– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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HARRISON, NEW JERSEY — Before her latest match donning the Red, White and Blue badge, United States Women’s National Team goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher was honored in front of friends, family, and a sellout crowd of over 26,000 fans inside Red Bull Arena for earning her 100th cap with the Stars and Stripes earlier this year. But well before Game No. 100, and also well before her first-ever call up to the national team, Naeher, as well as all of her international teammates, needed the inspiration to begin her soccer journey, and, in the goalkeeper’s case, she got exactly that 25 years ago.
Just 10 miles north from the side of today’s match, Naeher sat in the stands inside of the Meadowlands as an 11-year-old, watching one of the most influential teams in the history of American sports start their journey toward achieving a watershed moment in women’s sports.
Those same players Naeher watched then were all back together in the same state today, as part of the United States Women’s National Team’s 25th anniversary celebration of their 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup triumph that culminated in their win in the Final inside of the Rose Bowl on July 10, 1999. And soon after each of the members of that team were individually introduced to the raucous crowd featuring many who watched that team break ratings records on ESPN and those who first knew of their greatness by word of mouth or YouTube, each of the players formed a guard of honor to welcome both today’s iteration of the USWNT and Mexico onto the field for a friendly that acted as a tune-up before the Olympic Games in Paris later this month.
Naeher, whose game today marked her 105th international cap, walked out onto the field as captain, and walked past every member of the 1999 team that provided the impetus to her own sterling career as a member of the national team, a moment where the legendary past, the wildly successful yet in-transition present, and the promising future all shared the field at once.
“Definitely a lot of emotions [today]. Even the last few days, I think we’ve done a lot of stuff with the ’99ers, which has been great,” Naeher said. “I think for me, and I’ve said this a couple of times already, this has kind of been a full circle moment for me being here in New Jersey. I was here in the opening game in ’99, watching that team as an 11-year-old kid. That was kind of what inspired me. I wanted to do this. I never would’ve thought a hundred games later, this would be where it’s at. And I think it’s just really cool and special to be a part of.”
Unlike Naeher, who at one point was teammates with one of the 99ers, defender Christie (Rampone) Pearce, many of the current team were too young — or hadn’t even been born — to remember the legendary squad, yet almost all know the impact and legacy that they had on the future of soccer in America, one that includes all of the current members.
“We’re in a moment where we want to rewrite our history, but to do that, I feel like we have to learn from the past and [the 1999 team] started this whole thing,” said United States national team forward Lynn Williams. “So to be able to win in front of them, playing in front of them is always an honor.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by A Lot of Sports Talk photo editor Robert Cole. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 30 pictures in total.
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