A League of Their Own - WWC 2011

I went to Germany this weekend to give my support to the Women's World Cup and along the way, I learned a valuable lesson 'never make a promise to a woman and not fulfill it'

It started on Saturday morning when I walked around Heidelberg. I came across a nice hotel and met a player from Nigeria outside. I asked 'can I have a photo with you?' and 'what is your number?'

She answered 19. And then I told her 'I am going to the game tomorrow and I will suport Nigeria'

I then went into the lobby of the hotel and found out the French team was staying in the same hotel as their opponent. So I hung around and got a photo with some Les Bleus.

Women soccer still faces a lot of prejudice. If I have a daughter who plays soccer, I would be so proud of her. I imagine the parents of these female players are very proud of them.

Leaving the hotel, I walked toward the city center. After about 5 minutes, a French player walked pass me. I tried to keep up with her to ask for a photo but she was so fast (or I was so out of shape).

I followed her for a good 10 minutes and was about to give up when she went into a clothing store. I went in as well and pretended to be a shopper. After a while, she was about to leave and I came up to ask for a photo and 'what is your number?'



She said 13 and then she told me 'there are 2 other French players upstairs shopping'

I was so touched by her kindness that I said 'I am going to the game tomorrow and I will support France' 

Women soccer still faces a lot of prejudice. If my wife Lorraine plays soccer, I would be so proud of her. My friend Chris was a coach of a women soccer team and he met his wife while trying to recruit her to play goalkeeper for his team.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, I went to Sinsheim to see the first game of the 2011 Women's World Cup. For the first half, I sat in the front row behind the French team.

I looked at the program and found out that the Nigerian number 19 was Uchechi Sunday and she played club soccer in Switzerland. And the French number 13 was Caroline Pizzala of Paris St-Germain. Both were not in the starting line-up.

I had trouble deciding whom to support.

It was a good match with no yellow cards. The French were better, especially number 14, Louis Necib. She had a really nice touch and was voted the Player of the Match.Her nickname is the female Zidane. 

For the second half, I moved to the area behind the goal and was with the noisy Nigerian fans. They had drums and trumpets and even though France won (1-0), it was a good atmosphere with these fans.

I like this French team very much but my heart belongs to Brasil. I hope Brasil will win the 2011 WWC. It is about time. In the last 3 major tournaments (2 Olympics and 1 World Cup), Brasil had finished second 3 times. In 25 year old striker Marta, Brasil has the best player in the world for 5 years in a row.

Despite such impressive record, women soccer in Brasil is not taken seriously yet. There is no professional women soccer league in Brasil and the best players (like Marta) have to go abroad to earn money.

Women soccer still faces a lot of prejudice. If my mother plays soccer, I would be so proud of her. I have a colleague/friend from Belo Horizonte. Mônica (my friend) and her mother became fans of my blog last year.

A few weeks ago, Mônica wrote to me to say that she just found out her mother had played in the first women soccer team in Brasil. This woman was a pioneer.

Força Brasil!