Like a World Cup but with a longer name... In China, 12 national teams competed in this tournament in Guangdong province, from 1 June 1988 to the final on 12 June. A punishing schedule saw the teams play as many as 6 games in 12 days. Women's world championships had been played before, but on this occasion, a group named 'The Fifas' reluctantly, reluctantly got involved. The Norwegian FA was key in pushing for this and the Olympic tournament. Arguing in favour, Ellen Wille became the first woman to speak at a Fifa event, at its 45th congress. In 1986. The TV show of the championship was uploaded by AussieHoolBoo. Like the 1991 video, it's great albeit with slight historical errors. For example, women's football wasn't so new - there was actually a Scotland v England match at Easter Road in the early eighties (1881) 1988 FIFA Women's International Tournament Review www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv7ycM1VqdQ Love that tune at the end. So, how about you - are you under the power of gold? Does that even mean anything? It sounds good in a song, anyway.
✿ Why Guangdong? Well... why not? "Guangdong women took up some 'men's sports', including weightlifting, judo, body-building and football. Guangdong sponsored the first women's football tournament in 1981, which resulted in the establishment of two women's football teams (Guangdong and Guangzhou). Since 1982, Guangdong women's football team has been one of the most powerful teams in China ... In 1990, Banqiu [Half Ball] Women's Football Club was set up, marking the birth of the first women's professional football team in China." - (Jinxia Dong, 2003) More than the hosts or finalists, Brazil 1988 stands out as a team of fantastic flair, but defensively frail. The country was recovering from a dictatorship which banned women's sport by presidential decree; it had become legal only 9 years earlier. The Brazilians won 3rd place by beating the hosts China on penalties. Brazil were the only side who beat the eventual champions in their group game. The likely match of the tournament is the Brazil v Netherlands quarterfinal (2-1). Players from 1988 talked about this amazing campaign: the BRZ captain Marisa, volante Rosilane Camargo (Fanta), the 17-year-old striker Roseli de Belo, and 1999 golden boot winner Sissi: https://dibradoras.blogosfera.uol.c...forme-herdado-dos-homens-e-superacao-na-copa/ THEIR FOOTBALL STORIES: The pioneers (with Elane, Leda, and Fanta) www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FM2C9Acfi0
Australia, by contrast, were a team that showed true grit in their group match against Brazil, which is online, along with some great interviews. Other observations: Fans co-ordinating their wardrobes was emulated years later by Ivory Coast's terrace dance crew. Also, back-passes now seem fresh and novel, they should bring them back. #worstideas #var - Women AUS v BRZ 1988, Youtube AussieHoolBoo - Matildas v Brazil, FFA Facebook (AUS: 6 J Dolan, 1 T McMahon, 2 M Langlar, 5 D Nichols, 7 J Oakley, 9 J Millman, 10 C Vinson, 12 K Millman, 14 K Lembryk, 15 J Riddington, 17 A Tann. BRZ: 8 Marisa Nogueira, 1 Costa, 4 Santos, 9 Cebola Marinho, 10 E Rego, 13 R de Belo, 14 S Amor, 15 'Fanta' Motta, 16 S Oliveira, 18 Feitosa, 2 Silva) Matildas 30th anniversary - with Theresa Deas & Debbie Nichols www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4owrE8p3yQ 1989 Victoria v Queensland with Joanne Millman, Theresa Jones (Deas), Kaylene Janssen, Jim Southern, Jane Oakley & Steve Darby www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5-R7ZClqMM
Some other 1988 players who've had long football careers include Pia Sundhage (Sweden), Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands) and her teammate Janny Timisela, who won 63 caps and played in several countries before becoming a coach. Norway became the third Scandinavian team to win a women's world championship. Norway and the runners-up Sweden had had FA regional leagues since the 1970s, with the respective national leagues formed prior to this championship: Norway's 1st division in 1984, and the Damallsvenskan in 1988. The media in Guangdong chose their best players: XI of the tournament | ‾‾‾‾‾ | Elisabeth Leidinge (SWE) Liv Strædet (NOR) – Marie Karlsson (SWE) – Eva Zeikfalvy (SWE) Heidi Støre (NOR) Roseli de Belo (BRZ) • Linda Medalen (NOR) • Carin Jennings (USA) • Sun Qingmei (CHN) • Lucilene de Souza Marinho 'Cebola' (BRZ) • Ellen Scheel (NOR) ⬤ The fifth and final Mundialito women's tournament was held in Italy the following month, July 1988, and it was won by England. In men's football in June, the Dutch team won the Euro 88 championship. The Seoul Olympics were a few months later. Also of interest - RSSSF's tournament details - The most info is currently on Wikipedia French, with many of the goalscorers listed - Sweden's internationals 1973-2000 Ivory Coast's women's team since 1975 (Archive) Canada 1988 world tournament info (Archive)
“I do remember Mexico City in 1986 very well. There was a young woman from Norway. Ellen Wille was her name. She was small, and the table for the speakers was tall, when she entered it on the FIFA Congress in Mexico City. Wille criticised us because we had not written anything about women's football in FIFA's Annual Report. I was the General Secretary at that time. President João Havelange criticised me because of that. Havelange told me: 'From now, you must remember the women's football!'. That was the first time in FIFA's history that a woman talked at the congress.” - (Sepp Blatter, 1999) “Imagine this situation. Me, standing at just 1.50m in height and the microphone too high, in front of a hundred men, well aware that I am the first woman to stand in this gallery… It was terrifying. “I actually changed the beginning of my speech right at the very last minute. FIFA had sent us its annual report a few hours earlier, and there was only half a page on women’s football. Half a page! 99.9% of this report was for men only. So I had to start my speech with a scream of anger.” - (Ellen Wille, 2019) Wille is an unsung hero of Norwegian sport, and she was the catalyst for this tournament. The many past independent championships had also persuaded Fifa to make up its lost ground in women's football. Ellen Wille (L) in Norway in 1982 - (Photo by Willy Karlstrøm) https://www.france24.com/en/20190626-ellen-wille-mother-women-football-norway-fifa-world-cup-france (Archive) https://www.liberation.fr/sports/2019/06/11/football-ellen-wille-passeuse-decisive_1733100 (Archive) The congress was a dramatic scene - and how appropriate that the WWC was reborn in Mexico City - and in the week when the men's Mexico '86 began. But the story is more complex than Fifa says. Wille spoke of women's football refereeing and tournaments, and Havelange claimed that Fifa was already dealing with this topic. Was it true? In 1983/84 he had said publicly that Fifa would take on the Women's World Cup - "which he indicated would be staged in 1985 (then 1986, then 1987; eventually it became the 1988 Guangzhou event) and biennially thereafter." - (Jean Williams, 2007)
Thanks for that link! I haven't seen footage of that tournament before. I can't remember if the matches were aired live on TV in Norway either, but I remember Norway won. Julie Foudy with a clumsy own goal when we beat the US in the quarter-final. And the forgotten Ellen Scheel! She was a big profile in this tournament, but faded when Norway became a powerhouse in the 90s. Some poor goalkeeping in this video, but also some nice goals and attacks which showed women could play also thirty years ago.