(Despite the title, no stanning plz) 80-minute games, 2 points for a win, and they refused to call it a 'World Cup'... but it was! The 12 teams in 3 groups were hosted by cities in Guangdong province, southern China. Tianhe Football Stadium in Guangzhou (Andrewssi2, cc-by-sa) This is the tournament review video, which basically covers everything in 50 minutes, with a few uh historical errors WWC 1991 highlights www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRpsOdQCA1k
Sun Wen recalls 1991's opening match: China v Norway www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAVi3Qg1O5I Sweden's Ingrid Johansson hits the mark in the semi-final: Greatest Women's World Cup Goal? JOHANSSON in 1991 www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDtnW6l-OOU From Chinese TV, more highlights of the hosts' campaign and Norway's, their group A rivals. And some clips from the 1988 Women's Invitation Tournament in the same country. 精彩回顧 繁花 1991 初見世界杯 www.youtube.com/watch?v=4csGfSdlu2o The U.S. games are uploaded in full just now: Sweden v USA (17.11.91), Brazil v USA (19.11.91), Japan v USA (21.11.91), USA v Chinese Taipei QF (24.11.19), Germany v USA SF (27.11.19) and Norway v USA Final (30.11.19).
Nigeria were the 2nd African team in a world-level women's tournament (after Ivory Coast took part in 1988), and they certainly had an eventful time in China: China ’91 (part II): Nigeria women journey to the World Cup - www.unusualefforts.com/nigeria-women-world-cup (Archive) Chinese Taipei/Taiwan made their best showing in any women's world tournament since the team's debut in the 1970s - as they capped more than a decade of tournament successes in Asia and Oceania. They became the last 1991 quarterfinalist with a 2-0 group win over Nigeria, with goals by Lin Mei-chun (38 mins), and their most famous player and future manager, Chou Tai-ying (55 mins). Germany's Silvia Neid spoke positively about the tournament organization and venues, and said she didn't know why there was an 80-minute rule. Four months earlier, Germany had won the 1991 European Championship. Two of the World Championship quarterfinals went to extra time, including Germany's 2-1 win v Denmark, with a 98th-minute goal by the late Heidi Mohr. www.kicker.de/742005/artikel, Autotranslated (Archive) https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/heute/mit-nur-51-jahren--heidi-mohr-ist-tot-100.html Heidi Mohr (DW.com)
Holy crap, I never realized this. I knew about the size 5 ball bit, though (I has just finished high school, and the female team was among the best in the state - California - so I did know that part).
Yes, FIFA decided women wouldn't be able to last another 10 minutes. To quote Blatter: "It was the impression at that time, from the physical point of view, that ladies maybe are not as much prepared as men, and could play only 40 minutes [per half]" (Yet, they also had to play matches every other day during the group stage, so....) BTW, if you've never listened to Grant Wahl's "Throwback" podcast, I'd highly recommend it. The first season is mostly about the start of the USWNT and the 1991 WWC. The podcast has some stories that I had never heard.
Aha, it was the same match ball as the men's 1990 WC? http://football-balls.com/ball-details/etrusco-unico-official-match-ball-of-world-cup-1990-in-italy They chose the right one, anyway - on these videos the ball just seems to soar through the air, it's really noticeable. The schedule was pretty crazy...
Apparently, back then, men who designed the tournament felt it would be way too much for women to last another 10 minutes on the field, the delicate female body was simply not designed to last that much longer according to them.