The way it should have been is just the way it was

Even if you’re not a fan of soccer—or of women’s sports in general—now that the Women’s World Cup is in the news again there’s no avoiding memories of that iconic photo of US soccer star Brandi Chastain on her knees, fists clenched, arms raised, mouth open in a joyous roar of celebration after scoring the winning penalty kick against China to capture the cup on July 10, 1999, in front of more than 90,000 stadium fans, and perhaps a billion more worldwide.

But—admit it—the reason you remember the photo is because she’s stripped to the waist, wearing nothing but a sports bra, right?

And while oceans of ink were spilled about how shocking it was that she would yank off her shirt to show the world her nearly-nude upper body, I have an even more shocking confession to make.

That’s because there was an even more shocking photo secretly making the rounds within days of that celebratory shot, and it is with a bit of a blush that I think of that other one every time I see the Brandi-in-a-bra shot.

And, I must confess, the memory also brings a smile, too.

At the time I was heavily invested in women’s soccer, both as a varsity high school girls’ soccer coach at Maine South High School and as the coach of Stars ‘n Stripes, a girls’ team playing in youth soccer cups across Europe during the summers.

In fact, when Chastain hammered home that cup-claiming penalty kick, I was coaching Stars ‘n Stripes girls in Germany, trapped in a small town that didn’t even televise the game live. I had to wait a few weeks until I returned to the States before I was finally able to watch a full replay of the game—and the celebration.

By then the celebratory photo was already “the celebration shot seen ‘round the world.” Also by then, Brandi Chastain was back at her day job as assistant women’s soccer coach at Santa Clara University in California.

As luck would have it, one of my former high school players, Alice, was a player at Santa Clara at the time, so that made me just one “degree of separation” from Chastain.

Alice was probably the finest athlete—male or female—I had ever coached. She set Illinois high school records as a four-year goalkeeper on my teams, and being chosen to play at perennial national powerhouse Santa Clara was the highest honor any of my former athletes had ever achieved.

In the weeks following the iconic photo of Chastain’s celebration, Brandi was back in front of the cameras, being featured on Wheaties boxes hammering soccer balls at a goal, and Alice was the goalkeeper Brandi brought along to the photo shoot to simulate game conditions, although the cereal boxes only showed Brandi. Fair enough.

And it was about that time that the other blush-inducing photo showed up in my email inbox.

When I opened it I was shocked to see that the iconic celebratory photo had been altered through photo-shop. There was Brandi in that famous kneeling pose, but with a difference: The bra was gone, replaced by the most monumental naked breasts that money can buy.

It came with the caption: “The way it should have been.”

The photo was inappropriate on many levels, not least of which is the notion that elite women athletes should have to endure such demeaning tampering with their images. The US women’s soccer team had battled not only to win a championship, but also to win respect for women’s sports the world over.

Male athletes rip off their shirts in moments of triumph all the time, but what happens when a woman does it? Most of the journalistic ink spilled after the USA women’s team victory had less to do with capturing the World Cup, and more to do with the cups of that sweaty sports bra.

I felt sorry for Brandi Chastain that her moment of glory would be tainted by discussions of the appropriateness of her celebration.

And now, right there in my email inbox, was that shocking retouched shot, lowering the appropriateness bar even further.

And who was the sender of that shockingly inappropriate photo? None other than Alice, my former player, who was keeping goal for Brandi’s Santa Clara team at the time and even traveling with her to help with photo shoots.

But I have already confessed to you that the memory of that photo brings a blushing smile to my face.

And here is why:

It is because as soon as I opened the photo and saw that it had been sent from Alice, I shot her a return email, saying, “What do you think Brandi would say if she knew you had this photo and were sending it around?”

Alice’s response came immediately.

She said: “Who do you think sent it to me?” None other than Chastain, it turns out.

Proof that a world-class athlete like Brandi Chastain can still have a world-class sense of humor about herself.

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