ELATION & VALIDATION
U.S women prove their dominance - and show they should be on equal footing with the men
Former USWNT star Kristine Lilly was in Lyon, France, for the Women’s World Cup final, as the United States emerged as back-toback champions after a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands. Lilly, part of World Cup champion teams in 1991 and 1999, accurately predicted the final score in her guest column Sunday. She shares her observations and thoughts on the historic run. As told to The Post’s Mollie Walker.
IT’S AWESOME to be part of the U.S. team.
No matter how you represent the country — if you were part of a World Cup win or not — it’s an honor to be on the team. You know what the tradition is like, you know what it means and you have a sisterhood that you can’t explain.
The only people who can understand it are the ones who participate.
I was fortunate enough to be on the field after the game when they got their medals, to shake their hands and give them hugs. Just seeing the smiles on the girls’ faces was so rewarding, it brought a little tear to my eye. I’m so proud of each and every one of them.
This win meant what they wanted it to mean. This team wanted to win, and when you continue to win, you make things happen. It’s hard to turn your eye to
success. And what they’re fighting for are things that we shouldn’t be fighting for, these things should just be coming.
The success these women have had cannot be ignored. With this win, it just validates — even more — what they’re fighting for and what they deserve. It’s not just for them, but for the women’s game in general. I think everyone should support all countries equally as they do the men’s side. It was a huge win for the United States, but an even bigger win for women’s soccer moving forward.
I believe the U.S. was a better team overall. The Netherlands didn’t seem to have enough juice in its engine, looking tired at times. But I think the Dutch gave everything they could. The fact this is their second World Cup and they’re already in the finals is incredible. Now, they get to go to the Olympics, giving them another opportunity to compete to be the best.
Megan Rapinoe came up big on the PK once again, along with Rose Lavelle, Sam Mewis and Becky Sauerbrunn posting exceptional performances in the win. But Rose was the player of the tournament, to be that young of a player and be as composed as she was out there. She was very good on the ball and I was so happy she was rewarded with a goal in the finals.
It’s tough to win back-to-back World Cups, the only other team to do it on the women’s side is Germany. It’s not easy at all. It just goes to show how much work these players have done to be in this position and to win it again.
All the time and effort these women put in, only to share the stage with two other men’s tournaments. The people who are interested in the game of soccer, they want to see both the men and the women play. So, to schedule South America’s Copa America men’s championship and the North America’s CONCACAF men’s Gold Cup on the same day as the Women’s World Cup final is silly. The World Cup comes around every four years, it’s not like it was a surprise. They know when it’s coming. It’s not like we only care about the women’s game, we care about the game of soccer. And when you’ve got big tournaments going on, bringing the best of the best, you want to be able to support it media-wise and fan-wise. Scheduling it together was a mistake.
Winning the World Cup is an incredible feeling, it really is. It’s an incomparable feeling to know that when you’re out there, you’re never alone. You have your teammates and the country behind you.
Being in the crowd today and hearing the fans cheer ‘USA,’ it was indescribable. So powerful to hear the support. I think the girls definitely felt it and I think they will continue to feel it while celebrating this victory.