USL at the Women’s World Cup >>
The US Women’s National Team did not see the tournament success they envisioned in the 2003 Women’s World Cup, but their opponent in the Third Place match was a surprise to many.
The Canadian Women’s National Team, winless in two previous tournament appearances, took a giant leap forward that fall with its stunning run in the tournament. Leading the way were 16 players with W-League experience on the roster of 20, including 11 who played with the three Canadian franchises in 2003.
The most surprising story of the team’s run was that of Ottawa Fury goalkeeper Taryn Swiatek. After a breakout season in the W-League, where she finished second in goals against average at 0.41, she came into the tournament as the third-string netminder. Following a 4-1 loss to eventual champion Germany in their opener, Swiatek would make her debut in goal against Argentina and posted a shutout in a 3-0 win, the team’s first ever in the Women’s World Cup.
A 3-1 victory over Japan in their third match advanced the team out of group play and into a showdown with defending champion China in the quarterfinals. In a close-fought match, the Canadians registered the historic win to move onto the semis, where Sweden would rally with two unanswered goals in the final 11 minutes for a 2-1 win.
Swiatek finished with a 1.20 GAA for the tournament while three of the four goal scorers on the team were W-League alumni. USL Hall of Famer Charmaine Hooper tallied twice despite playing in her new role as defender. Vancouver Whitecaps 16-year old phenom Kara Lang also found the back of the net twice and former Whitecap Christine Sinclair finished tied with Christine Latham for the team lead with three strikes for the tournament.
Of the 42 current and former W-League players on Women’s World Cup rosters, 35 saw action during group play in the first two weeks. Only three of the current 17 W-League players in the tournament did not see action in the group stage.
Five W-Leaguers were honored with Players of the Match honors, selected by the FIFA Technical Study Group, during the course of the tournament.
Charmaine Hooper was honored for leading the Canadians to a surprising Quarterfinal win over China with a stellar performance in her new role as defender. She still found the net, however, scoring the game’s lone tally on a header in the seventh minute.
Former Delaware Genie Kristine Lilly scored the first goal of the United States’ campaign and the 92nd of her international career in her 256th international appearance - a 3-1 win over Sweden.
Northern Virginia Majestics player Elizabeth Baidu was honored for her outstanding defensive play for Ghana in shutting down China, the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup runners-up, in a narrow 1-0 loss. She was one of three players in the tournament to be honored from a team in a loss.
Former Memphis Mercury player Cheryl Salisbury was honored for her fantastic defensive play in Australia’s 1-1 draw against China. She made a save in the 42nd minute, clearing the ball off the line to preserve a 1-0 lead heading to halftime.
Despite two goals by teammate Alberta Sackey, Northern Virginia Majestic Adjoa Bayor was honored for her remarkable play in midfield that created numerous scoring chances for Ghana in their surprising 2-1 victory over Australia.
In the four years since the 1999 Women’s World Cup, the number of international players from abroad has increased in the W-League, pushing the talent level in the league to new heights and improving the level of the women’s game in North America and abroad. After fine-tuning their talents in the W-League, players like Australia’s Kelly Golebiowski, Mexico’s Maribel Dominguez and Japan’s Homare Sawa, among many others, raised the level of play of their nations.
"The W-League is fortunate to have the highest level of players come through our system and appreciates the dedication of our franchise owners, who actualize the visions and goals of the league and women soccer players in North America and around the globe," said W-League Director of Operations Tammy Crawford.
Leading the list of W-League alumni was Canadian Charmaine Hooper, who was the first woman inducted into the USL Hall of Fame as a member of the inaugural class. Hooper was a three-time scoring champion and the 1998 W-1 Most Valuable Player as a member of the Chicago Cobras. She was the first-ever W-League Scoring Champion while with the Rockford Dactyls in 1995 with 31 points.
The Nigerian duo of Mercy Akide and Florence Omagbemi led the Hampton Roads Piranhas to an undefeated 14-0-0 season in 2003 and the club’s first league title in nine seasons of play. Akide finished 10th in the league in scoring with seven goals and five assists for 19 points, but scored her most important goal of the year in overtime of the championship. In a scoreless match in which Akide and Omagbemi controlled the play and had several dangerous chances, Akide’s 96th minute strike earned her the W-League Championship Most Valuable Player honor.
The Nigerian duo were the latest installment of successful alumni from the Virginia Beach, Virginia-based club. The club had six alumni in the tournament, including 2000 W-1 Assist Leader Angela Hucles of the US and 2001 W-1 Rookie of the Year Kelly Golebiowski of Australia.
Golebiowski was one of three former W-League Rookies of the Year in the tournament, joining 2002 honoree Elizabeth Baidu of the Northern Virginia Majestics and Ghana and 2000 W-2 honoree Nkiru Okosieme of the Charlotte Lady Eagles and Nigeria.
The Piranhas’ six alumni in the tournament ranked second to the Vancouver Whitecaps, who saw eight players, six of them current, take to the field in the World Cup. The list included veteran international player Andrea Neil, who ranked second to Hooper in all-time caps for Canada at the time. Up and coming youngster Kara Lang is another current member of the Whitecaps squad that will represent Canada. Former Whitecaps forward Christine Sinclair is also a member of the Canadian National Team.
US internationals such as Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy and Kristine Lilly were among the players in the early years of the W-League that were also among the seven alumni on the US squad. Chastain and Foudy played for the Sacramento Storm and Lilly was a member of the Delaware Genies. US goalkeeper Siri Mullinix helped lead the Raleigh Wings to their second straight W-1 Championship in 1999 when she stopped the 16-0 Chicago Cobras’ Courtney Linex in the sixth round of the tiebreaker shootout in the final.
2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup and W-League Facts and Figures:
42 W-League alumni represented seven nations in the Women’s World Cup (Australia 7, Canada 16, Ghana 5, Japan 1, Nigeria 4, Norway 1, US 8)… 18 current W-League players were in the World Cup… 18 current and former W-League teams were represented by players in the World Cup… 6 W-League teams were represented by current players in the World Cup (Charlotte 2, Hampton Roads 2, Northern Virginia 3, Ottawa 4, Toronto 1, Vancouver 6)… The Vancouver Whitecaps had the most alumni in the World Cup with 8… All three 2003 Canadian W-League teams were represented by players in the World Cup... 3 players in the World Cup had won W-League Rookie of the Year honors - Elizabeth Baidu (Ghana) was 2002 RoY, Kelly Golebiowski (Australia) was 2001 W-1 RoY and Nkiru Okosieme (Nigeria) was the 2000 W-2 RoY… 2 players in the World Cup had led the W-League in assists - Angela Hucles (United States) led W-1 in 2000 and Rhian Wilkinson (Canada) led W-League in 2003… Charmaine Hooper (Canada) was the only player in the World Cup that had won the W-League Scoring Championship or Most Valuable Player honor - Scoring Champion in 1995, 1998 and 2000; MVP in 1998… Charmaine Hooper (Canada) was the only W-League player in the USL Hall of Fame, which was established last fall… Mercy Akide (Nigeria) and Sasha Andrews (Canada) were the only players in the World Cup on the W-League’s 2003 All-League Team; Florence Omagbemi (Nigeria) and Andrea Neil (Canada) were named to W-League’s 2003 All-Conference Teams along with Akide and Andrews… 5 players in the World Cup had won a W-League Championship - Siri Mullinix (US) and Silvana Burtini (Canada) with Raleigh in 1999, Charmaine Hooper (Canada) with Chicago in 2000 and Mercy Akide (Nigeria) and Florence Omagbemi (Nigeria) with Hampton Roads in 2003.
W-League Impact on the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup (A listing of current and former W-League players by country): Australia (7) - Kelly Golebiowski (Hampton Roads), Cassandra Kell (Hampton Roads), April Mann (Greensboro), Joey Peters (Charlotte), Cheryl Salisbury (Memphis), Danielle Small (Toronto), Amy Wilson (Greensboro)… Canada (16) - Sasha Andrews (Vancouver), Silvana Burtini (Raleigh), Linda Consolante (Ottawa), Randee Hermus (Vancouver), Charmaine Hooper (Chicago, Rockford), Kristina Kiss (Ottawa), Kara Lang (Vancouver), Diana Matheson (Toronto), Erin McLeod (Vancouver), Isabelle Morneau (Ottawa), Carmelina Moscato (Vancouver), Andrea Neil (Vancouver), Christine Sinclair (Vancouver), Taryn Swiatek (Ottawa), Brittany Timko (Vancouver), Rhian Wilkinson (Ottawa)… Ghana (5) - Besilea Amoo-Telleh (Northern Virginia), Elizabeth Baidu (Northern Virginia), Adjoa Bayor (Northern Virginia), Alberta Sackey (Northern Virginia), Abiba Sulemana (New York)… Japan (1) - Homare Sawa (Denver)… Nigeria (4) - Mercy Akide (Hampton Roads), Patience Avre (Charlotte, Hampton Roads), Nkiru Okosieme (Charlotte), Florence Omagbemi (Hampton Roads)… Norway (1) - Kristine Edner (Tampa Bay)… United States (7) - Brandi Chastain (Sacramento), Julie Foudy (Sacramento), Angela Hucles (Hampton Roads), Kristine Lilly (Delaware), Siri Mullinix (Raleigh), Christie Pearce (New Jersey LS, Central Jersey), Brianna Scurry (Delaware), Abby Wambach (Rochester)
