I am embarassed to admit this, but I was very young when the 99ners won the WWC so I don't know the like for like players that did the job. So I understand obviously Mia Hamm probably = Alex Morgan right? Are there any other like for likes from the current roster to the legendary 99 roster? edit: who was the outspoken megan rapinoe on the team if there ever was one? during 99? was it Brandi:?
Based on what? By style of play? Strengths? Position? And if you're asking based on style of play, I wouldn't say Hamm and Morgan are the same, especially considering how Morgan's play (and what I believe was asked of her) changed in this tournament. Hamm also mostly played wing in a 4-3-3 during the 99 WWC although there was more interchange between those front 3 than we saw among the '19 front three. If its based on position, than its relatively easy since both teams used a 4-3-3, but the style of the 4-3-3 was different. 1999 USWNT lineup during the knockouts: .........................Scurry Fawcett...Overbeck...Sobrero....Chastain ............................Akers ...................Foudy.........Lilly Hamm...............Milbrett...........Parlow Note: Akers did play somewhat like a regista in the 99 WWC, but in the final she mostly man-marked Sun Wen. 2019 USWNT lineup during [most of] the knockouts: ......................Naeher O'Hara...Dahlkemper....Sauerbrunn...Dunn ........................Ertz ..............Mewis..........Lavelle Heath..............Morgan............Rapinoe
Your question is a great one. Given my grizzled-ness, I do remember the '99 team (I did write a book in tribute to them), so let me try to give you some insight (but if you look into archives, you may decide to reach conclusions different from mine). The teams were different. Chastain was the most outspoken team member in '99. She was called "Hollywood" by teammates, did interviews readily and often shed her clothes in poses in ads for publicity (see Nike '96 ad and Gear Magazine '99 cover - it was not hard to anticipate her jersey removal if you knew her "posture" before the '99 WWC). She was, however, at the same time extremely flamboyant, a consummate "team" first person. Also, she has always impressed me as someone who can communicate to a wider audience, unlike Rapinoe. Hamm = Morgan is reasonably on parallel but Hamm was shyer than Morgan (even though she had a bundle of ad endorsements and once even threw Michael Jordan to the mat in a Gatorade ad). Both also tended not to score goals in big games. What the '99 team had that has no parallel in '19 was the Legend, Michelle Akers. Akers was undoubtedly the greatest women's soccer player ever and the one player whose superlative play would quickly convince grown men who watched that this was a sport worth watching. Though Ertz anchors the same position as Akers, and Ertz herself is a fantastic player, she is not Akers. Nobody has been. Sauerbrunn = Overbeck is a good parallel. Since Lavelle is left-footed, it is tempting to do a Lavelle = Lilly. Lavelle has more grace with the ball; Lilly was a tireless digger of battled balls. Also, O'Hara = Fawcett is not a bad comparison because both regularly made attacking runs with power. Heath had no parallel on the '99 team. Mewis = Foudy might be a close one. Though I likened Chastain to Rapinoe above, her position on the '19 team was played by Dunn - a superior soccer player to Chastain, even though as a pure athlete Chastain was a standout on the '99 team (and frankly would have been on the '19 team - I don't think anyone on the '19 team can match her for sheer fitness and physique).
I'd say the 2019 team is better than the 1999 team. The 2019ers at the World Cup were never behind in the score, never had to decide a game on a penalty shootout, and never made any critical mistakes (such as Chastain's own goal in 99.) Every position this year was solid, and every sub was competent. Arguably, the US also had a tougher schedule in 2019 than in 1999. Nigeria, Denmark, and North Korea in the group stage in 99, versus Thailand, Chile, and Sweden this year. Sweden is tougher than any of the teams in the 99 group stage. This is not take to away from Hamm and Akers who may be the two best soccer players that the U.S. has produced. I don't see any counterparts of theirs on the 2019 team.
Morgan has quite a few big game goals. Of course this one is better. It has been 20 years and the tactics/training of women's football has been keep evolving quickly. However I won't give that much credit to Hamm, she's good but doesn't have enough performance in big games. Akers, Wambach, Lloyd, Rapinoe and Morgan all have more big game goals.
I measure greatness by the competition. If Jessie Owens were trying out for the Olympics today, he wouldn't make the team. But he was good enough in 1936 to set some records and win some medals. Comparatively speaking, the 2019 team was better than the 1999 team. That's what I'm saying. .
You're comparing Mewis to Foudy? The best comparison for Mewis is Cindy Parlow: both tall and overrated.
Agree with a lot of what your wrote, except this. Morgan has scored in huge games from the start of her career. from Winning the u20 WC on her goal, to scoring the goal to get the WNT into the WC (against Italy), to a goal and assist in the 2011 WC final against Japan, she also scored in the Semifinals against France here in this tournament. to the 2012 Olympics where she scored the game winner in the semifinals against Canada, latest goal in olympic history. To this years semifinals, etc. etc. Morgan was injured last WC. Other than that she's more clutch than Hamm ever was. side note -like @McSkillz, I too was just a tiny tiny baby child when the 99 WC happened, but Parlow was a forward for the WNT, right? that's what I remember. Foudy was really important to the team for her leadership and organization. Her playing ability is more like Zerboni, imo. I think the 19' team would beat the 99 team 9-10 times. This team is just so much more technical. Although Michele Akers healthy was literally a destroyer (who was also technical) in the midfield.
I also think Morgan's style of play is like Milbrett's. (the most underrated WNT player ever, imo) Both had speed and were brilliant at running behind the defense to open up space for them and the game for others. Milbrett was also very technical on the ball, something Morgan has also become. Pugh is most like Hamm, imo.
I'd call that alert play on the part of the Spaniards as well as a mistake by the U.S. I was impressed by Spain. They gave the U.S. a battle.
Agreed. Also, let's not forget the penalties earned against Germany in the semis at the 2015 WC and the one this year against the Netherlands. She has also had a couple of players sent off (Japan 2011 and England 2019) due to the physical play employed by opponents to deny her scoring opportunities. To your other point, although Morgan did not have her scoring touch at the 2015 WC due to injuries, her off the ball runs were still great. On the Rapinoe corner, 3 Japanese defenders ran to cover Morgan, which freed up space for Lloyd's great goal. In the 2012 Olympic Final, on Lloyd's second goal, her defender is basically retreating back and pointing to the other defender to mark Morgan. This gave Lloyd the space she needed for her brilliant finish. In 8 semi final WC and Olympic finals, Morgan has 4 goals, 2 assists and 2 penalties earned. As far as Michelle Akers is concerned, she deserves a lot of credit for bringing a large male fan base to the women's game. Her amazing highlights certainly drew me in.
Besides, I've always liked big hair. She had a pretty good web site and I refereed a number of girls and parents to it to to read some very inspirational stuff pertaining to soccer and life in general. One year two of the girls I coached changed their hair to try to look like Akers. The problem was they were both small thin brunets. The new hair just did not work for them and they changed back within a week. I told both of them just to play with Akers' heart and effort and do not try to be someone they were not. Instead of trying to be the next "Akers" they should try to be the first of their own name and make people remember them for that.
Yep, Morgan also changed her playing style from 2nd striker/inside forward to lone forward, not just dribble and accelerate but also hold the ball for the team to go up, such as the 2nd goals VS France. She is more like Torres during his prime. Hamm is more like a inside forward. Much like CRonaldo minus the header/poacher ability.
Danielle Slaton, Cat Whitehill, Lindsay Tarpley, Lori Chalupny, Heather O'Reilly and Shannon McMillan might be more underrated than Milbrett.
Cat Whitehill! one of the most over-rated defenders, imo. certainly the slowest defender ever to wear a WNT jersey. Milbrett players in 205 games and scored 100 goals and Fifa nominated her as a finalist for World Player of the year.
I hate these kinds of questions because they're trying to compare players from one era to players from another. I think that, overall, the level of women's soccer at an international level is better today than it was in 1999, 2003, and 2007, and there seems to be a pretty general agreement about that. Yet the US WNT has won back to back World Cups, which is something the 1999 team did not do. Thus the "current group" of players has had better results, against better competition, than the "99er era group." The "current group" simply is better. It's like asking if the current world-best milers are equal to Roger Banister. They're obviously better milers, the times show it. If "equal" means something different than "better," then what does it mean? Equal to, in relation to their time? Even by that measure, the "current group" is better since, relative to their time they won two consecutive World Cups and the "99er group" didn't.
Yep, one thing I really like about Hope Solo is that she was willing to challenge the legends when they are out of their prime, not just admire them. Without her action the team might spend longer time to get over the 99ers' shadow.
I agree completely, but I don't think "who's better" was the original question. I think what we were discussing was which players were similar to each other in terms of style of play or strengths. I could be wrong though.
The only thing they have in common is height. One was an unfit, inconsistent walker who was lucky to play in that era. The other is far superior in every other facet of the game.