ASADENA, Calif. - The crowd lingered along the Rose Bowl concourse, pushing up against metal gates and straining to see over cement walls. The people wanted one last glimpse of their soccer heroes. Names and faces that went unrecognized less than three weeks ago were the focus of high-pitched postmatch screams and the paparazzi.
The largest throng gathered at the stadium's south end around the media tent. Restrained by burly event staff in yellow T-shirts, fans stuck their cameras between the tent flaps, clicking away at anything inside. While they waited they sang, ''Ole, ole, ole, ole,'' the international soccer anthem that rose to American popularity during the 1994 men's World Cup. They intermittently chanted, ''U-S-A, U-S-A.'' They cheered loudly as players entered and exited the tent.
The immediate afterglow of the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was colored red, white, and blue, and the words ''historic'' and ''legacy'' were used to describe the shining moment for female athletes. The championship celebration, the smiles, and the buzz surrounding the event were all big. In his postgame comments, US coach Tony DiCicco addressed a national audience and said that all Americans had played a part in the US shootout victory over China in the final.
''The legacy is that soccer has for sure captivated America for three weeks like it did in '94,'' he said. ''Now, we can say women's soccer or we can just say soccer. Our men captivated this country just as our women did. Soccer is here, whether you all as the media think it's an American sport or not. It's only going to further ingrain itself into our culture and into our society. The women's side of the game is proving that it's worthy of media attention. It is entertaining to watch. It's skillful to watch. Women's soccer and women's athletics are here to stay, and we're just scratching the surface.''
Coupled with the excitement generated by the US team and its second world title in eight years was the realization that Saturday's championship signaled the new apex of women's athletics. The record-setting 90,185 fans who packed the Rose Bowl and the portion of the crowd that caused a scene waiting for Mia, Julie, Brandi, Kate, Carla, and Kristine will not be duplicated anytime soon.
Even as they recounted their thrilling win on penalty kicks (5-4), the players understood the team would not continue to capitivate the country the way it had during the tournament. Now the Babes of Summer, tournament executives, and those hoping for a women's professional league will learn the statute of limitations for World Cup fame and the long-term legacy of the women's national team.
''It's too early to know what the legacy will be, but there are a few things I feel certain about,'' said tournament president and CEO Marla Messing. ''One, I believe that the FIFA Women's World Cup is a sporting event people are going to be interested in and excited about every four years, and that's going to help fuel the growth of women's soccer around the world. And two, I think we're going to see enormous numbers of girls register to play organized soccer in the fall because they just saw what a great sport it is. They want to be like Mia and Carla and Julie.
''It just captured the imagination of the American public. It sounds like a cliche, but this tournament and this team just captured their imagination to the point where people who don't care about soccer and don't care about women's sports were captivated, were watching the games on TV, were buying expensive tickets in some cases. It struck a chord. I think it's going to take some time to reflect and figure out what that chord was. Something sort of superkinetic happened.''
With their victory in the championship game, the women's national soccer team joined the growing list of successful American female sports teams capable of creating national interest. It kept in motion a trend largely started by the success of charismatic female teams in the 1996 Olympics. From the gold-medal winning softball team to the gold-medal winning basketball team to the 1998 gold-medal winning ice hockey team to the World Cup victors, the beneficiaries of Title IX are dominating the international sports scene, and, finally, the athletes are getting the attention they felt they deserved all along. (Don't forget that NBC chose not to broadcast live the inaugural Olympic women's soccer final in 1996.)
Messing and her committee of tournament executives took on the naysayers and showed them a large-scale women's World Cup could be a success. Saturday's Rose Bowl crowd was the largest ever to witness a women's-only sports event. And at the time, the 78,972 fans that watched the tournament opener between the US and Denmark was the largest ever. Soccer fans also flocked to matches that did not feature the US. At Foxboro Stadium, 28,986 attended the Independence Day semifinal between China and Norway. Now, the challenge is to sustain the interest.
