Instead of preparing for the World Cup, which was held in the United States, Keller and a U-21 team that included future senior team regulars like Heather Mitts and Danielle Slaton were flown from Iceland after the tournament to Southern California. There, they painted their faces, dressed up and even made an acrostic poster in hopes of getting on ABC. (“I think it was America Beats China,” Keller recalled.)
At the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, Keller and her U-21 teammates watched up close as the players they were training with just months before now battled China in the World Cup final. When Brandi Chastain scored the famous game-winning penalty in the shootout to win the 1999 Women’s World Cup, Keller was watching from the stands.
“Afterwards, they invited us down to the locker room to celebrate,” Keller said. “To be a part of it all was so special, to be that close to it and go, ‘Wow, we can do this!’ It was pretty cool.”
With that much star power at the manager’s disposal during that time, Keller said she understands why she was never asked to put on the Stars and Stripes again.
“I think the reason [there wasn’t a second call-up] is because they were freaking All-Stars! Don’t mess with the best, right?” Keller said, laughing.
She now works at a think tank in Washington, D.C.
Jackie Billet, midfielder: Aug. 16, 1992, vs. Norway
It was in 1992 when she was just beginning her college journey with Wisconsin that Billet came on as a substitute for a 4-2 loss against then-powerhouse Norway.
“The team was amazing at the time. I was kind of starstruck, playing with Mia Hamm. I’d never really been in a training environment like that, to be in that environment, and see Anson [Dorrance] coaching,” she said. “The senior national team was everything. Other than the reason that you just love to play the game, that was the be-all, end-all goal.”
Billet said she would’ve liked more feedback about how she could have improved to earn another call-up. Like the other one-cap players, though, she says it’s a memory she looks back on fondly and she has no regrets about how things turned out.
“I remember having them take an old-school camera picture and hoping they’d process,” she said. “We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, so being able to see my dad in the stands while I was representing the United States was amazing.”
Billet is now a sales rep in Missouri.
