The Women s World Cup 1999 By Izzy and Molly
History of World Cups The 1999 Women s world cup was the third women s world cup tournament after the 1991 China, and 1995 Sweden The 1991 and 1995 tournaments received barely any media coverage even though they were the first tournaments for women The men however had their first World cup in July of 1930 (60 years before women!!)
1999 Women s World Cup background For two weeks spectators topped 660,000 and media coverage estimated 40 million viewers in the U.S. This was the first time in history where women's soccer reached new heights and became apart of history. This World Cup was a world-class, world-caliber, standalone event for women like none other," said Marla Messing, CEO of the U.S. organizing committee. "In a small way, we were all a part of history."
Key Player: Mia Hamm Competed in 4 World Cups, winning 2 championships \ Hamm scored 158 goals throughout her career. FIFA named Hamm Women's World Player of the Year (2001, 2002) Nike and Gatorade used Hamm in their commercials where she became an iconic icon. Inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame for her accomplishments regarding the Mia Hamm Foundation
U.S. game winning penalty kick
1999 Women s World Cup Background The 1999 Women s World Cup is considered to be the pinnacle of women's soccer in the United States. The world cup was hosted in the United States The final game was played on July 10 in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California The championship game was United States V.S. China The score was 0-0 in overtime U.S.A. won in penalty kicks 5 to 4 over China Brandi Chastain scored the winning penalty for U.S.A Still the only Women s world cup tournament that the host team won
Controversy Regarding Brandi Chastain Chastain usually used her right foot to take penalty kicks but this time the head coach, Tony DiCicco, told her to use the left one, "I had never taken a penalty kick with my left foot ever before in a competitive match let alone a World Cup," Chastain says. Photographs of Chastain kneeling on the pitch in her sports bra swept across the world. It became an iconic image and three major magazines - Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and Time Magazine. Headlines ranging from Girls Rule! Yes! and What a Kick!
Controversy Regarding Brandi Chastain Even though plenty of male athletes had previously celebrated victories and goals by tearing off their jerseys, it was too much for some to understand. Chastain never apologized for her celebration but she accepted that not everyone approved of it. Chastain believed that it opened people's eyes to women's football Chastain said, "Women's soccer was not anonymous any more - people were talking about it,".
Significance of the 1999 Women s World Cup The enormous success of staging the 1999 Women's World Cup in the United States laid the foundation for the establishment of the first women's professional soccer league. This was more than just a game- it opened a door for women athletes to strive in athletics. The 1999 Women's World Cup game was the most watched soccer game in the US, overriding any men's soccer matches in history. The massive number of viewings of the game shattered any beliefs that people would not want to watch women's soccer. 1999 Women s World Cup also expanded from 12 to 16 teams, showed the increase in interest in international women s soccer
Mia Hamm V.S. Michael gatorade commercial
After the 1999 Women s World Cup After the 1999 world cup Brandi Chastain said, "More girls are playing football in America than any other sport," she says. "When I played college soccer there were 75 teams - now there are over 320 teams at the Division One level women and men play it alike." This made the 1999 World Cup the pinnacle of Women s soccer in the United States The U.S. Women s 2015 world cup winning team are still fighting for equal pay and equal funding (Title 9) as the men s team but are continuing to fight.
Women's Soccer- Present - Women's soccer has made large improvements since the 1999 Women's World Cup in various amounts of ways. - Title IX was created but women's soccer still faces issues presently regarding equality for their success. - The 2015 Women's Soccer Team went to court about unequal pay for winning the World Cup this year. - There are still so many issues and inequality regarding Women's soccer that women are attempting to improve to this day.
Bibliography "FIFA Women's World Cup - USA 1999." FIFA.com. N.p., 22 Mar. 2007. Web. 03 June 2016. "1999 Women's World Cup." Soccer Politics The Politics of Football. N.p., 01 May 2015. Web. 03 June 2016. "Mia Hamm." Pop Culture Universe. ABC-CLIO SOLUTIONS, n.d. Web. Houghton, Emily J. "Mia Hamm." Pop Culture Universe: Icons, Idols, Ideas. ABC-CLIO, 2016. Web. 3 June 2016. Daye, Alison. "Why Women's World Cup Champion Brandi Chastain Bared Her Bra." BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2016. Tocrob. "Women's 1999 FIFA Final, China vs U.S.A." YouTube. YouTube, 26 Feb. 2011. Web. 03 June 2016. "1999 Women s World Cup." Soccer Politics The Politics of Football. N.p., 12 Dec. 2009. Web. 03 June 2016.