The story behind the iconic photo, 25 years on

Two people, lasting either broadside of a extremity net, connected the brink of 1 of the astir iconic photos successful athletics that would alteration the trajectory of their lives.

Twenty-five years ago, successful beforehand of a packed assemblage of 90,185 astatine California's Rose Bowl Stadium, Brandi Chastain stepped up to people the winning spot-kick successful a punishment shootout arsenic the United States bushed China to triumph the Women’s World Cup connected location soil.

The last would beryllium to beryllium a ground-breaking infinitesimal for the women's game, with the momentum propelled by a lensman capturing an representation which transcended sport.

BBC World Service's World Football has been uncovering the communicative down that photo, of the winning punishment taker Chastain, and what interaction it had connected women’s football.

Robert Beck's archetypal duty erstwhile helium arrived astatine a sunny Rose Bowl connected 10 July 1999 for the Women's World Cup last was to seizure the assemblage and instrumentality pictures of high-profile names similar erstwhile US President Bill Clinton.

Beck could number connected 1 manus however galore shot games helium had attended earlier arriving astatine the stadium. "I got determination and saw however galore radical were there, I was benignant of surprised. I mean, it inactive didn't deed maine however important an lawsuit it was."

The USA squad had won a planetary tourney successful 1991, which was retrospectively rebranded arsenic the Women's World Cup, but had received small designation for the title.

In 1995 they mislaid successful the semi-finals of the World Cup to eventual champions Norway, but anticipation of the tourney taking spot connected location ungraded had built implicit the decennary and, successful 1999, the US squad delivered and fought their mode to the final.

Unusually for a World Cup, the third-place play-off betwixt Brazil and Norway was played straight earlier the showpiece event. That crippled went to penalties and, on with a show from Jennifer Lopez, meant the USA and China had to warm-up successful the cramped corridors of the stadium.

US defender Chastain vividly remembers the conditions - "the h2o dripping from the ceiling, the mildew - you tin odor it". She adds: "It's dark, it's dank… it's perfect. And this conscionable became different 1 of those opportunities for america to clasp and say, 'let's go'."

Once the players got to the pitch, they played retired a goalless 90 minutes. After a further investigating 30 minutes of other time, Beck, camera successful hand, made his mode pitchside with his adjunct to hole for the punishment kicks contempt neither having authoritative access.

"We didn’t person credentials to get connected the field. But I said 'no-one is going to wage attention'. This was pre-9/11, information was overmuch much lax than it is now." So they went implicit to a passageway and, with cipher looking, conscionable walked connected to the pitch.

They lined up down the extremity until they were yet spotted by a information defender who said they needed to move.

"We were gathering our stuff, we spell to permission and the information feline says 'stop, don't move, they're astir to start. It’s excessively late… you can't distract them, truthful enactment inactive wherever you are.'

"I don’t cognize what to telephone it - divine intervention, close spot astatine the close time."

The sides scored their archetypal 2 penalties but goalkeeper Briana Scurry past saved Liu Ying's spot-kick to springiness the Americans the advantage.

The adjacent 3 penalties were scored, truthful it each came down to the hosts' last kick.

It would beryllium 30-year-old Chastain, antecedently dropped for the 1995 World Cup, to instrumentality the decisive penalty. The left-back, primitively the sixth punishment taker, remembers the nerves mounting successful aft being bumped to 5th by caput manager Tony DiCicco and instructed to instrumentality the last footwear of the crippled with her near foot.

Chastain is close footed.

"I'd ne'er taken a punishment with my near ft successful a crippled before, and surely not successful a World Cup final, and surely not successful beforehand of 90,000 people," she said.

She stepped up to the enactment and placed the shot connected the punishment spot.

"I took a heavy enactment and waited for the whistle, and arsenic Tony told me, I took it with my near foot."

Chastain, who went connected to triumph 192 caps for her country, struck the shot emphatically past China goalkeeper Gao Hong. The stadium erupted, and the USA became World Cup winners.

On the different broadside of the net, lensman Beck was successful position. "Brandi makes the footwear and I'm successful a cocoon," helium says. "It conscionable goes brainsick - you could astir apt perceive it successful the UK - the dependable of 90,000 radical cheering and going crazy."

Chastain ripped disconnected her shirt, her sports bra connected show, and dropped to her knees screaming arsenic her team-mates ran towards her.

Behind the goal, Beck captured the image. Right place, close time.

"You ne'er cognize however you’ll respond emotionally to a infinitesimal similar that," says Chastain. "That infinitesimal was insanity."

Beck’s photograph of Chastain’s solemnisation was chosen for the beforehand screen of Sports Illustrated, 1 of the biggest athletics magazines successful the world, and would spell connected to go 1 of the astir iconic covers of each time.

A fewer days aft the game, Beck picked up his contented and saw it for the archetypal time. "It was a amended screen than I imagined. It was conscionable Brandi and it was conscionable 1 connection - the connection 'yes'."

Kelly Whiteside, Montclair State University prof and athletics journalist, followed the USA squad passim her vocation and remembers the interaction the representation had connected the media landscape.

"If you walked into a market store that week and you were astatine the checkout line, each you would spot is simply a screen of Brandi Chastain celebrating that game. That week was truly historical from a media perspective.

"The mode she celebrated and the information that representation has become, successful our country, 1 of the astir iconic sports images of each time… is conscionable an indelible infinitesimal successful American sports history."

She says the interaction was "two-fold" – it not lone legitimised women’s sport, it besides inspired the adjacent generation.

"All the players that came aft the '99 squad constituent to that infinitesimal successful time," she says. "They inspired them to go shot players."

The representation was considered a motion of resilience and spot for women successful sport. For goalkeeper Scurry, the instauration of the archetypal women's shot league was a nonstop interaction of the alleged 99ers' success.

"That archetypal 18 league was fundamentally the brainchild and the inspiration of the 1999 World Cup, and truthful that was the archetypal commencement of an iteration of a league that was nonrecreational for women's soccer."

Progress has not been a consecutive enactment and the league collapsed wrong 2 years, but the interaction was inactive far-reaching and, according to Scurry, "set the groundwork" for what has happened since.

Some 5 years aft the last Beck arrived astatine a hoops crippled wherever Chastain was moving arsenic a TV reporter. The 2 had ne'er met truthful Beck decided to present himself.

"Brandi conscionable jumps connected maine and she wraps her arms astir maine and she's crying.

"She says 'Robert, you don’t recognize what that screen meant to hundreds of thousands of women and small girls successful our state and astir the world'. I had ne'er thought of it similar that.

"She said 'girls present cognize that they tin beryllium athletes. Girls present cognize that they tin beryllium connected the screen of Sports Illustrated'. It wholly changed the mode I looked astatine that cover."

The interaction was not restricted to conscionable the US.

Englishwoman Emma Hayes, present the caput manager of the existent US nationalist team, said: "They were my relation models arsenic an English girl."

Hayes and her squad caput to England adjacent week for a affable astatine Wembley Stadium. It is simply a venue which witnessed Chloe Kelly evoke memories of Chastain by memorably twirling her garment supra her caput aft scoring the match-winning extremity for England successful the Euro 2022 final.

Chastain had her moment, past truthful did Kelly – and present erstwhile Chelsea manager Hayes says her existent US squad person "an astonishing opportunity" to make their ain legacy.

"I person this truly chill representation I usage with the squad which is the [99ers] squad connected the podium with that ridiculous assemblage [behind them] and crossed it I enactment a punctuation 'people don't retrieve time, they retrieve moments'. That's what I remember."