On Monday, Canadian women’s national team head coach John Herdman named his 23-player roster for the 2015 Women’s World Cup. This summer’s tournament will mark the first time that Canada will host a major soccer tournament, and Herdman’s players are hoping the experience will do as much to boost the game in Canada as the 1999 Women’s World Cup did for women’s soccer in the United States.
In 1999, the United States hosted the World Cup and, in dramatic fashion, won the tournament in penalties over China in front of 90,000 fans in the Rose Bowl. The tournament made players like Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Michelle Akers, Julie Foudy, Briana Scurry and Kristine Lilly household names, inspired a generation of players—many of whom now form the core of the current U.