The USWNT won Olympic gold. Why did none of their players make the Fifpro XI?
The Guardian’s ranking of the world’s best female footballers overflowed with Americans. But their fellow players largely shunned them
Women’s soccer has grown exponentially in the 22 years since Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra marveled at the very existence of a professional game in the USA in Bend It Like Beckham.
In the film, the main characters went off to the USA to play collegiate soccer, while the UK had only the faintest whispers that local clubs might soon field professional teams. Today, the protagonists would have several professional options without ever straying from the reach of Greater London.
