The ability to use the USWNT as a reference point and have the larger public recognize the reference could be on the rise. I happen to be delivering a seminar today where I was able to use Abby Wambach as a perfect analogy to those I was addressing (a group of financial actors who have considerable power in their positions in dealing with others). I'm a lawyer and the seminar is legal in nature. Anyway, the people I'm addressing have strong legal rights but are often the target of stalling or delaying tactics. At the start of the talk, I told them that their situation made them like Abby Wambach, bigger, stronger and better than most of their opposition. I told them that, like Abby Wambach, they will be the target of the legal equivalent of being pulled down and dragged into the mud often. But, as I pointed out to them, ultimately, even if it is at the very end, like Wambach against Brazil, they will be able to win out. The message resonated. The bulk of the crowd recognized the reference and warmly responded to it. Who would have thought in 1998 that one could draw an analogy to American women's soccer and have the larger crowd bond to the reference?
In my experience, though, the judge typically awards the other side a questionable penalty kick and even after your lawyer wins the case fair and square before a jury the judge says there needs to be a new trial.
I had started my first morning talk by saying that the result of today's game would be the most important information they received today. At the end of my last segment speaking, I proudly announced the USA's victory, and the entire room applauded. What a moment!