As the shootout loomed to close the 1999 Women’s World Cup, millions of US women’s national team fans fought their nerves. But at our family’s watch party in central Minnesota, nobody doubted the USWNT’s chances.
My relatives – all soccer fans – were fixated upon the action as each second passed, as is the nature of a soccer family like mine. As extra time progressed, they reassured me, aged five, that our team was in control. I wasn’t exactly locked in to the match – it was summer in Minnesota, and my brother and sister had our own ball to kick around – but I clearly remember my family’s confidence in that moment.
