Power shift in Portland as Germany dethrone USA
Having received five of the seven variants among them, the USA and Germany are firmly installed because of the most prosperous nations in FIFA Women’s World Cup history. But returned in 2003, there was absolute confidence which of this heavyweight duo held pinnacle billing.
The Americans were, in any case, -time winners, holders, and hosts, having stepped into a degree the match once more following the SARS outbreak in China. They had an all-big name team proposing the likes of Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Brandi Chastain, and an outstanding teen through the call of Abby Wambach. Germany, however, had fallen short in every in their previous three World Cup campaigns.
There become, but, to be an impressive strength shift, and it happened in Portland on five October 2003.
While few in the crowd had anticipated it to be smooth for America – it had taken the strange purpose in five to look off the Germans 4 years earlier – no-one predicted the complete 3-zero defeat that followed.
Defender Kate Markgraf, reflecting years later, made the apparent-talking admission that the Stars & Stripes “got our asses kicked.” “The entire sport we were given manhandled,” she stated. “They have been destroying us, gambling right around us.”
So superior has been the European champions that US famous person Julie Foudy, writing for ESPN, remembered “feeling just like the Germans had a twelfth participant.”
This was a recollection shared by Hamm, the Americans’ superstar participant, who said it was the handiest time in her profession that she skilled the sort of sensation. “At one factor, I even started out counting their gamers,” the USA talisman recalled. “They have been sending such a lot of gamers through. I spent so much time gambling defense.”
Germany went directly to win the trophy by way of beating Sweden in the Final, and 4 years later, they would end up the first and, up to now, most effective team to maintain the Women’s World Cup. For the United States and the rest of women’s soccer, the gauntlet has been laid down.
Did you know?
This semi-final became a tactical triumph for Tina Theune-Meyer, and the Germany coach’s captivating preparatory notes function inside the FIFA World Football Museum’s USA 2003 showcase.
