Chastains already proud of Brandi

When Brandi Chastain called her grandparents on Monday, what she said was likely the most unneccessary statement she's ever made to her grandfather and grandmother.

Chastain told her grandparents she would "try to make us proud of me," said her grandfather, Roger. Chastain's grandparents, Roger and Hazel Chastain, live here in Carson City. Chastain also told her grandparents that she loves them.

She and the United States women's soccer team have arrived in Greece where they will begin play in the Olympics on Wednesday against Greece. The game will be televised at 8 a.m. on MSNBC.

But while Chastain told her grandparents that she would try to make them proud of her, she should already consider the mission accomplished. "She's already done that," Roger said.

Chastain is still recovering from a broken foot that she suffered in the first game of last fall's World Cup. While Chastain continued to try to play on the broken foot in that game, it wasn't meant to be and she missed the rest of the World Cup tournament.

But Chastain is back now and played in Saturday's 3-1 win over China in an exhibition game. China is expected to be one of the American team's chief competitors for the gold.

"It took a long time for it to heel," said Roger about Chastain's foot. Roger said his granddaughter isn't quite 100 percent.

"But she's well enough," said Roger about his granddaughter, who's a defender on the U.S. team. "She's almost a 100 percent. She'll go a 100 percent whether she's a 100 percent or not."

It was not only a frustrating World Cup for Chastain, it was a frustrating tournament for the U.S. team as well. At the Olympics, the U.S. should also be challenged by Germany, who beat the Americans in the semifinals at last year's World Cup on the way to winning gold. The U.S. settled for bronze.

It's been well-chronicled that the 1999 World Cup was a far different story for Chastain - and all those who watched. The reality is it's the moment that will most define Chastain for the rest of her life.

The World Cup title that year at Pasadena's Rose Bowl came down to a shootout between the Americans and the Chinese. It was Chastain who scored on the game-winning penalty kick to give the U.S. the crown.

She then ripped off her jersey in excitement. Even though she was wearing a sports bra underneath the jersey - and female athletes could have been routinely seen training in sports bras for some time up until that moment - too many it was still an eye popping memory.

Roger has been able to keep the moment in perspective and has even had fun with it. Roger said when he travels, he runs into people who ask him when they find out that Brandi is his granddaughter, "Is that your granddaughter who took her shirt off?"

He noted that after Chastain's moment in 1999, she became the most recognizable name in the world in soccer.

But even though Chastain, 36, will be most remembered for that moment, she's had a distinguished career. She's been with the U.S. Women's Soccer team really since the beginning and has been in on the ground floor of a movement that has revolutionized female sports.

Chastain was a member of the U.S. team that beat China in Beijing to win the first women's World Cup in 1991.

While most people remember Chastain's moment in 1999, it was really in 1996 in Athens, Ga. where Chastain and the U.S. women's soccer team burst onto the scene when they won Olympic gold. Brandi's grandparents were there. "It was really a thrill," Roger said.

Roger had planned to make the trip to Athens. But while he said his wife, Hazel, was somewhat concerned about the security situation, he said the main reason why he didn't make the trip was because of logistics more than anything else.

He was going to make the trip with his daughter, Judy Jackson, who works as an office manager for Carson City's building department. The Chastains have another daughter, Charlotte Chastain, who lives in Carson City. "It would have been a thrill," said Roger about going to Athens. "You hate to miss it."

It's also still an emotional time for the Chastains as they've had to deal with the deaths of Brandi's parents.

Brandi's father and Roger's son, also named Roger, and her mother, Lark, both died in the last two years. "You never get over it," Roger said. "I don't want to get over it. It still hurts."

Charles Whisnand is the Nevada Appeal Sports Editor. Contact him at cwhisnand@nevadaappeal.com.