USWNT Point the Way to the Future with Memorable Women’s World Cup Campaign

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: July 6, 2015

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For 16 years, the United States women's national team lived in the shadow of 1999. But after Sunday's romp in Vancouver, the '99ers now have company in the annals of U.S. soccer lore.

All it took was 16 minutes. In that improbably brief span of time, Big Game Carli Lloyd scored her famous hat trick, the U.S. stormed to an insurmountable 4-0 lead over Japan in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup final and the team's third world title was all but secure.

The Americans went on to win 5-2, completing a memorable tournament with a performance for the ages, cementing Lloyd's status as a legend and the team's place in history. No longer will the 1999 team be the most famous and most beloved U.S. team of all time. The '99ers, though still great, have been surpassed. 

Say hello to the '15ers, a new American team for the ages, a squad that will go down in history as an all-time great—and one that could potentially alter the future of the sport in this country.



Before we look to the future, a trip to the past is necessary. In 1999, Mia Hamm and the U.S. claimed a second World Cup title by beating China in a penalty shootout in the final. Brandi Chastain famously converted the final spot kick, celebrating sans shirt in a moment that became indelibly linked with soccer in America.

The tournament, which the U.S. hosted, drew huge television audiences and inspired a new generation of female athletes to play soccer. In a piece written with Amy Van Deusen for espnW in 2014, Lloyd revealed that she drew inspiration from the 1999 team as a 16-year-old high school standout:

These were my idols playing. I was a teenager who lived and breathed soccer, and I always had a ball in my hand wherever I went. I had pictures of Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, and Julie Foudy on my bedroom walls, and I wanted to be on a World Cup team someday.



What they did was am...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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