Brandi Chastain
Responsible for the most significant goal and most memorable celebration in the history of American women's soccer, utility player Brandi Chastain was a pivotal member of the national team that won two World Cups and two Olympic golds. Born in San Jose, CA, Chastain guided her high school to three section championships and received the Soccer America Freshmen Player of the Year Award while attending the University of California-Berkeley before making her international debut against Japan in 1988. Following a three-year spell at Santa Clara University, Chastain scored five goals in her homeland's 12-0 thrashing of Mexico in a qualifier for the Women's World Cup, the 1991 inaugural tournament which USA went on to win. After spending a season playing for Japanese side Shiroki F.C. Serena, Chastain achieved further success with the national side when she played every minute of their gold medal-winning run at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. But the biggest moment of her career, and arguably in the women's game in general, occurred three years later when she scored the decisive penalty shootout spot-kick against China in the World Cup final. Watched by over 17 million American viewers, the result was credited with kickstarting the nation's interest in the sport, while her sports bra-revealing celebration saw Chastain plastered all over the covers of Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and TIME. Chastain then enjoyed spells with Bay Area CyberRays and San Jose CyberRays in the Women's United Soccer Association and picked up a second gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics before announcing her international retirement, having played 192 times for her country. In 2008, Chastain stepped into the commentary box for NBC Sports' coverage of the Beijing Olympics, and following brief stints with short-lived FC Gold Pride and WPSL side California Storm, hung up her soccer boots for good. Chastain remained fully involved in the sport, contributing to ESPN's coverage of the Major Soccer League and the 2011 Women's World Cup, and serving as assistant coach to her former team, the Santa Clara Broncos, while in 2016 she was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.