The First Ever Women’s World Cup Female referees and assistants were employed and many enthusiastic fan embraced the women’s football and celebrated it’s true coming of age.The final match was the perfect finish for the first ever tournament, before a crowd of 65,000 at Guangzhou’s Tianhe Stadium the USA beat Norway 2-1 with an exciting finish. The first ever Women’s World Cup, took place in 1991, only 22 years ago, making 2015 the seventh tournament played. It was held in China from the 16th-30th of November. The men’s FIFA World Cup had been running since 1930 and it was a momentous occasion when 60 years after this tournament, women finally had their time to shine. There was a buzz about the tournament, each match brought in crowds of on average 20,000 people. 12 teams competed – Nigeria, China, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Brazil, New Zealand, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Italy, Sweden and USA (unfortunately not England)
The American team after their victory in 1991 (The First Ever Women’s World Cup
The match seemed destined for extra time, when with three minutes remaining, Akers pounced on a bad back pass from Tina Svensson to Norwegian goalkeeper Reidun Seth. Akers touched the ball past Seth and slotted a right-footed shot into the open goal, giving the U.S. their first world championship of any kind. The tournament was a resounding success and was a landmark to be remembered for the sport. Hopefully this year at the Euro’s in Sweden, there will be as much enthusiasm and excitement for this tournament as there was back in 1991. SoccerDroid eMagazine - April 2015 -#E032015-2151P