Posted on by Jimmy Sullivan

Why You Should Care About the Women’s World Cup Final

The above headline is absurd.  I know.

With the hopes of two countries riding on the result of Sunday night’s tilt between the United States and Japan, there are plenty of reasons to be interested in the game.  However, the question of how interested we should be is much broader and more difficult to answer.

I’ll admit something: I wasn’t initially interested in the Women’s World Cup.  I didn’t watch a single game during the group stage or the earlier knockout rounds.  That all changed, however, on Tuesday night.

With the USA playing Germany in the semifinal of the tournament, the action was gripping.  With double zeros registering on the scoreboard in the 59th minute, Germany was awarded a penalty kick.  With Celia Sasic taking the kick, this happened.

The Americans came into the game as underdogs. That miss, in that moment, changed the entire game. The U.S. women gained confidence out of dodging the bullet and the Germans became stagnant on both sides. In the 67th minute, a questionable penalty kick was awarded to the United States, on this foul against Alex Morgan:

Carli Lloyd was chosen to take the penalty kick, and she scored.

As the game progressed, the U.S. got more opportunities, and in the 84th minute, Kelly O’Hara converted for the second goal, which proved to be the dagger for Germany.

There would be another game the next day to decide who would play the United States in Sunday’s final. Japan and England were tied at 1-1 in the 92nd minute; there were 3 extra minutes of stoppage time, so the game was nearing its conclusion.  Japan tried to complete a pass that would’ve ended up right in front of the England goal.  British defender Laura Bassett made the right play in breaking up the pass, but would not get her reward.

And just like that, England’s World Cup run was over.  Bassett has gotten widespread sympathy across the world today (as she should) and the level of shock from everyone involved when the play happened is one that is rarely reached in sports. People seem interested.  This is good.

However, the level of worldly interest is not the same as it was in the men’s game a year ago.

The double standard regarding the treatment of men’s and women’s soccer players was never more evident than in 1999, when the United States played China in the Women’s World Cup Final.  The game went to penalty kicks, and the U.S. was in position to win the game on the last kick, which was to be taken by Brandi Chastain.

You probably know what happened, but for those that don’t, Chastain scored.  After the goal, Chastain ripped her shirt off in celebration, revealing only a sports bra underneath the jersey. It was awesome.  It was wonderful.  And it became the defining moment in the history of women’s sports, for better or worse.

This country was enthralled with the team in 1999, much like it is now.  However, the controversy surrounding Chastain’s actions at the end of the game was widespread and stunning. Some felt that she overreacted in ripping off the shirt, but those same people have no issue with men’s players when they take off theirs.

I’m not saying it isn’t okay to do it, especially when the moment warrants.  In 2012, when Manchester City needed to defeat perennial basement dweller Queens Park Rangers in order to take the Premier League title away from rival Manchester United, Sergio Aguero scored in the final moments of the game. Manchester City would win the title.

Aguero took his shirt off after the play, and the moment, the roar, and the call from legendary soccer voice Martin Tyler (AguerOOOOOOOOOOO) were all absolutely perfect.

However, there is also another element of this debate that needs to be examined: Sepp Blatter.

In early 2004, Blatter made the following comments about the women’s game, as reported then by the British newspaper The Guardian:

Football’s most senior administrator attracted the wrath of the women’s game last night by suggesting female players wear tighter shorts to promote “a more female aesthetic”.

Sepp Blatter, the president of the world governing body Fifa, said women should have skimpier kit to increase the popularity of the game. “Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball,” he said.

“They could, for example, have tighter shorts. Female players are pretty, if you excuse me for saying so, and they already have some different rules to men – such as playing with a lighter ball. That decision was taken to create a more female aesthetic, so why not do it in fashion?”

Blatter’s comments outraged leading European female footballers, and have threatened to undermine the sport, which has 30 million registered players worldwide.

That was, and probably still is, Sepp Blatter’s attitude on women’s soccer.  He obviously does not care too terribly much about the women’s game, and doesn’t care whether or not the rest of the viewing public cares either.  He won’t be attending the Final on Sunday, and that shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering the fact that he is under investigation by Swiss and American authorities.  The New York Times reported on this on Tuesday:

“He’s not going to go to the finals in Canada,” Cullen said, according to the Reuters report. “He has informed the organizers of that and cited personal reasons.”

FIFA later confirmed that Blatter and his top deputy, Jérôme Valcke, would not attend because of “their current commitments in Zurich.” Cullen said that the FIFA vice president Issa Hayatou of Cameroon would preside at the trophy ceremony after Sunday’s final in Vancouver, British Columbia, in Blatter’s place.

Blatter has taken a personal interest in the growth of women’s soccer during his tenure as FIFA president, including the expansion of this year’s World Cup to 24 teams. In May, he declared himself a “godfather” of the women’s game.

But with Swiss and American officials looking into other cases involving FIFA and refusing to rule out charges against Blatter, he has been keeping a low profile by speaking mostly to Swiss newspapers and appearing at private, FIFA-controlled events in Zurich. He hired Cullen, a former federal prosecutor, to advise him in those cases.

The Vice President of FIFA, Cameroon’s Issa Hayatou, will preside over the trophy presentation. This is basically like President Obama making Vice President Biden forge his signature on the Affordable Care Act; it’s ridiculous.

Second of all, Blatter is not a “godfather” of the women’s game, either.  If he was, then why is he making the women play on artificial turf, which is historically worse on the knees than natural grass? There may be more to the story, but the issue reeks of gender equality and women being treated in an inferior manner as opposed to men, at least in soccer.

About a month ago, comedian John Oliver, on his HBO show “Last Week Tonight”, took the time to hilariously deconstruct FIFA in light of the investigation regarding allegations of corruption and racketeering from high-ranking officials.  It is 13 minutes long, but good God, is it worth your time.

The segment perfectly illustrates Blatter: the hard-to-like, corrupt, and yet incredibly powerful overseer of soccer. However, Blatter announced that he was resigning on June 2 and the reaction was predictable:

 

FIFA, everyone.  An outright joke.  Now, let’s move back to women’s soccer.

The players in the NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League) are making anywhere between $6,000 to $30,000 a year, while MLS players make a minimum of $50,000 (h/t to Alicia Lorene Johnson at bustle.com for the numbers).  This has led some teams to set up host family programs; an example of a sports league doing this is the Cape Cod Baseball League in Massachusetts, which hosts summer baseball for college players.

One of these teams is the Houston Dash, and two of their players, Morgan Brian and Meghan Klingenberg, are also playing for the USWNT. However, they stay with a host family during the Dash’s season, and this has led to a crazy story about them and their famous hosts, per USA Today’s For The Win:

OTTAWA — Sunday mornings mean pancakes at Jeff Van Gundy’s house.

Jeff cuts fresh fruit, his wife Kim flips the pancakes, and Meghan Klingenberg fixes bacon.

Yes, the same Meghan Klingenberg who has played every minute on the United States national team’s back line this World Cup has “Pancake Sundays” with the Van Gundy family in Houston because she lives with them while playing for the Houston Dash in the National Women’s Soccer League.

When Van Gundy learned of the team’s host-family program last year, he jumped on the opportunity knowing little about soccer. The former NBA coach and current ESPN analyst didn’t realize his family received an “absolute blessing.”

Then this past spring, U.S. midfielder Morgan Brian moved in, too.

“I can’t tell you how fortunate we are,” Van Gundy told For The Win. “You don’t know when you have people, but the example they set and also for me having been in the NBA for a long time, they just have a different perspective because they’ve never had it easy. And it’s interesting to watch them. They’re just really excited about the opportunities and how they go about it is impressive.

“The utter lack of sense of entitlement was actually startling for me. For professional athletes, I always think about it in these terms: the most difficult diva of women’s soccer would be the easiest NBA player ever.”

Yes, that Jeff Van Gundy.  The NBA coach that coached the Knicks from 1996-2001 and the Rockets from 2003-2007.  Two world class athletes are relegated to having to stay with a host family.  Two world class athletes had to be taken in by “The Notorious J.V.G”.

The reason why this is appalling for women’s soccer is that the games are so exciting.  The NWSL is the fourth attempt at an American women’s soccer league in the last 20 years; the other three (W-League, WUSA and WPS) all folded.  If the games at the club level are even half as exciting as they are at the national level, the league has the potential to be really, really good.

Women’s soccer is very similar to men’s soccer.  The game is played the same way, and the drama, excitement, and emotion of the games are the same as they are in the men’s game.  There is no reason why American sports fans cannot get behind the U.S. women and cheer them on at 7:00 Sunday night.

So yes, you should care about the Women’s World Cup Final. Unlike in the men’s game, this is probably the only chance you will get to see stars like Abby Wambach, Lloyd, Morgan, Hope Solo, and others. The people are different from last year to this one, but the cause is the same: to win a World Cup.

In spite of FIFA, Sunday’s game should be a great exhibition of soccer, the way it is supposed to be played.  However, and most importantly, both countries will be behind their teams to win the game.  Of course, I’m rooting for the U.S., as most, if not all, Americans probably are.  And this is why you should care about the game: the hopes of a country are riding on it.

I believe that we will win.

USA!  USA!  USA!