1999 WWC....An Incredible Month

Coach Manning here…I wanted to drop in and tell you a little about my brush with history. This month marks the 10 year anniversary of the 1999 Women’s World Cup. I am sure you have heard the story…the U.S. team defeats China in front of 90,000 fans at the Rose Bowl. Brandi Chastain makes the winning penalty kick and proceeds to take off her shirt in celebration. The crowd and a nation go nuts and all kinds of athletic and social barriers for women are broken and models re-defined.


Well, the 1999 WWC had a great effect on my life. I am the coach here at the U of U because of it. I was in the middle of the storm from the time the winds started blowing until this very day. It was a great and powerful storm and looking back it still makes me smile to this day.
So, it’s 1998 and I am teaching math at Los Alamitos High School and coaching at a girls’ soccer club called the Southern California Blues. I had been coaching girls for about 5 years after my friend, Larry Draluck, asked me to help a bit with the club. Having been a graduate of Santa Clara University, I stayed in touch and used to go back and work camps in the summer.
Jerry Smith was the head coach at SCU and had turned the Broncos into a national powerhouse. His wife was the assistant coach…her name was Brandi Chastain. I saw Jerry at a youth tournament in May of ’98 and he asked if I’d like to come and help him with his team. Apparently, the U.S. team was going to Florida for a 6-month residency program to prepare for the 1999 WWC. Brandi would be gone for that time and wouldn’t be able to help him full-time anymore. Well, I took about 10 seconds to think about it …let’s see…a full-time job at one of the top programs in the country and an opportunity to learn about the women’s college game from the best…of course I would help!

So, here I was in the fall of 1998, helping to coach the Broncos. Brandi stayed as a volunteer and helped when she was in town. We had an incredible season…we were undefeated up most of the season and set an NCAA record for consecutive shutouts (17)…we lost a heartbreaker to Florida in the NCAA semi-finals.

After the season, we learned more details about the World Cup that would take place in the U.S. Some games would be played in San Jose and Palo Alto and the final would be at the Rose Bowl. We had some teams training at Santa Clara and I was a site manager for the Swedes, the Chinese, and the Russians…all who practiced there. It was great to see world-class players like Hanna Ljungberg and Sun Wen in person…even if some of the coaches got angry at me because the field was too dry!

I went to some early round games…Sweden, Japan, Russia, and China all played and the games were well-played and well-attended. We were also busy with summer camps and there was great excitement in watching games on TV with the campers. It was all very inspiring.
The U.S. was doing well and momentum was building. We would hold our breath for Brandi and the other players. In the quarterfinal game against Germany, Brandi accidentally passed the ball into her own net to give the Germans an early lead. We were so happy and relieved when she later scored and helped the U.S. to a 3-2 comeback win.

So the semi-finals were set and the U.S. would play Brazil at Stanford Stadium. We had a camp going on and would take all 275 campers to the game (a huge project). One of my great memories is that Brandi came by the camp to say hello to all. She was in the middle of this huge tournament. She was nursing a sore ankle. And yet took the time to drive over to Santa Clara to talk to some young people about the game. The commitment and mindset of those U.S. players was truly an incredible thing to witness. She walked in front of the crowd at camp with an electric “stim” machine and inspired and informed us all.

The next day we bussed over to Palo Alto and watched another thrilling U.S. victory (2-0) as goal keeper Brianna Scurry put on a world-class display….So it was on to Pasadena and the final against the mighty Chinese.

I called and ordered 4 tickets…I took my mom, my nephew Justin (8 years old at the time) and my cousin Julie. It was HOT that day…and there wasn’t a lot of action as both teams were organized and excellent from the back. I remember how much the game changed when USA midfielder Michelle Akers had to leave the game due to heat exhaustion. She is maybe the greatest female player ever and it was a pleasure to see her do her thing that day.
It got to penalty kicks…I remember captain Carla Overbeck taking one of the first for the U.S…she made it and did an exaggerated celebration, jumping all the way back to her teammates at the center circle. I thought that really gave the U.S. players confidence and helped them to relax. So here comes #5...the last kicker for the U.S….and it’s Brandi….I was nervous. My nephew had met Brandi a few times and was very excited for her. Brandi had taken a PK and hit the post in a game against China just 3 months earlier. So it took incredible determination and self-belief to step up that day. She also took it with her left foot…she is a natural right-footed player….WOW!

Well, the rest is history. An indelible moment in sports history and an unforgettable month. I got back to the office and we were overwhelmed with letters, phone calls and e-mails for Brandi…a small price to pay for watching a truly great accomplishment!