1 Season
9 Episode
Nine for IX - Season 1 Episode 8 The '99ers
The world of women's sports was kicked upside down on July 10, 1999. Before a sold-out crowd of more than 90,000 at the Rose Bowl and an estimated 40 million Americans watching on television, the women's soccer team reached a cultural and athletic pinnacle with its penalty-kick shootout victory against China to win the Women's World Cup. These players were more than the ponytailed poster girls celebrated by mainstream media. As told through the voice of a longtime team captain Julie Foudy, we get an inside look at the strong team ethic and rare "do for each other" mentality that propelled the squad to victory and turned it into a cultural touchstone. With unprecedented access, the film uses candid, behind-the-scenes footage shot by the players themselves during the tournament to present a unique portrait of the women who irrevocably changed the face of women's athletics. Reuniting key players from the 1999 squad and talking with current U.S. players, the film will examine how women's soccer -- and women's sports as a whole -- has changed since that epic day.