It’s odd to think that there once existed a time when the mere idea of women participating in a World Cup match was, to say the least, seen by some as farfetched; indeed, as the 1960s faded into a new decade, women who wanted to play professional football weren’t just frowned upon, it was not allowed. One would think that a somewhat secretive World Cup featuring team rosters that were 100% female taking place at this time would make enough of a sound that history would look back upon such an event with the sort of reverence generally reserved for the most outstanding achievements in the world of sports. Until “Copa 71,” this was almost not the case.
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Filmmakers Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine have taken what little information they had on the 1971 Women’s World Cup and, using an untold amount of footage previously unseen to most interspersed alongside modern interviews conducted with numerous athletes who do remember what it felt like to take to the pitch 50+ years prior, have crafted a fascinating documentary with all the feel of an extended episode of “30 for 30” with as much action on the sidelines and beyond. With executive producers Serena and Venus Williams helping to bring this story to a broad audience, the film has enough to keep it at the bare minimum interesting, with an endearing group of people armed with no shortage of memorable moments at the ready on-camera throughout, even if there isn’t much more to help it stand out from the greater sports doc collective as a whole.
Opening with 1999 World Cup star Brandi Chastain as she watches clips from 1971 and marvels over how exactly anyone, much less herself, had any idea this had occurred, “Copa 71” goes on to show how the powers that be in Mexico saw a moneymaking opportunity to both grant the wishes of scores of women who desperately want to play the game they loved and, more importantly to the former, make a tidy profit in the process. By bringing together teams from a handful of countries, the event would eventually go off in direct opposition to the governing body FIFA, who throughout is seen as wanting nothing more than for this all to end quickly. Though the Mexican organizers are “allowed” to host the matches at stadiums where FIFA has no control, thus releasing the latter from any presumed potential embarrassment on their end, we nonetheless go on to see how some of the biggest crowds ever seen at a sporting event show up to see this World Cup take place, thus helping dreams to come true and more than a few wallets all the heavier.
Naturally, it isn’t without difficulty. Billie Jean King comes to mind when the press is shown, quite content to focus on the players’ looks and mention the femininity on display instead of any athletic prowess. It isn’t long before more tension rises when their male counterparts ask them why they’re understandably not being adequately compensated for any sponsorship deals or ticket sales. Fortunately, any hurdles these women seem to encounter repeatedly are nicely balanced throughout the film; any tension during the gameplay footage shown stems from the genuine competition and undeniable ability to play the game instead of struggles outside the stadium, and it soon becomes apparent how even team rivalries seem to extend only as far as the confines of the pitch as seen in one scene depicting the breakdown of a team bus and another immediately coming to their aid as if these were old friends who also recognize the magnitude of being all in this together. Tragically, seeing the heartbreaking way in which FIFA failed to officially acknowledge this tournament even to this day, especially after the film’s rousing recap of the exciting final, the despondence of the players as a result, and their reflection on how women today have far more support in the world of football makes for a rather gloomy way to end “Copa 71.” As sad as it might be, there’s no way around the truth.
You can’t say it isn’t fascinating, and it’s fortunate that the two behind this project have brought much-needed focus on this pivotal, albeit formerly forgotten moment. The flow moves along nicely and does make for a pleasant watch, the equivalent of a passage lurking within a history textbook that teaches its reader a thing or two before returning to its home on the shelf. “Copa 71” may be just another documentary, but in telling the story of the 1971 Women’s World Cup, it is absolutely a success. [B]
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