Success is not guaranteed for the USWNT. Just ask China’s Steel Roses

Before a World Cup final defeat to the US in the 90s, Chinese women's soccer was a powerhouse. Now, the nation is plotting for greater success in the 2030s

Sporting history is littered with Sliding Doors moments, instances when future fortunes pivot on one swing of a bat, one toss of a ball or one swipe of a boot.

So named for the 1998 movie in which alternate realities of Gwyneth Paltrow's lead character's life play out simultaneously, diverging at the point at which she did or didn't get on a tube train, the most consequential example of a Sliding Doors moment in the history of women's soccer came on 10 July 1999 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.