A defender and forward who made the switch from the front line to the back line in mid-career and won two World Cups and two Olympic championships as a star of the U.S. women’s national team.
Chastain, who was chosen in 2013 to the U.S. women’s national team all-time Best XI, played 192 full internationals for the United States, the first against Japan in 1988 and the last against Mexico in 2004. She was a key member of the U.S. team that won the 1999 Women’s World Cup, starting all six games and sparking a famous celebration by scoring the winning goal in the penalty shootout that decided the championship. She also played two games of the U.S. victory in the 1991 Women’s World Cup and one in the 2003 Women’s World Cup (before being injured). She played in 13 of the United States’ 16 games at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, including the final in all three years, and won Olympic titles in 1996 and 2004.
She played three seasons in the WUSA between 2001 and 2003 with Bay Area and San Jose, and one season in WPS, 2009, with Bay Area. She was chosen to the WUSA all-star first team in 2001, a year when she was the star of the Bay Area team that won the first WUSA title, and was second-team selection in 2002 and 2003. In addition to her first-division play in the United States, she also played six seasons in the WPSL, one season in the W-League and one season in the Japanese professional league. During her WUSA/WPS career, she played 62 regular-season games and two playoff games.
Inducted in 2016.
