Women's World Cup Flashback: Sun Wen inspires China to 1999 final

It’s now 18 years to the day – July 10, 1999 – that the Steel Roses took to the pitch in front of more than 90,000 spectators at the Pasadena Rose Bowl to face hosts USA in the FIFA World Cup final as the dominant Asian force began to show its might on the global stage.

One of the stars of China’s huge success during the 1990s was Sun Wen, the forward who was named the joint FIFA Women’s Player of the Century and came within a penalty shootout of winning football’s biggest prize after the USA prevailed from the spot following a scoreless draw.

March to the final