As well as the USMNT played in this World Cup they still have never reached the promised land and won that elusive trophy. The US Women’s National team, on the other hand, have been ranked no. 1 in the world for six years running and are looking for their third World Cup title in 2015. Yesterday also marked the fifteen-year anniversary of their most recent title.
Fifteen years ago, July 10, 1999, the country witnessed Brandi Chastain’s game-winning penalty kick to lead the Women’s National team to its second title. In front of 90,000 fans in California’s Rose Bowl, Brandi calmly stepped up and hammered the shot into the upper-right corner. This led to her acclaimed celebration where she immediately ripped off her jersey and dropped to her knees imitating the popular celebration for many male players at the time.
As Chastain remembers that moment she recalls, “It was ecstasy. It was joy. It was satisfaction. It was relief. It was exhaustion. It was awesome.” While penalty kicks can lead to disastrous moments in a soccer player’s history as we have seen with our interview with Portland Thorns defender, Nikki Marshall, they can also be a magical moment in sports history.
The current US Women’s National team is determined to achieve a different outcome from their last world cup in 2011 where they lost to Japan in penalty kicks. The journey to the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada will start in October where the CONCACAF qualifying tournament will start. The two finalists and the winner of the third-place match qualify directly. So if you are feeling impatient for the 2018 Men's World Cup, get excited for next summer!
