Tony DiCicco, coach of Women’s World Cup champs, dies at 68

FILE - In this May 30, 2012, file photo, National Soccer Hall of Famer Tony DiCicco stands on the sidelines before an international friendly soccer match between Brazil and the United States, in Landover, Md. DiCicco, who coached the U.S. to the 1999 Women’s World Cup title, has died. He was 68. U.S. Soccer confirmed DiCicco’s death Tuesday, June 20, 2017. His son, Anthony, tweeted that DiCicco died at home with his family present.
(AP Photo/Nick Wass, File) — FILE - In this May 30, 2012, file photo, National Soccer Hall of Famer Tony DiCicco stands on the sidelines before an international friendly soccer match between Brazil and the United States, in Landover, Md. DiCicco, who coached the U.S. to the 1999 Women’s World Cup title, has died. He was 68. U.S. Soccer confirmed DiCicco’s death Tuesday, June 20, 2017. His son, Anthony, tweeted that DiCicco died at home with his family present. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File) FILE - In this May 30, 2012, file photo, National Soccer Hall of Famer Tony DiCicco stands on the sidelines before an international friendly soccer match between Brazil and the United States, in Landover, Md. DiCicco, who coached the U.S. to the 1999 Women’s World Cup title, has died. He was 68. U.S. Soccer confirmed DiCicco’s death Tuesday, June 20, 2017. His son, Anthony, tweeted that DiCicco died at home with his family present. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

By Associated Press June 20, 2017 3 min read

Tony DiCicco, who coached the U.S. to the 1999 World Cup title before an overflow Rose Bowl crowd in a landmark for women’s soccer, has died at 68.

He died Monday at home with his family there, son Anthony DiCicco wrote Tuesday on Twitter. No cause was announced.

DiCicco became the U.S. coach in 1994 and led the team to the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the first games to feature women’s soccer.

He then guided a team filled with superstars – women’s sports pioneers such as Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Michelle Akers – to the ’99 World Cup crown. In the final, the U.S. beat China 5-4 on penalty kicks in Pasadena, California, before 90,185 fans, by far the largest attendance for a women’s soccer game.

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati called DiCicco “one of the most influential coaches in U.S. Soccer history.”