Two-time World Cup winner Julie Foudy shares her bond with U.S. women's national team members as the current roster departs for the 2023 World Cup.
We waited our whole lives for this moment — the first Women’s World Cup to be held on American soil — and we wanted to set a standard, a benchmark for every World Cup to follow. We wanted big stadiums, a national footprint, large crowds, lots of buzz. The only question mark was kinda important: Could we fill the big stadiums? The players, of course, immediately thought “Oh hell, yes,” and a year in advance we had already set our sights.
For generation after generation, the focus has always been on creating a family, competing our butts off, having fun, making our country proud and, equally important, thinking bigger than sports. The formula is pretty simple, really. Create and sustain a culture that values the, the sisterhood, and the possible, treating the podium as not just a place to celebrate, but also a platform from which to holler for the world to up its game.
Ahhh, the ‘80s, when the U.S. National team was formed, a glorious era with its wonderfully cringy trappings: big hair, mullets , scrunchies ,off-the-shoulder sweatshirts with a sports bra , VHS tapes to watch game film, Kristine Lilly’s yellow Sony Walkman cassette player, which I thought was perhaps the coolest thing I had ever seen. We were just a bunch of kids , incredibly grateful to be playing for our country, and completely clueless as to what that meant.
U.S. midfielder Julie Foudy, left, controls the ball and pushes past Germany’s Pia Wunderlich during the 2004 Olympics in Athens. “They also go through all the s—,” I added, laughing. “But it is the s— that makes you great.” I really believe that. Perspective, the gift that keeps on giving. What I didn’t realize is that future generations would also have to overcome obstacles.
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