(CNN)For a brief moment, it felt like time had stopped in the summer of 1999.
On a sweltering Californian evening, a stadium of over 90,000 fans stood silent and still, rooted by anxiety, as Brandi Chastain prepared to take a penalty kick that could secure the Women’s World Cup for her country.
The right-footer had been instructed by her coach to strike with her left, even though she had never attempted a penalty kick with her weaker foot. Spectators gasped in unison before breaking into a roar.
