The US Women’s National Team is into the knockout round of the Women’s World Cup, and will face Colombia on Monday night, as the two teams battle to earn a spot in the quarterfinals against China. The Americans will be clear favorites when they take the field in Edmonton, but they would do well not to write off their South American opponents as easy prey. Although Colombia only managed third place in their group, they proved their mettle in a surprising 2-0 victory over France in the second group stage match. Coming into the World Cup, France was ranked 3rd in the world, just one place behind the US, and had in fact defeated the USWNT in a friendly earlier this year.
In addition to the plucky opposition, the US will also be looking to themselves, and looking for improvement as they move into the business end of the tournament. Despite having won their group, it can hardly be said that the American squad is at the peak of their powers—especially in attack. Fans of the US Women’s National Team will be hoping to see a bit more ruthlessness in front of goal against Colombia. Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan are both yet to notch a goal, and that will need to change if the USA hope to lift the trophy in Vancouver on July 5th. Morgan has only just returned from injury, and while there is no denying her quality, it’s nonetheless hard to say that, to this point in the tournament, she’s demonstrated the sort of sharpness that we’ve become accustomed to, the kind of edge that can only be honed in a match environment. Leroux has put in some strong performances on the pitch, both using her strength to help retain possession, and making some key tackles when tracking back; still, she will no doubt be hoping to contribute with goals as well against Colombia. Abby Wambach got on the scoresheet for the first time this tournament in the USWNT’s last group match against Nigeria—and an important goal at that, the 1-0 match winner—but she too will likely be expecting more from herself in the match to come.
However, although the USA needs more from their forwards, when it comes to defense, all they’ll want is more of the same. Hope Solo has looked excellent in goal this tournament, and Ali Krieger, Julie Johnston, Becky Sauerbrunn and Meghan Klingenberg have developed great chemistry in front of her. The strength of that back four, along with Solo’s strong performances between the posts combined to produce a sterling set of performances in the group stage; through all three matches, the Americans only allowed one goal, which came in their first match against Australia. It is a platitude that defense wins championships, but that doesn’t make it untrue. If the USA’s back line can remain solid, and if Solo can continue her stellar form, then the American women won’t need many goals to see them far into this tournament.
One Nation. One Team: More Than Just Marketing
The 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada has seen its fair share of unprecedented events on the pitch. Colombia’s 2-0 upset of France was their first ever World Cup victory, as was Switzerland’s 10-1 demolition of Ecuador. Cameroon, making their first World Cup appearance, also has, consequently, had their own series of milestones. But even more than the numerous precedents set on the pitch, perhaps the most remarkable milestones have been set in the stands, and in sports bars and living rooms across the United States: Americans are showing up in support of their Women’s National Team in droves, more so than ever before.
The USA v. Sweden group stage match smashed a series of records for television ratings in the United States. Fox reported that 4.5 million viewers tuned in to watch the Americans take on Sweden and their former coach, Pia Sundhage. That number was not only a record for the most viewers ever to watch a Women’s World Cup group stage match, but also—and perhaps even more surprising—the highest television viewership for any soccer match on Fox. By contrast, Fox’s coverage of the 2015 Champions League Final between Juventus and Barcelona drew 2.2 million viewers, less than half of what the USWNT garnered in their second group stage match.
And these records stood for less than a week. The final USA group match against Nigeria drew a full 5 million viewers, breaking both records, and clocking in at almost quadruple the number of viewers who witnessed the USA’s final group stage match four years ago. At 5.55 million viewers, the NHL Stanley Cup Finals averaged only just a bit better numbers than the USWNT have through this group stage. With the US Women’s National Team now into the knockout rounds, these numbers will likely only get bigger, beginning (the Americans would hope) against Colombia, and growing as the tournament moves forward.
American Sports Culture and Gender Equality
In the United States, as in much of the world, patriarchy is the norm. Men make more money than women for the same jobs; women are grossly underrepresented in politics, comprising, for example, only 19.4% of Congress in the US; and often, the normative human being is gendered as male, as a “he” in everything from news to literature to casual conversation. More people tuning in to watch the Women’s World Cup (even millions more) will not end sexism, close the wage gap, or even substantially undermine a fundamentally patriarchal culture—but that does not make it irrelevant.
In some sense, the tournament itself, and its marketing, provides an illustrative example of what androcentric culture, a culture centered on men, is all about. If you consult FIFA’s official website, you will find the FIFA World Cup, and then, alternatively FIFA Women’s World Cup. It’s not the Men’s World Cup, and the Women’s World Cup, it’s simply The FIFA World Cup, because we’re meant to presume that athletes are male to begin with.
This may seem pedantic, or overly semantic, but the name of the tournament itself is not what matters; what is important is what that naming represents. Women’s sports require a modifier, because sporting culture is gendered as masculine—both on the fields and in sports bars—and any ‘feminine version’ has to be pointed out as an outlier from the norm. In order to reorient our sense of “female athletes” as being on par with male athletes, and in order to combat a sense of patriarchy more broadly, we need visible exemplars, standard bearers to stick in our minds the way icons such as Michael Jordan and Hank Aaron have.
Players like Brandi Chastain and Mia Hamm have legendary status on the USWNT, but gender equality in American sports culture, and in America in general, has a long way to go. Another million households tuning into the US match against Colombia won’t, of course, change gender norms or overturn sexism in the blink of an eye (or rather, in the course of 90 minutes), but there is an optimist in me that would like to think the significant growth in viewership is both a sign of, and a further catalyst for, improved regard for female athletes in the US.
It’s not just seeing female athletes on television as role models for the next generation that is important. It’s seeing a society banding together in support of them, seeing the cultural purchase these women have, seeing them being admired by men as much as by women, seeing their achievements lauded as much as a Dempsey or a Howard. There are certainly more profound ways of championing gender equality than donning an Abby Wambach jersey, posting up with a pint at the pub, and cheering on the US Women’s National Team, but perhaps it’s still useful in the realm of ‘microresistance’ to patriarchy; in any case, when the Americans take on Colombia Monday night, that’s precisely what I plan to do.