Record crowd filled with patriotic faces

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Posted: Saturday July 10, 1999 08:39 PM

90,185 fans packed the Rose Bowl to make the World Cup the largest women's sports event in American history. AP

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- They came 90,185 strong - fans flush with patriotic paint on their faces, giddy teen-age girls and their soccer moms, the president, a man gussied up like George Washington, even young players on crutches.

They became part of the biggest women's sporting event in American history Saturday - the 1999 World Cup final between the United States and China at the Rose Bowl.

After the United States won it in a shootout, fans poured from the stadium, screaming, sweating and smiling as they waved flags and smeared the glistening red, white and blue paint from their faces.

"China's way down, down, down, down," fans chanted, led by Jason Armheim, 26, of Upland, Calif., who was shirtless but wore a perspiration stained flag around his neck.

"We were doing great the whole time, but our goalie, man, she really won it for us," he shouted as the group ran into the parking lot, paying noisy tribute to American goalie Briana Scurry.

A few groups of Chinese fans wandered through the gates, folding their flags and posters, shaking their heads and shrugging their shoulders.

Suzan Shi, 30, from the San Francisco area, said she hoped to leave the stadium waving her Chinese flag in victory but was instead using it to shade herself.

"Maybe if the team had played in China, things would have been different," she said. "There was a real hometown advantage, but both teams played well."

Nine-year-old Kristie Chavez from Tucson, Ariz., wiped her damp cheek, obliterating the American flag painted there.

"It was never boring," she said as she bounced and waved a flag. "We didn't score for a while, but the end was very, very exciting."

Many of the teen-age girls who filled the majority of seats at the stadium sported crutches, casts and bruises.

"I love this game because it's rough and intense," said Alyssa Finkle, 15, as she limped into line wearing a mechanical leg brace.

"My sister also plays," the young athlete said. "And she has a rod in her leg now instead of a bone."

A group of four moms and four daughters came from Tulsa, Okla., to be as rowdy as they could, they said.

"Soccer has screaming, yelling, jumping, kicking and hollering," said Becky Stewart, 16, vowing to do her share.

Stewart and her three teammates were quick to point out their team won the Oklahoma state championship and, like so many at the game, they have World Cup aspirations.

"These girls on the field today give our girls heroes, people to look up to," said Lisa Price, 45, one of the mothers on the trip. "We can go to football and baseball and enjoy it, but now, with women's soccer, we have people to relate to."

Frank Quezada, 33, of San Francisco, wore a white George Washington wig, a three-cornered hat and an American flag cape. The getup, along with his face paint, he said, was to make it as obvious as possible which team he was rooting for.

"I started putting all this together at midnight before I left and haven't been to sleep since," the ebullient fan said between blasts on a plastic trumpet.

"It's great. I love seeing people get so excited about something that a lot of people haven't paid attention to before. Women's soccer is finally catching on," he said.

His sister wore a matching costume, while his father opted for a rubber Statue of Liberty mask. His mom chose to go as herself.

Red, white and blue were the dominant colors in the crowd.

The American team arrived carrying three roses -- a bud in each color. They swapped those roses for the brass ring.

Most fans didn't care about two-plus scoreless hours, saying the entire game was tense and exciting.

"Non-soccer fans don't get it," said Wayne Isham, who ran through the parking lot cheering at game's end. "From beginning to end, it was so tense it was non-stop."

Face painters, charging $1 for each American flag, said they transformed nearly 2,000 faces in the parking lot during the two hours before the gates opened.

Stephanie Millea and her Manhattan Beach, Calif., soccer teammate Evie Pitts, both 13, chose the do-it-yourself approach.

Before the game, they took turns lying on the ground and covering their faces with their hands while the other spray-painted their hair the colors of the American flag.

"We're going to paint our faces too, but we're waiting until the USA team starts playing," Millea said. "Otherwise, we'll sweat and ruin it."

Even the Goodyear blimp flying overhead added to the patriotism with a flag on the tail.

President Clinton ate popcorn in a luxury box and called the game the "biggest sporting event in the last decade," noting that more than 1 billion people were watching on television. Jennifer Lopez sang pregame songs and Hanson harmonized on the national anthem as four F-18s flew over the stadium.

For beer vendors, it was unlike any other Rose Bowl sellout in memory. There was not a single buyer in line at Andy Zuniga's beer stand.

"It's a lot younger people here, so we're not selling that much," he said.

About 20 feet away, at the souvenir stand, customers were lined up 20 deep.

Outside the Rose Bowl, police arrested 35 people for scalping, one for being drunk in public and two on warrants, police Cmdr. Mary Schander said.

Fire Capt. Calvin Wells said 66 people were treated at first aid stations around the stadium. Nine were taken to area hospitals, he said, eight with heat-related problems and one with a heart problem. Wells said dehydration was the most common complaint and most of the victims were middle-aged to elderly.

 

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