By CAMILLA SCOTT
My husband and I attended the Women’s World Cup in Pasadena on Saturday. We drove straight through Friday night, arriving at the Rose Bowl at about 4 a.m. Saturday. Sleeping in the car in the parking lot wasn’t the most comfortable thing, but hey, anything for the Women’s World Cup.
The event was designed to celebrate women, with the theme “This is My Game. This is My Future. Watch Me Play.” A total of 90,185 watched the U.S. play for 120 minutes and then go into a penalty kick shootout. I’d like to see Michael Jordan run for two hours all over a football field. The women proved the Gatorade commercial’s hypothesis: Anything you can do, I can do better.
The game was more intense than the heat, so nobody left until after the awarding of the gold medals to the U.S. team and their victory lap with the American flag. It was almost as if people didn’t want to leave the last World Cup of the century. But maybe after five hours of soccer the heat had fried the fans’ brains and they were waiting for something else to happen.
The games were great. Before the U.S. played, fans cheered on Brazil and Norway. Norwegian and Brazilian flags were waved, but it was also during that game that the Chinese and U.S. fans began exchanging chants, intensifying the rivalry in the stadium. It was surprising, to me at least, how many Chinese fans there were at the stadium, all dressed in red and white, waving flags and holding signs written in Chinese.
When the U.S. team entered the stadium, the energy they brought with them and the cheering of the fans were united in pursuit of the ultimate goal: to become world champions. Throughout both games, the class and enthusiasm of the fans was wonderful to see. Without regard to nationality, fans cheered the athletes and their sport.
There were the occasional ‘boos’ when a call was made against the U.S., but both teams received standing ovations at game’s end for their skill and good sportsmanship. Only one team was able to leave with a gold medal, but all left as champions in the eyes of the fans.
The Women’s World Cup Final was unlike any other athletic event I’ve ever seen.
