History of soccer in the United States

The history of soccer in the United States has numerous different roots. The modern day game, is often considered to have been brought to the United States through Ellis Island during the 1870s. However, some variations of the sport began well before than, with Native American tribes, primarily the Algonkin and Powhatan tribes playing a variation of the sport known as pasuckuakohowog. Pasuckuakohowog, literally meaning "kicking ball sport" was reported to be played on fields a half mile in diameter and as long as nearly a mile. Teams would have nearly 100 people. Some believe that the Pilgrims played this sport during the original Thanksgiving festivities.

'Pasuckuakohowog'

Main article: Pasuckuakohowog

Pasuckuakohowog which literally translates to "they gather to play ball with the foot." There are records that show it was played in the 17th century. But many believe they played long before. The game was played on beaches with goals about a half-mile-wide and set one mile apart. Up to 500 people played Pasuckuakohowog, many games had up 1000 players. Pasuckuakohowog was a dangerous game and was played almost like a war. Players would often have to quit due broken bones or other serious injuries. Pasuckuakohowog players wore ornaments and war paint to disguise themselves from retaliation after the game. The game would often last for hours and sometimes carry over to the next day. After each match there would be a large celebratory feast, including both teams.

Men's soccer

Club soccer

Oneida Football Club, and other organized teams

The Oneida Football Club was established in 1862 by Gerrit Smith "Gat" Miller, a graduate of the Latin School of Epes Sargent Dixwell, a private college preparatory school in Boston. At the time there were no formal rules for football games, with different schools and areas playing their own variations. This informal style of play was often chaotic and very violent, and Miller had been a star of the game while attending Dixwell. However, he grew tired of these disorganized games, and organized other recent preparatory school graduates to join what would be the first organized football team in the United States.

The team consisted of a group of Boston secondary school students from relatively elite public (state) schools in the area, such as Boston Latin School and the English High School of Boston. Organization served the club well, and it reportedly never lost a game, or even allowed a single goal.

Attempts at soccer governing body

Further information: American Cup

The Fall River Rovers were among one the few clubs to win both the National Challenge Cup and the American Cup.

Before the creation of the United States Soccer Federation, soccer in the United States was organized on regional levels, with no governing body overlooking regional soccer leagues. The first non-league organizing body within the United States was the American Football Association (AFA) which was incarnated in 1884. The AFA sought to standardize rules for teams competing in northern New Jersey and southern New York. Within two years, this region began to widen to include teams in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

USFA vs. AFA, FIFA sanctioning

Within a year of its founding, the AFA organized the first non-league cup in U.S. soccer history, known as the American Cup. Clubs from New Jersey and Massachusetts dominated the first twelve years. It would not be until 1897 that a club from outside those two states won the American Cup. Philadelphia Manz brought the title to Pennsylvania for the first time. Due to internal conflicts within the AFA, the cup was suspended in 1899, and it was not resumed until 1906. The conflicts within the AFA led to a movement to create a truly national body to oversee American soccer. Drawing on both its position as the oldest soccer organization and the status of the American Cup, the AFA argued that it should be the nationally recognized body.

In October 1911, a competing body, the American Amateur Football Association (AAFA) was created. The association quickly spread outside of the Northeast and created its own cup in 1912, the American Amateur Football Association Cup. That year, both the AFA and AAFA applied for membership in FIFA, the international governing body for soccer. In 1913, the AAFA gained an edge over the AFA when several AFA organizations moved to the AAFA. On April 5, 1913, the AAFA reorganized as the United States Football Association, presently known as the United States Soccer Federation. FIFA quickly granted a provisional membership and USFA began exerting its influence on the sport. This led to the establishment of the National Challenge Cup that fall. The National Challenge Cup quickly grew to overshadow the American Cup. However, both cups were played simultaneously for the next ten years. Declining respect for the AFA led to the withdrawal of several associations from its cup in 1917. Further competition came in 1924 when USFA created the National Amateur Cup. That spelled the death knell for the American Cup. It played its last season in 1924.

Soccer Wars

Towards the latter portions of the 1920s a period in American soccer known as the "American Soccer Wars" ignited. The Soccer Wars regarded the internal conflicts with the American Soccer League and their affiliated clubs participating in the National Challenge Cup. The debate involved whether the United States Football Association or the American Soccer League was the true chief organization of American soccer at the time, and consequently wrecked the reputation and possibly even the popularity of the sport domestically. The colloquial "war" has been considered responsible for the fall of the ASL, and the end to the first golden age of American soccer.

The initial issue with the ASL had been the scheduling of the National Challenge Cup, which had been straining for the ALS season schedule. Typically, the National Challenge Cup had been played during the ASL's offseason, which made it difficult for ASL clubs to compete in the tournament. Consequently, the ASL boycotted the 1925 Challenge Cup due to scheduling conflicts, and the lack of cooperation the USFA inflicted on the ASL. American soccer historians claim that the real issue was the ASL vying to be the premier soccer body in the United States.

In 1927, the issue intensified as ASL clubs were accused by FIFA for signing European players who were already under contract to European clubs. Due to the conflict and apparent corruption in the ASL, USFA president (at the time), Andrew M. Brown traveled to Helsinki, Finland for the 1927 FIFA Congress in the hopes of removing any penalizations imposed on the ASL and USFA. Other issues regarding the soccer league involved the closed league model and the lack of American soccer players dominating the league. It resulted in ASL owners wanting to run their soccer clubs more like Major League Baseball teams, as many ASL owners owned MLB franchises. According to owners of ASL clubs, they saw these rulings as restrictions imposed on themselves, including the National Challenge Cup.

With the hope of breaking away from the National Challenge Cup, Charles Stoneham, an owner of the New York Nationals proposed that the ASL would create their own tournament to determine the champion of the ASL, and thus ultimately determine the top American soccer club. This was the creation of early forms of playoffs culminating a regular season. Additionally, the proposal included expanding into the Midwest to include clubs from the Ohio River Valley and St. Louis regions, and create a new division for these clubs. Stoneham's plan involved having the two divisions compete in their own season, and the top clubs in each division playing in the ASL tournament to determine the ASL champion. Before the proposal, the National Challenge Cup was seen as the ultimate title in American soccer since most professional leagues in the United States focused on a specific region, rather than encompassing the entire country as a whole.

See also: American Soccer League § ASL I, and Eastern Professional Soccer League (1928–1929)

The problem with this system was the fact that the American Soccer League was operating under a closed league model with a fixed number of franchises. This new tournament, or playoffs, would permanently cap the number of clubs entering this premier competition, unlike the National Challenge Cup, which the tournament was open to any USFA-affiliated team. Due to such reasons, three teams, Bethlehem Steel, the New York Giants S.C. and the Newark Skeeters, rejected the proposal, played in the 1928 National Challenge Cup and were subsequently suspended from the league and fined $1,000. Hence the ASL's decision, the USFA suspended the ASL which ignited the "Soccer Wars". In the 1928–29 American Soccer League, the Steel, Giants and Skeeters did not play in the ASL and joined local semi-professional leagues agglommerating to form the Eastern Professional Soccer League.

Support for the USFA from other national federations, along with financial disadvantages the ASL faced as an unsanctioned league, eventually convinced the ASL that it could not win this "soccer war" and should yield. The "war" between the USFA and ASL was finally settled in early October 1929. During that time the ASL had already begun its 1929-30 season, halted during the settlement. Thanks to the settlement, the ASL was assembled back together, and played the remainder of the 1929–30 year until the moniker "Atlantic Coast League".

Decline of sport, amateur era

Players of Stix, Baer and Fuller, who were dominante in the Challenge Cup in the 1930s

Just two weeks following the United States Football Association and American Soccer League settlement, the stock market crashed. The abrupt and intense economic impact drastically affected the ASL in the league's Spring 1930 season, in which several clubs defaulted during the season, and clubs did not finish the season with the same amount of matches played. Initially, the struggles in ASL did not affect the league's stronger clubs, as the Fall River Marksmen completed the double by winning both the 1930 season and the 1930 National Challenge Cup.

As the Great Depression intensified, the original ASL folded following the Fall 1932 season, which was its 15th season in existence. At the apex of the Depression, several surviving clubs created an incarnation of the ASL which began play in 1933, but the stringent economy suffered the ability for ASL teams to field strong teams, and caused team to not have the financial means nor interest to attract foreign players. This consequently caused a dark age of soccer in which the sport as well as the National Challenge Cup fell out of popularity and into obscurity.

In spite of the decline in the sport's popularity, several pockets of the country, primarily the Heartland and New England regions, as well as the New York City and St. Louis metropolitan areas, continued to see excessive popularity of the sport, specifically with ethnic groups and expatriates. The popularity of soccer in these areas reflected on the Challenge Cup during the later Great Depression years, through the World War II years. Most clubs participating were either top amateur teams or semi-professional clubs that hoisted a handful of U.S. internationals, who worked part-time jobs.

Modern professional age

See also: Major League Soccer

Collegiate soccer

soccer is a joke it is lame.

Men's national team

Main article: United States men's national soccer team

In the 1930 World Cup, the U.S. finished third, beating Belgium 3–0 at Estadio Gran Parque Central in Montevideo, Uruguay. The match occurred simultaneously with another across town at Estadio Pocitos where France defeated Mexico.

In the next match, the United States earned a 3–0 victory over Paraguay. For many years, FIFA credited Bert Patenaude with the first and third goals and his teammate Tom Florie with the second. Other sources described the second goal as having been scored by Patenaude or by Paraguayan Ramon Gonzales. In November 2006, FIFA announced that it had accepted evidence from "various historians and football fans" that Patenaude scored all three goals, and was thus the first person to score a hat trick in a World Cup finals tournament.

Having reached the semifinals with the two wins, the American side lost 6–1 to Argentina. Using the overall tournament records, FIFA credited the U.S. with a third place finish ahead of fellow semi-finalist Yugoslavia. The finish remains the team's best World Cup result and is the highest finish of any team from outside of CONMEBOL and UEFA, the South American and European confederations, respectively.

Due to FIFA not wanting interference with the newly founded FIFA World Cup no official tournament was fielded in the 1932 Olympic Games . FIFA claimed the tournament would be popular in the United States, so it would not be cost efficient to assist in the running of the tournament during struggling economic times. As a result, an informal tournament was organized including local rivals with the United States finishing first, followed by Mexico and Canada. The Olympic Tournament was reinstated in the 1936 Olympic Games.

After the enthusiasm caused by the creation and rise of the North American Soccer League in the 1970s, it seemed as though the U.S. men's national team would soon become a powerful force in world soccer. Such hopes were not realized, however, and the United States was not considered a strong side in this era. From 1981 to 1983, only two international matches were played.

To provide a more stable national team program and renew interest in the NASL, U.S. Soccer entered the national team into the league for the 1983 season as Team America. This team lacked the continuity and regularity of training that conventional clubs enjoy, and many players were unwilling to play for the team instead of their own clubs. Embarrassingly, Team America finished the season at the bottom of the league. Recognizing that it had not achieved its objectives, U.S Soccer cancelled this experiment, and the national team was withdrawn from the NASL.

U.S. Soccer made the decision to target the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California and the 1986 World Cup as means of rebuilding the national team and its fan base. The International Olympic Committee provided what appeared to be a major boost to the United States' chances of advancing beyond the group stage when it declared that Olympic teams from outside Europe and South America could field full senior teams as long as those senior players had never played in a World Cup, including professionals. U.S. Soccer immediately rearranged its Olympic roster, cutting many collegiate players and replacing them with professionals. Despite this, the U.S. finished 1–1–1 and failed to make the second round.

By the end of 1984, the NASL had folded and there was no senior outdoor soccer league operating in the United States. As a result, many top American players, such as John Kerr, Paul Caligiuri, Eric Eichmann, and Bruce Murray, moved overseas, primarily to Europe.

The United States did bid to host the 1986 World Cup after Colombia withdrew due to economic concerns. However, Mexico beat out the U.S. and Canada to host the tournament, despite concerns that the tournament would have to be moved again because of a major earthquake that hit Mexico shortly before the tournament.

In the last game of the qualifying tournament, the U.S. needed only a draw against Costa Rica, whom the U.S. had beaten 3–0 in the Olympics the year before, in order to reach the final qualification group against Honduras and Canada. U.S. Soccer scheduled the game to be played at El Camino College in Torrance, California, an area with many Costa Rican expatriates, and marketed the game almost exclusively to the Costa Rican community, even providing Costa Rican folk dances as halftime entertainment. A 35th minute goal by Evaristo Coronado won the match for Costa Rica and kept the United States from reaching its fourth World Cup finals.

In 1988, U.S. Soccer attempted to re-implement its national-team-as-club concept, offering contracts to national team players in order to build an international team with something of a club ethos, while loaning them out to their club teams, saving U.S. Soccer the expense of their salaries. This brought many key veterans back to the team, while the success of the NASL a decade earlier had created an influx of talent from burgeoning grass-roots level clubs and youth programs. Thus U.S. Soccer sought to establish a more stable foundation for participation in the 1990 World Cup than had existed for previous tournaments.

After failing to maintain his 2002 success at the 2006 World Cup, Bruce Arena was eventually replaced by his assistant with the national team and Chivas USA manager, Bob Bradley, whose reign began with four wins and one draw in friendlies leading up to the 2007 Gold Cup, hosted by the United States.

The U.S. won all three of its group stage matches, against Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, and El Salvador. With a 2–1 win over Panama in the quarterfinals, the U.S. advanced to face Canada in the semifinals, winning 2–1. In the final, the United States came from behind to beat Mexico 2–1.

The team's disappointing Copa América 2007 campaign ended after three defeats in the group stage to Argentina, Paraguay, and Colombia. The decision by U.S. Soccer to field what many considered a second-tier team was questioned by fans and media alike.

One of the hallmarks of Bradley's tenure as national team manager has been his willingness to cap a large number of players, many for their first time. This practice has been praised by those wanting to see a more diverse player pool for the national team, as well as criticized by those hoping for more consistency and leadership from core players. This has coincided with many young American players like Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey, Maurice Edu, Brad Guzan, Eddie Johnson, and Michael Parkhurst making their first moves from MLS to European clubs, meaning that more American players are gaining experience at the highest levels of club and international soccer than at any other time in the team's history.

In Summer 2009, the United States had one of the busiest stretches in its history. For the 2009 Confederations Cup the U.S. was drawn into Group B with Brazil, Egypt, and Italy. After losing 3–1 to Italy and 3–0 to Brazil, the United States made an unlikely comeback to finish second in the group and reach the semi-final on the second tie-breaker, goals scored, having scored four goals to Italy's three. This was achieved on the final day of group play when the United States beat Egypt 3–0 while Brazil beat Italy 3–0.

In the semifinals, the U.S. defeated Spain 2–0. At the time, Spain was atop the FIFA World Rankings and was on a record run of 15 straight wins and 35 games undefeated (a record shared with Brazil). With the win, the United States advanced to its first-ever final in a men's FIFA tournament; however, the team lost 3–2 to Brazil after leading 2–0 at half-time.

Only a few days after the Confederations Cup Final, the United States hosted the 2009 Gold Cup, and was drawn into Group B with Grenada, Haiti, and Honduras. Due to the fact that the U.S. had just played in the Confederations Cup and still had half of its World Cup qualifying campaign to go, Bob Bradley chose a side consisting of mostly reserves who had never really played together on the international stage and was criticized for selecting a "B Side" for the Continental tournament. The U.S. began group play with a pair of victories over Grenada and Honduras, and won the group with a draw against Haiti.

In the quarterfinals, the United States defeated Panama 2–1 after extra time. In the semifinals the U.S. faced Honduras for the second time in the tournament, and the third time in less than two months. The United States beat Honduras 2–0 and advanced to its third consecutive Gold Cup final where the team faced Mexico in a rematch of the 2007 Gold Cup final. The United States was beaten by Mexico 5–0, surrendering its 58-match unbeaten streak against CONCACAF opponents on U.S. soil. It was also the first home loss to Mexico since 1999.

Women's soccer

Women's Soccer has become just as popular as men's soccer, worldwide because they are both competitive leagues. the United States women's team has came from nothing to a gold medal team.

Soccer History

Before the 1990s, women did not play any team sports. Sports to women were pick up games that started in the neighborhood or at school for physical education class. However, men got to play soccer or any sport. They were considered born with the right to play any sport. Women could play soccer but it was very difficult to. First women would have to find a team, coach, and team's to play. Some high schools had a women's soccer team but they were not noticed that much, the boy's team got all the attention. The professional men's team got bonuses for tournament's if they placed one through three. The 1990s women's team only got bonuses for a gold medal, and their bonuses were only half of what a bronze (third) medal was for the men's team.

Changes

The history of women's soccer changed in the 1990's. The women's national soccer team of the 1990s earned women their rights to play soccer as more than a recreational sport played in school or in the backyard. The team played in the FIFA M and M World Cup, Rose Bowl tournament and other tournaments and games not broadcasted to America. The USWNST (United States Women's National Soccer Team) won most of their tournaments and became more noticed by the press. This is when America started to allow girls to play sports because they recognized that they could. As the women's national team continued to ply and win, little girls sports' league (any sport), women professional leagues worldwide were established along with broadcasted games worldwide.

Soccer Revolution

The Women's Rose Bowl in the United States took place during the summer, all schools were closed for break. This allowed kids and teens to go to watch the game. The finals game was between US and China. The USA Women's National Soccer Team won and since the game took place in the United States, the country went crazy. Girls started to want to play soccer and grow up to play at a professional level. However, there was currently no leagues available for girls of any age. This is called the Revolution of Soccer. The Revolution of Soccer is when girls started to be able to play soccer and any other team sport with a complete schedule playing against other teams of the same age, gender, and these leagues included one tournament at lest per season or year (depends on league). The revolution allowed girls to also have the opportunity to play, high school, college, and professional sports. Also, women are now born with the same right as men, to be able to play a team sport if they wish to. Lastly they made soccer not just a hobby, but something someone could love and do forever.

Timeline

Below is a timeline of events that happened to the Women's National Soccer Team as they earned their league back after it was taken away because of money. Also, during the same time, the team was allowing women's team sports to start.

1980's

In the mid-1980s, there was a little bit of hope for women athletes Coach Anson wanted to create a National team from a bunch of college aged girls. And most importantly he was not going to give up on them, he wanted them to prove to the world how good they are. This was the very beginning of the start of women's professional and team sports. Anson Dorrance was the head coach of a North Carolina team and wanted to take over the role of the National Team. Anson's goal was to turn the team into World Champions. The team he brought together was a group of 15 through 18 year old girls, Mia Hamm being the youngest and Michelle Akers the oldest. The team's players came from all across the country, no one knew each other at first making every one very timid of their team mates and coach. Everything was so new to them because there used to never be a women's national team. The team played for no money, rode on third class buses to get to games, and cheap hotels. They got nothing that the men got, they just played because they loved soccer and wanted to help girls who also wanted to play a team sport. When they first started, Anson was told that his job was on the line, meaning that if the team did not perform well enough there will be no more Women's National Soccer Team. This was the team's first motivation that they had to play well because the country did not want a women's national team.

1991

In 1991, the FIFA Soccer Association chose to have a tournament for women. I the tournament there was 12 other countries and it was called the FIFA M n' M World Cup. FIFA did not feel that Women did not deserve to have the tournament be an actual "FIFA World Cup". During the tournament the USA team won all five games and started to get China's attention, but back at home no one knew that they had left except for family and friends. During the m n' M world cup the USA Women's team was the first United States team to make it in the World Championship game. The U.S team was playing Norway, a very good team/power house. The United States team beat Norway 1-0 with only two minutes left making them win the entire cup, and was also the first U.S team to win a soccer World Cup. When the team finished their 52 hour ride home dropping off every team, three people were their to greet them and congratulate them on their gold medal.

After the Tournament

The team was convinced that when they arrived back at the United States, no one knew. The press did not find that anyone would want to see it. Also, they said that the team would not get enough money to keep them going. Therefore, once the team had just started people were trying to bring them down. People did not believe that women's games would be a big draw. However, in China it was, only because that was where the tournament was being hosted. The people that usually came to games were always family and friends, no one else because no one else knew that women's soccer even.

After the tournament, the team departed from each other for awhile because most players were going to college and had to start studying. As they were on "vacation" there was no talking of what would happen next for the team. There was also no training, games, or schedule. The players on the team had no idea what the fate of the team was. Was it still happening? No one knew because every one was back at home, some were completely across the country from each other. The team had stopped for awhile.

The end of the Team?

After the World Cup victory the team players believed that soccer or any other sport was not a career. And that they needed to find a job that would give them some money so that they could have a house and a family.

1995

At the 1995 World Cup, the United States went against Norway in the final match and lost. After the game was over, Norway rubbed it in the United States' faces making the team angry and eager for a win against them.

1996

The 1996's was a very emotional time for the Women's National Soccer Team, they had to face their soccer federation to stand up for themselves and question about going to their home Olympics.

Bonuses

In 1996, the USWNST got a spot in the Olympics that were held in Atlanta Georgia, US. At the time the women's team was still not promised anything, they had to earn everything. The men's team got paid a bonus for any medal, bronze through gold (more for a higher place). However, since the women's team technically did not earn their spot, they only got a bonus for a gold medal, whilst their bonus for gold was less than for a men's bronze. After talking to the Federation of Soccer, they negotiated a bonus for a silver medal as well. However, the women's team's bonus for gold and silver were still lower than the men's team. But to have a bonus for two medals satisfied the team.

Olympics?

The Women's Soccer Federation was not being very agreeable about anything concerning the women's team, they were still convinced that women would not play soccer, or any sport. So, Julie Foudy called Billie Jean King asking for help of how to get attention from the Federation since they were not listening. Billie Jean King told Julie that the easiest way to get attention from anyone is to stop what you are doing. This meant that the team would not play in the first Olympics ever girls were allowed in. Michelle Akers offered not to play to help and benefit the team. However, this would mean losing one of the best players on the team. Later during practice before the Olympics eight other players offered to drop out of the Olympics. This made the Olympics questionable, did they have enough players, what would happen without their stars, how far would they make it?

Going to the Olympics

After a lot of arguing with the Women's Soccer Federation they finally raised their bonus to a silver as well. This put the questioning of going to the Olympics down, the Women's National Soccer team was going. And while they were there they were going to take advantage of every single moment that they could. At the Olympics the women's team drew crowds greater than any other soccer game before including men's, 65,000 fan's. The team was starting to prove their point that women can play. In the semi-final game against Norway, the United States won 2-1 which meant that they would go to the final game, playing China.

During the game against China the scores were pretty much back and forth, U.S would score and then China. Then, the united States scored with 5 minutes left in the match. China could not follow the goal up, meaning that the USWNST won the gold medal. Winning a gold medal meant that the women's team would get a bonus on their salary and hopefully next tournament they would have another raise on their salary bonuses. Also, the team was hoping that their win would prove to America that women can play sports. However, it did not start the revolution yet, it only started to get little groups of peoples attention, including larger crowds at games.

The Olympic women's soccer games were not broadcasted on the television making people outside of Atlanta to be able to see how well the women's team can play. This no press problem was making it harder for the women's team to show their place in sports.

1999

Going to the 1999 World Cup was going to be the last time that the entire team was going to play together. After the loss of Mia Hamm's older adoptive brother, the team was especially motivated especially Mia to win for her brother.

1999 World Cup

The 1999 World Cup was going to be hosted in the United States. Another wonderful chance to prove to the country that women deserve every right in sports as men do. The stadium planned was small, however, the organizers of the cup decided that some arrangements could be made. Now the cup was going to be held in a very large stadium. Marla Messing, one of the World Cup Organizers said that this event was going to bring in more fans and money than possibly any other sporting event in the history of soccer or any other sport. The game was going to be held in the New York Giants' stadium also known as the Rose Bowl. In the stadium there was 75 thousand seats, also meaning 75 thousand tickets to sell. Four months before the World Cup two hundred and ten tickets were sold. Every ticket to the game was sold, the World Cup was completely sold out. The rose Bowl stands were full with crazy soccer loving fans ready to see a great game. America finally understood who the women's team was, and they wanted to see the team prove how well they could play. The team still got the countries attention, even without the press and people broadcasting. Also, eventually, the press couldn't hold back any more, the news of our country winning was too good to keep away from everyone, (plus, some people already knew and were wondering why the press was not sharing this information).

The USA's first game was against Denmark and the USA won 3-0. This also meant that the USA was going to continue and move on further into the World Cup. In the second game the USA played Nigeria and crushed, 7-1. Also, since the World Cup was placed in the summer, several young girls could go since there was no school. The USA won their third game 3-0 against North Korea, . The crowd at the stadium was so energetic because of the team's response to the crowd of fans, for them. Their next game was to be played against Germany, this game was considerably harder, however the USA still won 3-2. The USWNST was beginning the revolution to girls soccer. This now allowed women to play any team sports competitively. In the semi-final game, USA vs. Brazil, the USA won 2-0, bringing them to the final match for the gold. At the final game of the 1999 World Cup, the USA played China. These two good teams brought in about 90,000 people, officially making the Rose Bowl the biggest sporting event in history. A minute for overtime, Michelle Akers, one of the stars on the team, other than Mia Hamm, was knocked out she was blacking out and not capable of playing. As she was walked off the field by the doctor, the team reaction to her loss was very affective to their reputation and other girls. China was taking advantage of Michelle Aker's absence. They were shooting shot after shot. Then on a corner kick, the ball goes out of reach from the USA goalie, but then Kristine Lilly heads the ball away saving the team from losing the entire Cup. After the overtime passed, the score was still 0-0 which meant that they were going to go into penalty kicks. USA goal keeper, Scurry saved the third penalty kick, and Brandi Chastain scored the winning goal. The crowd went wild, as the ball went in, Brandi whipped off her shirt making the front cover of the Sports Illustrated magazine, newspapers and store pictures. The team was now being used as advertisers.

After the World Cup, women were treated as athletes, not female athletes. This change, was a turning point in USA soccer history. Their win started the revolution changing the country immensely.

Girls' Motivation

The women's team decided to start soccer clubs for younger girls to help motivate them to play soccer or any other sport. These clubs started before the World Cup to make girls understand that what ever outcome happened, they were there for them and that those girls could trust the team to help allow girls to play soccer or any other team sport.

Country Effects

The country's reaction to the Women's Team winning was incredible. Stores started to use Mia Hamm and other players on the team to help advertise shampoo and more, Brandi Chastain's celebration after the goal made magazines, articles, stories, newspapers, and advertisements for sports bras. Also, the press reacted making their victory the front page headline of the newspapers all around the country, making the entire country make sure that they have heard the great news.

Comparison

The women's team became as good, if not better than the USA men's team because the women's team had to earn every thing that the men freely got. Also, the women's team would never be able to live up to the 1999 World Cup because of how well they played, and the number of people that attended the Rose Bowl.

2003

Early 2003 the Women's National Soccer Team was told that their league had been canceled. The WUSA league was folding after three years. The USWNST was devastated. But they earned the league once and they could most likely earn the WUSA back again. The league was stopping because it did not have enough money to continue. They were not getting enough ticket sales and sponsors to keep the league running. The team must really prove to America that they can play soccer and that they deserve their league. Mia hamm helped use their loss of their league to motivate themselves to play even better in their future games to earn it back.

2003 World Cup

The 2003 World Cup was originally supposed to be held in China. However, before the cup a deadly epidemic spread killing thirteen people. Therefore, the World Cup was held in the United States. The USWNST was going to use this to their advantage, not just towards the games but to getting their soccer league back. In the semi-final of the Wold Cup the USA played Germany. In the beginning of the game Germany scored (1-0 Germany). The game continued and no one scored ending the game as Germany's victory eliminating the Women's National Soccer Team from the 2003 World Cup. The team had missed out in one opportunity at home to win and get the WUSA back.

2004 Summer Athens Olympics

In the final match USA played Brazil who had a much younger team. The USA team did not let this bother them and the United States won gold at the Athens Olympics. After the olympics the 5 who made women athletes and helped establish women's soccer retired, but helped inspire other girls to become great and continue to make the USWNST great and gold medalists.

Younger Athletes on Team's Abilities

Cat Reddick, Abby Wambach, and Kate Markgraf and more younger team mates can play professionally on any soccer team because the Women's National Soccer Team gave them the ability too. Cat Reddick admitted in "Dare To Dream" that Mia Hamm, Joy Faucet, Kristine Lilly, Julie Foudy, and Brandi Chastain are her role models because they let her do professionally what she loves to do-soccer.

Sport Impact

The United States Women's National Soccer Team had a great impact on the United States after the Rose Bowl, 2004 Olympics and other games and tournaments. After the revolution of soccer, most people started to appreciate sports even more than before. U.S. fans started to attend more sporting events, and teams started improving to because younger players, (mostly girls) watched the USWNST earn women the right to play soccer, and they wanted to keep it.

Worldwide Changes

Ever since the United States started to allow women to have the same sports' rights as men, other countries started to too. Norway, China, Japan, and more countries gave women a professional team along as several little leagues for children. This upgrade to women's sports gave the United States and other countries women's teams more of a competition during tournaments and other games.

See also

• American Cup
• American Football Association
• American Soccer League
• History of D.C. United
• History of the Portland Timbers franchise
• History of soccer in Los Angeles
• History of professional soccer in Seattle
• History of the U.S. Open Cup
• Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
• Major League Soccer
• North American Soccer League (1968–1984)
• North American Soccer League (2011–)
• Soccer in the United States
• United Soccer Leagues
• U.S. Soccer Federation
• United States men's national soccer team
• United States women's national soccer team

External links

• The American Soccer History Archives
• United States Soccer Federation