Tough act to follow

Don't expect repeat of '99 Women's World Cup success

The U.S. won the '99 title in front of 90,125 at the Rose Bowl. Vincent LaForet/Allsport

NEW YORK (AP) -- Don't expect a repeat of the Women's World Cup phenomenon when the United States plays host again this year.

"I don't think it will be the caliber that it was in '99," said Carla Overbeck, captain of that championship U.S. team. "But the United States is capable of doing a lot of great things in terms of organizing tournaments."

Three weeks after the World Cup was taken from China because of the SARS virus, soccer's ruling body Monday awarded the event to the United States.

Four years ago, the tournament was a rousing success, capped by a sellout crowd of 90,125 at the Rose Bowl as the Americans beat the Chinese in a shootout for the title.

This time, the tournament runs smack into tough competition: the NFL, college football, baseball pennant races and playoffs and the start of the NHL season.

"Leading up to '99, they had two years to market and promote the tournament," said Overbeck, now with the WUSA's Carolina Courage. "Big stadiums will be used [this year] by football. So it's kind of a busy time in the United States."

Current team captain Julie Foudy agreed this tournament isn't likely to be the extravaganza that made the U.S. women into stars and helped spawn the Women's United Soccer Association.

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"In terms of time, you're limited. It's now under four months ... so throwing something together that quickly is hard to do," Foudy said.

The other World Cup bidder was Sweden, but the U.S. soccer infrastructure is much stronger.

"I hope the first-round sites will be closer to each other this time," Swedish coach Marika Domanski Lyfors said. "We had to fly a lot in 1999. But we learned from it. I think the United States will be a great host."

"I'd like to see it in Europe," Norway national team star Hege Riise said. "It would help the women's game in Europe. But I think the fan interest is way higher here than in Europe."

Like 1999, the American team will need to advance deep into the tournament, probably to the final, for the event to be a big success.

"Anyone that was truly around in '99 knows that the media excitement is what helped us sell the tickets," U.S. coach April Heinrichs said. "That excitement wouldn't be replicated if the U.S. team goes out early."

Still, a World Cup in the United States should provide another boost to American soccer, particularly with the WUSA and MLS losing money.

"I think the country will embrace it," said Lorrie Fair of the Philadelphia Charge, a member of the 1999 team.

"The World Cup is such a great event, it could be anywhere and we'd be happy," U.S. defender Kate Sobrero added.

But now that it's in the United States, the Americans hold an advantage -- just as the soccer team did in winning the Olympic title at home in 1996.

"For the U.S., I think that it brings them confidence to play here," said Riise, whose Norwegian team might pose the biggest threat. "But it heightens the expectations, too, so the pressure is high. Every team wants to beat the U.S., whether it is here or somewhere else."

U.S. faces up to tough task

Organizers in the United States have less than four months to prepare as they face the arduous task of hosting the 2003 finals.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Monday that world soccer's governing body would relocate the finals to the U.S. after announcing on May 3 that they would be moved from China due to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic.

"The women's World Cup in 1999 was so successful that FIFA is delighted to see the event return to the United States," said Blatter. China will now host the 2007 finals, which will be the fifth since they started in 1991.

The U.S. was selected ahead of Sweden (the only other country to submit a formal bid), Australia, Italy and Canada to host the 16-nation tournament expected to start on or close to the original schedule dates of September 23-October 11.

"We think this event will come off successfully," said United States Soccer Federation (USSF) president Dr S Robert Contiguglia, who will serve as event chairman and oversee a yet-to-be-determined management committee.

"We think it will be incredibly hard to do this [putting on the tournament], but we're capable of it," Contiguglia said in a teleconference on Monday.

"We went after this event because we believed it was the right thing to do. We think it will show the greatest women athletes in the world and believed it was the best platform for them. We believe the U.S. will produce that platform."

Doubleheaders

Venues will be announced in seven to 10 days, said USSF secretary general Dan Flynn, who will serve as chief executive officer of the tournament.

Flynn said he expected to have a completed match schedule ready to present to FIFA's competition committee by June 20.

Venues expected to head the list include: RFK Stadium (Washington, D.C.), Gillette Stadium (Foxboro, Massachusetts), Crew Stadium (Columbus, Ohio), Spartan Stadium (San Jose California), the Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California) and Home Depot Stadium (Carson, California), which opens in June.

The USSF says all 32 matches will be played in a doubleheader format over 16 game dates, similar to the original schedule slated for China, which was going to hold the tournament in five venues in four different cities.

FIFA has mandated that each venue must seat a minimum of 30,000 and if as many as seven venues are utilized, three would have to seat in excess of 50,000.

Organizers made it clear they would like to showcase the defending world champion U.S. team at as many venues as possible.

The Americans played at six different stadiums in the 1999 tournament.

While he confirmed the USSF had budgeted nearly $14 million of its own money, Flynn said the federation was partnering FIFA to put on the tournament. He would not comment on FIFA's financial commitment.

"Our goal is to stage a world-class event," Flynn aid. "We wanted to partner with FIFA to do this and we think that with the right ticket packages we can break even [financially].

"There have been no finalized terms as to what they [FIFA] will underwrite," he added. "They said they will recognize our efforts. We're working through a lot of details right now."

Flynn said the federation had been in touch with various governmental agencies regarding security, but would not comment on the potential costs, which would drastically affect the organization's operating budget.

He also said the question of quarantining Chinese players and staff would be addressed by U.S. health agencies closer to the start of the tournament. The latest Chinese death toll from SARS is 317 out of 5,316 cases.

Germany welcomes tourney's move to U.S.

Giving the women's World Cup to the United States was the right thing to do, although it will be difficult to surpass the success of the 1999 tournament, Germany's coach Tina Theune-Meyer said Tuesday.

"It's a good decision. From the financial and marketing aspect, the United States is the only one capable of putting on the World Cup on a short notice," she said. "I am convinced that it's going to be a good World Cup, although it will be difficult to outdo the 1999 edition."

"The important thing would be not to have to travel so much in the preliminary round as we did then, but to have group games in one place," Theune-Meyer said.

Germany lost the 1995 final to Norway and was ousted in the quarterfinals in 1999 by the United States, which beat China for the title.

 

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Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.