Chastain Not Ready to Give Up Playing Soccer

The world's most famous sports bra isn't ready to retire just yet.

Brandi Chastain, whose spontaneous, shirtless, on-field celebration of a World Cup victory over China in 1999 brought unprecedented attention to her sport, was released recently by FC Gold Pride of the Women's Professional Soccer League, leaving her without a team for the first time in her life.

"I was devastated when they told me. I'm mad now,'' she told FanHouse Saturday. "They want to give the younger players the chance. I can understand the thinking, but I don't like it. I'm still good enough to be out there, absolutely.''

Chastain, now 41, has been a women's soccer pioneer, spending 12 years on the United States National Team, playing in three Olympic Games and three World Cup tournaments as one of America's best athletes.

She was a founding member of both the now defunct Women's United Soccer League and then the eight-team, WPSL that began last year when she played for FC Gold, which is based in Santa Clara, California. She lives there now with a daughter and husband, the soccer coach at Santa Clara University. She works as a volunteer assistant.

FC Gold opens training camp Monday for its spring season, but she was not invited, which could mean the end of her playing career.

"I might be done (playing). I hope not because I still love it, but if you're playing a sport that's paying you $10 million like some of the men are, it's a lot easier to pack up and leave your family to go play somewhere else,'' she said. "If you're making minimum wage, it's not so easy to do. But I'll never say never. We'll see what happens.''


For all her great moments in soccer, Chastain still will be best remembered for that World Cup performance at the Rose Bowl, where 90,000 people watched live, along with a national television audience.

Her game-winning penalty kick touched off the joyous, uninhibited jersey-waving celebration that captured the hearts of America. The photo of her on her knees in a sports bra graced the cover of Newsweek, Time and Sports Illustrated, bringing women's soccer into mainstream USA for the first time.

"I get asked about the picture every day of my life. If not every day, then three times the next day,'' Chastain said during a break during ESPN The Weekend at Walt Disney World. "It was a great moment in sports, and when people ask me, it gives me a chance to talk soccer.''

Like many of her peers, Chastain has been a tireless promoter of women's soccer. Although the efforts have translated into unprecedented participation at the youth and college level, it has not translated yet into the professional ranks in this country.

The WPSL, going into its second season, is struggling to find acceptance and support. Without a national television contract, it remains an uphill battle.

"Any progress we make with soccer -- and we are -- is good progress,'' Chastain said. "We have a Mount Everest in front of us, but people who are dedicated and passionate about the sport aren't giving up. There are millions of young girls going to soccer fields around the country every day to play. When those girls become CEOs and decide where corporate money is going to be spent, things will change quickly.''

Chastain, while continuing to play, has worked as a broadcaster with ABC/ESPN in coverage of Major League Soccer, the men's game. She appeared in an HBO documentary Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team, on which she played. She also wrote a book entitled It's Not About the Bra, and posed nude with a strategically-placed soccer ball in a men's magazine.

"So many good things have come to soccer because of that (picture). People who weren't soccer people before, started watching us,'' she said. "The lack of exposure frustrates me sometimes because I know there is great talent out there, great athletes playing the game. Maybe our sport isn't bad enough, doesn't have enough rough edges to appeal to everyone, but it will eventually.''

For now, Chastain will continue to fuel the interest in women's soccer, even if she doesn't play again at the highest level.

"I've played the game for 36 years, and never stopped loving it,'' she said. "I'd still love to add a couple more years to that total."