Washington - When the US women's soccer team beat China 5-4 in a penalty shootout to win the Women's World Cup last weekend, about 90 000 people, including President Bill Clinton, jumped with joy at the Rose Bowl stadium. Some even wept tears of happiness, heralding a cultural sea change for America.
"Cultural shifts happen incrementally," said Lucy Danziger, editor of Women's Sports & Fitness magazine.
"It's not like one day we don't care about women's sports and the next day we do. This day has been coming for a long time. But what's happening with this team is a very big increment.
"These are not girls in skirts playing traditionally female sports," Danziger said. "These are athletic, beautiful, skilled women playing a traditionally male sport in male-style uniforms. They have an athleticism that is feminine and graceful and at the same time very physical."
Last weekend's event will be viewed for years to come as one of America's - and probably the world's - most surprisingly successful sports stories.
Women's soccer has turned the mainstream sports world upside down. For the first time, without the imprimatur of an Olympics, the United States and many countries across the globe were swept off their feet by the soccer skills of women from Germany, USA, Mexico, Brazil, Sweden, Norway, China, Nigeria, Ghana, Denmark, North Korea, Italy, Canada, Japan, Russia and Australia.
It was sweet revenge for Team USA. The Americans won the cup in China in 1991, but received little fanfare at home. They were beaten in the 1995 semifinals in Sweden by Norway, who eventually went on to take the cup. This time Norway were beaten by Brazil for the third spot.
Watch out, Banyana Banyana, South Africa's own women's soccer team.
Team USA, led by star Mia Hamm, the world's all-time score leader with 108 international goals, will embark on a world tour next year, evangelising about the game in places like South Africa and Saudi Arabia.
"We want to do a world tour," said Hank Steinbrecher, secretary-general of the US Soccer Federation.
"We want to spread the gospel of sports equity. We want to send them to Cape Town, Jerusalem and Riyadh."
The first of a six or seven-game schedule could start in January, with South Africa a near certainty.
There is serious talk of a women's professional league after the 2 000 Olympics.
After all, in a country like the US where gridiron football, basketball, baseball, hockey, wrestling and men's soccer draw huge crowds and rake in billions of dollars, the Women's World Cup featuring 16 national teams was a turning point for women's soccer.
"We're demanding a league," US defender Brandi Chastain said. "You can't deny us that because you think there's a lack of interest. We know there is interest."
Midfielder Tisha Venturini said: "If you have been to any of these games, I think you have to believe there is going to be a league."
