This morning I opened up my copy of Will Durant's "The Life of Greece" and found these:
Two tickets each to three matches of Olympic soccer held at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando in 1996. We saw the US Women play Sweden. Suiting up for Sweden that day was a girl named Pia Sundhage. Fifteen years later, she's coaching the US team in the World Cup.
(Note: I'm currently inclined to take the position Michael Davies and Roger Bennett of ESPN's Off the Ball podcast, which is that THIS is the World Cup, and the one played by men should be called the Men's World Cup.)
Later that same day, July 23, 1996, we saw Japan play Nigeria. I remember enjoying Nigeria's style of play and listening to their fans beat the drums.
I also remember playing putt-putt golf with my sister the night before, and meeting a group of teenage boys and girls who were sort of goofing off and letting us play through. As we sat at the top of the Citrus Bowl bleachers in front of the luxury boxes, we heard a banging on the glass behind us. We turned around and saw the same kids we'd seen the night before. I like that story.
Looking back at the schedule for those games, I think we also saw Spain beat Saudi Arabia and Nigeria beat Hungary.
Today the US Women play France. I suppose it's too much to hope for that France will just surrender before the match.
