Dellacamera, DiCicco and Whitehill Look Back at 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Final 2015™, a highly-anticipated rematch of the 2011 final between the USA and Japan, is set for Sunday, July 5, with coverage beginning at 5:00 PM ET on FOX broadcast network.

Calling the match for FOX Sports are JP Dellacamera, Tony DiCicco and Cat Whitehill, all of whom have a connection to the 1999 Women’s World Cup Final, the last won by the U.S., a game which drew almost 18 million viewers, a record soccer audience that stood for 15 years. Dellacamera called it, a match that is still the most-watched women’s soccer game in history, while DiCicco coached the legendary team to victory, and Whitehill, as a young fan, watched from a seat high atop the Rose Bowl before becoming an integral member of the squad years later. The trio, tied together by their presence at the 1999 final, comes full circle on Sunday to call the 2015 Women’s World Cup Final, and here they look back and ahead.

Play-by-play announcer JP Dellacamera on calling Sunday’s final having called the seminal 1999 Women’s World Cup final match:
“To call a World Cup final is always a special honor. I have had the very good fortune to call some of the biggest games in U.S. Soccer history and Sunday’s game should rank right there among my better memories. The 1999 Women’s World Cup featured record television ratings. Who knows, maybe we’ll see another record fall on Sunday, 16 years later.”

Former USWNT player and Olympic Gold medalist Cat Whitehill on watching the 1999 Women’s World Cup Final as a young fan:
“It was the coolest experience I’ve ever had as a fan. I said to myself when I was sitting in that crowd, I want to be there one day. I never thought I would be, but thankfully I was. That was my goal and I had a one-track mind to get there. The most vivid memory of being there was the moment when Kristine Lily headed the ball off the line, saving it for the U.S. I knew they were going to win after that.

FOX Sports analyst Tony DiCicco discusses how he felt that day at the Rose Bowl:
“I felt prepared and confident. We had played China three times already that year and they were an exceptional team. They had great stars, like Sun Wen and Liu Ailing. They beat us in the Algarve Cup final, 2-1. We played them twice before the World Cup, beating them the first time, and losing the second, but I knew my team and no one ever beat us twice in a row. I said then and I say today…there were two championship teams on the field July 10, 1999 in Pasadena, we were fortunate to have taken top prize.”

DiCicco on what that win 16 years ago means now:
“My ’99 team is a part of history that represents the best ever in women’s soccer. The USA has made all seven semifinals and is now playing in their fourth World Cup final. If we can beat Japan, we will be the only women’s national team to have three World Cup titles. This team has a tradition of winning, and that helps inspire the next generation of stars.

"The U.S. women of today, my team, or Anson Dorrance’s ’91 team play sport the way Americans want to see sport played: with great effort, with talent, fairly, with a “find a way to win mentality,” an ability to deal with adversity, humbleness in victory and respect in defeat. That is why Americans love our women’s national team.”

Dellacamera on the record number of people tuning in to watch these games:
“The ratings we’ve received with our coverage on FOX are nothing short of amazing.
It tells a story of how far we have come as a soccer nation. Audience records are being broken with each game the USA plays, and those figures don’t take into account the millions of people who are at the stadiums or attending watch parties. Social media and promotion are much more involved in this World Cup than in 1999. These ratings are good for the game, not just for women’s soccer. The more people who watch soccer in this country, the better. The media will take notice and so will corporate sponsors.”

Whitehill on the record-breaking viewership throughout this World Cup:
“It’s weird that so many people are hearing my voice. Still, some people don’t know it’s actually my voice. Even my closest friends don’t realize it’s my voice. They’re watching the games and that’s all that matters. I love that it has catapulted soccer in this country and it’s men, women, boys, girls, everyone is watching. You can see the development in this country, they understand soccer better, they’re criticizing, and that’s what you want to see. So many people are watching and they don’t care if it’s men or women, they are cheering on athletes and they are cheering on the U.S.”

DiCicco says women’s soccer is now a part of mainstream culture:
“Soccer is no longer just a foreign game. It’s mainstream in U.S. sports, a growing part of our culture, and both our men’s and women’s national teams are growing the sport in America together. No other country can claim that.”

Dellacamera says Sunday’s game is going to be a history-making final:
“I’m expecting a great final on Sunday between two teams who have become fierce rivals, not just from the last World Cup, but also the last Olympics. There are so many great story lines in this game. Can Japan repeat as World Cup Champions? Or will the USA win it, becoming the first nation to win three World Cups, while also ending a 16-year drought? Both teams have been solid defensively with the USA shutout streak now at 513 consecutive shutout minutes. Carli Lloyd has been making a case for team and tournament MVP with goals now in 3 straight games. It’s also interesting to note that neither team has trailed in a game at this World Cup.”

Whitehill says she wouldn’t bet against the U.S. come Sunday:
“Coming off the win against Germany, the U.S. confidence is soaring through the roof and you can tell by the way they are playing. Carli Lloyd has finally gained the confidence that we expected from her from the beginning of the tournament. We’ve been saying the defense is the reason why the U.S. has gotten so far, but now the offense is finally starting to take hold and score goals, and proper goals, like the Kelley O’Hara goal.”

DiCicco on how the U.S. should handle the lineup Sunday:
“I think that we will see largely the same lineup as long as everyone is healthy. It will be a 4-3-3 again and whether Jill Ellis acknowledges this or not, it helped the USA play at its best. By having two forwards, the USA was outnumbered in the midfield. To solve that, Jill Ellis had her wide players over-compensate, playing too much in the center, which in turn hurt the USA flank play. By going with the three front and three center midfield alignment, those issues were solved, and it got Morgan Brian into the line-up which improved ball possession and control of the game.”