Franco Baresi, Daniele Massaro and Roberto Baggio all wish they had scored in the World Cup final penalty shootout at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. “God’s Ponytail” Baggio in particular knows what it’s like to miss the decisive kick in front of 90,000 fans. After putting Italy’s fifth penalty on the line in 1994, Baggio slumped his shoulders, deflated his sternum, tucked his chin into his collarbone and put his hands on his hips, a picture of utter dejection.
Compare that to the scene on the same field five years later. On July 10, 1999, exactly 25 years ago, U.S. left back Brandi Chastain stepped up from the center circle for the 10th kickoff at 4-4 in the shootout against China after Brianna Scurry saved Liu Ying’s penalty. Eight years earlier, she had been an unused substitute when the U.S. Women’s National Team beat China in the inaugural Women’s World Cup final in Guangzhou. Chastain was a forward at the time, but after four years of international experience before her spectacular return to the game with a gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics, she needed to adapt to secure a regular spot. In doing so, her versatility and tenacity were virtues that earned her a place first in midfield and eventually at fullback.
In the quarter-final 3-2 win over Germany, Chastain scored an own goal and then tied the game. She’s a regular at taking penalties and was expected to be one of the five players in the final after going 120 scoreless minutes at a California power station. But four months earlier, in the Algarve Cup final, she’d pulled off a “Baggio” from the penalty spot to help China win the preliminary tournament. So assistant coach Lauren Gregg named her as No. 6, or No. 1 if sudden death was needed.
In the center circle, coach Tony DiCicco pushed her up to number five but insisted she take with her left foot. True, she was the only two-footed player on the team, but she was a little biased to the right and always took penalties with her right foot. But DiCicco found that in practice she could hide her left-handedness better. In the 1986 Men’s World Cup, West Germany’s Andreas Brehme scored a goal from 12 yards with his left foot, then in the final four years later, he scored with his right foot. Chastain was walking the road less traveled.
In a match in Portugal in March of that year, China’s goalkeeper Gao Hong tried to distract Chastain on the penalty spot by nearly colliding his face with his nose before placing the ball, with Chastain looking down until he had placed the ball and sent Gao over the goal line. Chastain’s only strategy was to kick the ball with his “natural side,” that is, with the top of his right foot, as hard as he could.