The world championship started the USA on a remarkable domination of women's soccer. In the ensuing 30 years, the Americans have won four World Cups (1991, 1999, 2015, 2019), finished second once and third three times. They also have had great success at the Olympic tournament, earning four gold medals (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012), a silver and a bronze.
It is easy to take this success for granted. In 1991, the USWNT program was but six-years-old at the time. While the team boasted many young talented players whose highest level outside of international competition was the nascent college game, the learning curve was steep. The squad embraced those lessons well, becoming battle-tested in friendly games against world’s best teams at that time - Norway, Sweden, Germany and China.
In what was a dress rehearsal for the 1991 World Cup, the USWNT experienced disappointment at the FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament in China in 1988, winning once in four matches. It started with a 5-2 win over Japan, followed by a 1-1 draw with Sweden and a scoreless tie with Czechoslovakia. The USA was eliminated via a 1-0 quarterfinal defeat to eventual champion Norway.
Another trip to China helped the young squad learn some more before it returned in November of 1991. They had learned proper road eating habits, how to get acclimated to the time change, how to recover quickly between matches and how to defeat their rivals.
With then and current University of North Carolina head coach Anson Dorrance directing the squad, the USA used nine current or former Tar Heels on the 18-player roster, adding some of the top talent from all corners of the USA. That included 19-year-old Mia Hamm and 20-year-old midfielders - Julie Foudy and Kristine Lilly.
"Anson, I guess was the perfect coach at the perfect time given the fact that so many of the top players played at North Carolina," Lilly said. “There was always a camaraderie. Coming together as a team was pretty amazing. He did a great job, creating that team and moving us in the direction that we are today."
Those training sessions were fierce and helped forged the reputation the squad has today - its ruthlessness on both sides of the ball.
"A lot of people back in the day was like, 'Oh, you guys didn't lose very much back then,' " Lilly said. "We might have not lost games but every day in practice we were on a winning or losing team, so you were losing in practice. We were so competitive in the practice environment. When we got to the games, we're like, 'Well, we don't want to lose,' so we were tearing people apart."
As the first World Cup tournament kicked off, the USWNT had played all of 58 international matches, 43 on the road. The Americans had compiled a 34-18-6 record.
In April of 1991, the U.S. women rolled through Concacaf qualifying, winning five matches while outscoring the opposition, 49-0. During that time, the team recorded an impressive 18-game winning streak (including 14 straight shutouts). The team did stumble to a 3-6-1 in its World Cup warm-up matches, losing to Norway twice and going winless vs. China (0-2-1).
Still, the team was confident.
"Entering the tournament, we absolutely felt the goal was to win the World Cup," Heinrichs said. “The question marks were: Could we manage the challenges of international opponents? You could play one team one day and two days later, you've got to play a completely different style, and two days later, a completely different style. Can you have good play consistently and can you get the ball to bounce in your way and anticipate people's mistakes? Can you have it all come together and players step up and play their role?"
The Americans' journey through the World Cup pitted them against the first three UEFA Women's champions - Sweden (1984), Norway (1987) and Germany (1989). They began against the Swedes, whom they had never beaten (0-1-1 at the time) and which boasted a brilliant midfielder, Pia Sundhage (who would direct the USWNT to a pair of Olympic gold medals and a second-place World Cup finish) before a crowd of 14,000 at Ying Tung Stadium, Guangzhou on Nov. 17.
Gabarra’s brace had given the Americans a two-goal advantage by the 49th minute. Hamm added another before the Swedes scored late as the USA held on for a 3-2 victory.
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November 30, 2021 at 08:26PM
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The First Star - U.S. Soccer
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