to a 0-0 draw. In the deciding penalty-kick shootout, it was Brandi Chastain -- a player cut from the U.S. team in 1994 -- who sent the Americans' fifth shot past Chinese goalkeeper Gao Hong for a 5-4 victory. The image of Chastain's teammates rushing the field following her thrilling title-winning goal is one that will be forever burnished in the minds of not only those who love soccer, but those who love sports.

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