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Old Trafford rarity: A women’s match
At one point late Monday afternoon, after all the poses had been struck and pictures had been taken, a reporter asked Megan Rapinoe if she was impressed by the fact that the US women’s soccer team was going to play at the famed Old Trafford.
At one point late Monday afternoon, after all the poses had been struck and pictures had been taken, a reporter asked Megan Rapinoe if she was impressed by the fact that the US women’s soccer team was going to play at the famed Old Trafford.
After all, the reporter said, it’s not every day that a women’s team plays at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United.
“It’s not every decade,” Rapinoe said to laughter, but her point was well taken: Tuesday’s match between the United States and North Korea will be the first women’s international played in the stadium’s 102-year history.
The list of other women’s matches played at Old Trafford, the so-called Theater of Dreams, is not much longer. Olympic officials were checking with Old Trafford historians, but early indications were that the only other women’s match believed to be played there was the 1989 Women’s F.A. Cup final between Leasowe Pacific and Friends of Fulham FC. Leasowe won, 3-2, and the attendance was 916.
Shouts and screams
Typically the “familiarisation” sessions held for teams before their games are mundane affairs, but as soon as the players walked through the tunnel, there were screams and shouts.
Players and staff mugged for pictures of all kinds. There were group photos near midfield and “I just scored” shots near the penalty area. From the sideline, coach Pia Sundhage watched, smiling like a mother enjoying her children’s glee.
Unlike many of her players, Sundhage had been there before; she toured the stadium as an ambassador for women’s soccer during the 2005 women’s European championships.
During their walk-through of the facilities, the players peeked in on the United dressing room, but they are not expected to use it. “I think they might have cleaned out a closet for us,” Rapinoe said.
