It has been 20 years since the most iconic moment in the history of womens soccer, the United States winning the 1999 World Cup.

It was a powerful year, to be honest, forward Kristine Lillytold Omnisport. That '99 team was special and I dont think there was one reason why it was special. It was 20 unique individuals that had their own personalities and talent that came together as oneteam.

You werent playing for yourself. You were playing for the team. And ultimately Noah Dawkins Jerseys , thats what created our succe s. But it was also during a time that soccer was growing and it really hadnt hit the forefront yet. Then the World Cup comes and we sell out our games and we win and lots of people watch it and it completely changed our societys views on womens soccer.

With the 2019 tournament set to start Friday in France, many of those on the current U.S. national team point to the athletes who electrified America 20 years ago as role models.

The 99ers had a huge impact on me and growing my pa sion and wanting to play. Being good friends with a lot of them now, I still draw a lot of inspiration from them," star forward Alex Morgan told reporters at the team's World Cup media day.

Twenty years later, we take a look back at the tournament that forever changed the sport, as told through the eyes of a few key players from the 1999 U.S. national team.

Setting the scene

The tournament began June 19, 1999. It was only thethird edition of the women's World Cup, after the United States won the first tournament in 1991 and Norway was victorious four years later. The Americans made it out of the opening stage, leading Group A with ninepoints after winning all three games.

Then came the knockout round where the U.S. opened with a win over Germany in the quarterfinals (3-2)and that Jonathan Marshall Jerseys s the momentLilly realized the Americans had a real shot at winning the whole thing.

Obviously, our goal was to win the World Cup and I think we knew we could do it if we played well and played together as a team and everyone did their job, Lilly said.We played Germany and we scored a goal and then went down one goal and then tied it up. We ended up winning that game and I thought, You know what, we are going to win this whole thing.

Then the U.S. defeated Brazil, 2-0, in the semifinals before facing China in the final.

All the teams you play in the World Cup, you have to be respectful of the talent youre playing against, Lilly said. We knew China was good and that they were one of the stronger teams in the '90s and after playing them in the Olympics in 96, we knew they would be strong.

The final game

It was July 10, 1999. A record 90,185 fans packed the stands at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Greg Van Roten Jerseys California, and 40 million more tuned in around the world to watch the United States take onChinato determine the 1999 champion. At the time, the final marked the most-attended womens sports event in history and brought celebrities from all acro s the nation to one place, including President Bill Clinton.

F-16s flew over. Jennifer Lopez sang. It was nuts, Lilly recalled.

When the U.S. team walked out of the tunnel, the enormity of the moment hit.

You were looking into the crowd and there were all these people and you were just like, Holy cow. It was just amazing and to top it off it was hot, like 100 degrees," Lilly said. "And then we actually had to start playing the game.

Once the game began, the stadium fell silent and the Americans' focus was on winning the World Cup.

I remember being completely fascinated by the huge crowd at the game, but all I remember thinking once the ref handed me the ball was how amazingly quiet 90,000 people can be. In those few seconds, all I could hear was myself breathe, defender Brandi Chastain told.

The was venue for 1994 FIFA World Cup Final and the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final.

City of Pasadena (@PasadenaGov)

The actual match ended in a stalemate. Neither team scored through regulation and they remained scorele s even after extra time. There was one moment when it looked as if China was going to score off a header, but it was famously saved off the line by the 5-foot-4 Lilly to keep the Americans alive.

It happened so fast, Lilly said. There are so many moments like that throughout the whole tournament that adds to our succe s. That was just one moment that helped Jeff Smith Jerseys us stay alive."

Funny thing, Lilly admits 20 years later: That was the weakest part of her game.

The fact that I actually used my head to save the goal was pretty incredible for me," she said.

Some 300 games she played and, by her count, she saved off the line like that maybe two times. Maybe.

So when she made that save at that point in that game? "I was just going, Did that really happen? Like I couldnt believe it. I was just fortunate to be doing my job at the time, she said Denzel Mims Jerseys .

Penalty kicks

With the match scorele s after extra time, it all would come down to penalty kicks to decide the champion a moment that would test the U.S. team's resolve.

And the consensus among the Americans, Lilly said, was: We got this. Were winning this game.

"That was our mentality going in and we found out who the PK kickers were going to be and then we were focusing on our shot and our kick, Lilly told Omnisport.

Goalkeeper Briana Scurry made a huge save on Liu Ying, giving the U.S. momentum right before Lilly stepped to the line. She remembers the crowd goingcrazy. And then the strangest thing happened: The fans fell silent again as she prepared to take her kick.

I remember I was third, watching Carla (Overbeck) and Joy (Fawcett) and being nervous for them and then getting to my turn," Lilly said. "I was like, All right,lets do this. And when I scored, I was so happy.

The game came down to Mia Hamm and Chastain. Hamm converted, then it wasChastain's turn tostep to the line.

Chastain kicked, watching as the ball left of her foot and landed in the back of the net in what she recalled as complete slow-motion.

"I remember watching the ball, seeing it spin with the logo and stitching I mean, it wasthatslow Dan Feeney Jerseys , almost on pause,"Chastain said."And then it hit the net and the crowd erupted and it's back to real time and the team is running over piling on."

When I saw her take the kick to the left with her foot, I knew it was going in and that the goalie wasnt getting it," Lilly said."We were already starting the celebration, and it was such a moment of complete jubilation. We were so happy and pleased with so many emotions.

Then came the celebration heard 'round the world. A celebration witne sed by nearly