Champions:
1st place: Norway; 2nd place: Germany; 3rd place: USA
Olympic Queens
The expansion of the reign: the Olympic Games
The second official edition of the tournament was finally named the FIFA World Cup, thanks to the long battle and growth of the sport. Women's football began to gain incentives in some countries, such as Japan, Sweden and Norway. Its importance was also recognized in the Olympic Games, in which the modality was included from 1996, in Atlanta (USA). In addition to expanding the calendar of world competitions, this victory brought visibility to the quality of female athletes and the disparity in the structure offered to them, compared to men's football.
The Brazilian team had a short campaign, being eliminated in the group stage. The feared Swedish team won by 1-0, but lost by 6-1 to the Germans, who were emerging in the elite of the modality - in this edition, they were the runner-up. The Cup was also the stage for another achievement in refereeing: the Swedish Ingrid Jonsson was the one who refereed the final.
BOX
In this Cup, FIFA adopted the term lineswoman, in the female gender. Until then, the male term linesman was officially used in matches of the modality - even if the assistant referee was a woman. In the following year, the function received the name of “assistant referee”, which in English is neutral.
History:
Michael Jackson
Marileia dos Santos, known as Michael Jackson, was a striker with an explosive style and one of the greatest scorers in the history of the Brazilian national team. Her performance stirred up the crowd and earned her impressive 1,574 goals in her career. From the camp in her native city Valença (RJ) — where the youngest of 11 brothers played as a family — to representing Brazil in the 1988 Experimental Tournament and in the 1995 World Cup, her trajectory was marked by pioneering spirit. She was the first Brazilian player to be hired to play professionally for a team abroad, the Italian Torino Calcio Femminile, in 1995. Her commitment to future generations is another attribute: she helped train youth athletes in Brazil, Italy and the United States, in addition to playing an important role in the fight for equity in football at the Ministry of Sports.
Curiosities:
Cenira Sampaio competed in two world championships after becoming a mother at the age of 26
Highlight:
Sun Wen (China)
Audio
Leda — general report of the campaign: they gave everything in the game against Sweden and won, then they lost to the Japanese and to the much superior Germany. They won the vacancy for the Olympics due to the English victory
Subtitles
Team photo
First line, from left to right: Nalvinha, Nenê, Cenira, Pretinha, Yara, Lia, Michael Jackson, Leda, Formiga, Roseli and Valéria. Second line: Sissi, Meg, Marcia Tafarel, Fanta, Solange, Suzy, Kátia Cilene, Elane and Tânia Maranhão.
Assistant referees
Assistant referees Christine Frai (Germany) and Veronika Schluchter-Maerki (Switzerland).
Sun Wen
In the Chinese national team since she was 17, Sun Wen already attracted attention in the 1995 World Cup. In the following edition, she shared the top scorer of the tournament with Sissi. In 2000, she was awarded by FIFA as player of the century, with the American Michelle Akers.
Leda Maria Audio
Brief by Leda Maria, who comments on the Brazilian classification
for the Olympic Games. Duration: 2min46s