FIFA, soccer's international governing body, wanted the event to be staged in small stadiums along the East Coast, Messing explains, but she believed its appeal was broader and that it could be sustained in larger stadiums from coast to coast.
That was due in part to her belief in Team USA, which was led by popular scoring sensation Mia Hamm and was a prohibitive favorite after winning Olympic gold three years earlier in front of an adoring, overflow crowd in Atlanta.
"You could see that people connected with this team," says Messing, a lawyer. "First of all, they were great athletes, beautiful role models, All-American girls, attractive, intelligent, educated. Plus, they loved the sport and were willing to give back to the fans."
A mother of three daughters, ages 8, 10 and 12, Messing admits that she too was enthralled by the U.S. team.
"I feel tremendously proud to have been a part of it, in whatever small way that I was," she says of the watershed event she shaped, "but that team owns that moment in history."
Sister-in-law of actress Debra Messing, the former CEO has devoted the last 10 years to reconnecting with her family. Her husband, Brett, is a hedge-fund manager.
Though she tackles intermittent projects and sits on the board of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games, which bids to bring future Games to the region, Messing is "primarily a stay-at-home mom," she says. "But I have three kids that play soccer, so I'm sort of a soccer mom."
Still, after first leading the marketing push for the 1994 men's World Cup and then directing the three-year Women's World Cup effort, she seems to miss the nonstop action.
"I don't think I've replaced that," she says, "but I will say that, in terms of the competition, there's nothing more exciting than watching my kids play soccer. . . .
"Those games are every bit as exciting as watching the Women's World Cup games 10 years ago or the men's World Cup games. It might be hard to believe, but when you have such a personal stake in the kids out there on the field, it's tremendous."
Foudy calls it "wonderful" that Messing is a soccer mom, noting that Messing's undying passion and belief in the sport led to her producing a transcendent moment in women's athletics.
"I remember walking into Giants Stadium for that first game," the former captain says. "We walked out to a standing ovation from 85,000 people and I thought to myself, 'Thank goodness Marla and her team had the courage to go bigger.' "
Messing says she wouldn't have had it any other way.
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jerome.crowe@latimes.com
