The National Team (Updated and Expanded Edition): The Inside Story of the Women Who Changed Soccer Paperback – October 22, 2019

If you followed this team then you want to read this book. Great read as they say.

A wonderful and in depth history of the Women’s National Team, something no one else has done at this length before. the book does an amazing job taking you behind the scenes and explaining how what happened off the field effected the performances on it. I have a newfound respect for the players of the US and NWSL even though I always considered myself a supporter of the women’s game. Learning what the players did behind the scenes was remarkable. The way the author writes about the action on the field made me feel like I was reliving the Olympics and World Cups all over again and it gave me goosebumps. I am even more psyched for the 2019 World Cup than I could have imagined. This is a MUST Read for every soccer fan both male and female.

I just couldn't put this book down! It was a great balance of re-living some of those great games we all remember, to learning a lot of the behind the scenes details we never knew. All of the USWNT players are strong, amazing women and this books shows why and tells how. A must read for US and international soccer fans of any gender!

I read this because it feels like I've been watching this team forever trying desperately to get paid even slightly close to what they are worth. They've done so much for the game of soccer (the rest of the world calls it football) in the US, and though the Men's Team has never (ever) won a World Cup, they get paid more, have better support and virtually everything else. This team has brought home four World Cup trophies and vitalized the game of soccer in the US. Before 1999 only kids played soccer in the US for the most part. It wasn't seen as a "serious" sport like American football, basketball or baseball. Yet they still cannot get paid for what they do.The book does a great job of showing us how much this team, even as a concept, has had to scrap their way to where they are. Caitlin Murray walks us through some of the craziest things I've ever heard - things that simply would NOT happen in any male sport (including little league.) They had to do their own marketing - going "door to door" in the early days, coaching kids' teams and trying to get the kids to ask their parents to bring them to games. They took hotel shuttles to games. They sometimes had no medical care. They have never been paid enough to live on. At one point, having a baby was cause to kick you off the WOMEN'S TEAM!If they are seen as arrogant or overly zealous sometimes, it's because US Soccer has molded them into women who have to fight for everything, including trips to hospitals when your face is broken. They've had countless failed leagues, countless failed male owners (including one who asked the players to call him "Daddy") and innumerable all-out fights with the US Soccer federation. They are cautious and sometimes caustic now, and who can blame them? As we speak they've just brought home another World Cup title, yet they don't get equal travel, facilities, hotels, or pay as their constantly losing male counterparts. (And I don't hold a load of hope for the courts to solve what is, essentially, a cultural problem.) Women's projects - be it sports, the arts or medicine are often seen as "cute little pastimes" to do until the serious work of motherhood can take 100% of your time. As such, we do have to fight for everything, and for the love of god - do it with a smile and a hair-flip, or else. (And btw, moms - you'd better not actually mother 100% of the time, b/c you'll be criticized for that too.)It's important for little girls to see sports as something we can and should do - professionally or just so this nation can get more healthy (I mean, we don't have healthcare, so exercise might be the only thing that saves us.) When I was a kid, there was no Serena Williams to look up to. I didn't see many women playing sports at all. My parents kept me in school or community teams to keep me off the streets, but I certainly never saw it as something serious, and I'm thrilled that this is changing. I just wish the people who "own" these teams and run these federations would see it as something to take with the sobriety it warrants. After reading this, I'm more furious than I was before, and I didn't realize that was possible.

Loved every word. It’s a must read for passionate soccer fans (men or women) and an amazing read for casual or even non-fans. It’s a well written book about over coming obstacles, perseverance, how the much things have changed and how much they still need to.I’ve been an avid fan of the USWNT since ‘99 and I learned a great deal from this book. Fantastic read.

As a young fan who really fell in love with the USWNT during the 2015 World Cup, I never knew the history behind the team and all they had to fight for over the years. Murray provides wonderful insight from her interviews with the people in the room and deftly covers the action both on and off the field. A must read for any sports fan.

Had to get it for class, but ended up loving the book. Amazing book- shows the journey of the team from the beginning.

This book is incredible. It brings to light the incredible pursuit of equality that these women chased down in the sport that they love. Tells the story of the 99’s with honor, and shows the fire that paved the way for the World Cup Champs.

livre en tres bonne etat

Incredible stories from within the US WNT, honest and inspiring.

Great Book !

Great book, amazing read.