The US women’s soccer team got a hero’s welcome on Friday with a ticker-tape parade in New York’s lower Manhattan, mobbed by young girls and other flag-waving fans, followed by a New York City Hall ceremony where each player was given a key to the city.
“All of this for us started when we were little and we had a dream,” star forward Abby Wambach told a crowd of 3,500 at City Hall Plaza. “In my opinion, all the women up on this stage believed in that dream, kept believing in that dream.”
Head coach Jill Ellis called the celebration “mind-blowing,” while midfielder Carli Lloyd — named the Women’s World Cup’s Most Valuable Player after scoring three goals in the final — said: “Well I’m a Jersey girl ... but New York City, you guys are awesome.”
Photo: EPA
Supporters — many wearing red, white and blue — started gathering at 3:30am along the Canyon of Heroes, a stretch of Broadway where the nation’s largest city has honored its legends. When the parade got underway at 11am, the crowd was as much as 10 deep along the route. Chants of “USA, USA” were distinctly high-pitched.
It was the first-ever ticker-tape parade in New York for a women’s sports team — a fact not lost on the crowd. A fourth-floor window on a building near the route was decorated with a homemade sign reading “Girl Power,” with four US flags.
“I’m glad to see girls getting a parade,” said nine-year-old Christinah Delesine, who wore a blue soccer shirt. “There should be more.”
All 23 squad members — none of whom are from New York City, though four hail from nearby New Jersey — were riding on four of 12 floats. One of the floats was carrying the World Cup trophy, along Lloyd and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was on a separate float.
The players could be seen taking selfies and shooting photographs of the crowd.
As the parade started, goalkeeper Hope Solo tweeted: “We couldn’t be more excited be here!” with an image of herself and five teammates.
The southern end of Broadway is the traditional spot in New York for the parades where workers in tall office buildings once tossed ticker tape onto celebrants below. The tape has been replaced by shredded paper.
The New York Yankees have been given parades after winning the MLB World Series, and the New York Giants have been celebrated after winning the Super Bowl, most recently in 2012.
Famous people honored with parades in New York include Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, General Douglas MacArthur and Albert Einstein.
Even though the women’s soccer team is a national team and not a local team, the push to honor the players with a parade had been fervent. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer had written to De Blasio, saying it was a good opportunity to showcase female athletes.
“When they brought back that trophy, they also brought back the message of the power of women,” De Blasio said at City Hall.
The US returned to the top of the FIFA women’s rankings after thrashing Japan 5-2 in the World Cup final to collect the top prize in women’s soccer for the first time in 16 years.
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