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Anthony D. DiCicco Jr. (August 5, 1948 – June 19, 2017) was an American soccer player and coach and TV commentator. He is best known as the coach of the
United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles ( 1991, 1999, 2015, an ...
from 1994 to 1999, during which time the team won an Olympic gold medal in 1996 and the
1999 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national soccer teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at ...
. He was also coach of the USA team that won the
2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 4th edition of the tournament. It was held in Chile between 19 November and 7 December 2008. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all six confederations, took part in the final competition, i ...
.


Early life

Born in
Wethersfield, Connecticut Wethersfield is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut. It is located immediately south of Hartford along the Connecticut River. Its population was 27,298 at the time of the 2020 census. Many records from colonial times spell the name ...
, DiCicco was 1966 graduate of Wethersfield High School in
Wethersfield, Connecticut Wethersfield is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut. It is located immediately south of Hartford along the Connecticut River. Its population was 27,298 at the time of the 2020 census. Many records from colonial times spell the name ...
, where he lettered in soccer, baseball and basketball. In 1970, DiCicco graduated from Springfield College in Massachusetts, where he was an All-American
goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
his senior year. He played with the Connecticut Wildcats and
Rhode Island Oceaneers Home field was Pierce field East Providence RI Rhode Island Oceaneers was a soccer team. History The original Rhode Island Oceaneers soccer team was established in 1974. That season, they won the league title after a 16-2 regular season. U.S. Socc ...
of the American Soccer League for five years, and made a single appearance for the
United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team h ...
in 1973. During this time, he also taught Physical Education at Bellows Falls Middle School in Bellows Falls, Vt. for at least the 1972–1973 school year.


Coaching career


International

In 1991, DiCicco became the goalkeeper coach for the U.S. women's team; he was also the goalkeeping coach for the 1993 U.S. men's under-20 team. He took over as head coach of the women's team in 1994, and compiled a record of 105–8–8, culminating with the team's dramatic win over China in the 1999 World Cup final. In 2008, DiCicco coached the U.S. U-20 Women's national team to victory in the FIFA Women's U-20 World Cup in Chile.


Club

DiCicco served as head coach of the
Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...
of the
Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...
from 2009 to 2011.


Sports administration

DiCicco was the founding commissioner of the
Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Un ...
from 2000 to 2003. DiCicco has also served on a Technical Advisory board for U.S. Soccer.


Broadcasting

DiCicco worked as a commentator and analyst for
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
's and
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...
' broadcasts of women's soccer, including the main broadcast booth for the
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...
.


Writer

DiCicco was co-author of "Catch Them Being Good: Everything You Need to Know to Successfully Coach Girls" with Colleen Hacker and Charles Salzberg.


Honors and awards


Individual

DiCicco was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2012.


International


Coach

Women's Olympics Soccer (1): 1996 FIFA Women's World Cup (1): 1999 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup (1):
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...


Personal life

DiCicco and his wife, Diane, have four sons: Anthony, Andrew, Alex, and Nicholas. DiCicco died on June 19, 2017, from cancer at his home in Wethersfield, Connecticut. He was 68 years old.


References


External links


U.S. Soccer player bio





Linkedin.com public profile

Tony DiCicco, U.S. Women's National Soccer Coach, World Cup Champion – amherst.edu
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dicicco, Tony 1948 births 2017 deaths People from Wethersfield, Connecticut Sportspeople from Hartford, Connecticut Soccer players from Connecticut American soccer players Association football goalkeepers United States men's international soccer players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Connecticut Wildcats soccer players Rhode Island Oceaneers players American soccer coaches United States women's national soccer team managers 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup managers 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup managers FIFA Women's World Cup-winning managers American color commentators Association football commentators American people of Italian descent American sportspeople of Italian descent American women's soccer coaches Deaths from cancer in Connecticut National Soccer Hall of Fame members Springfield Pride athletes Women's Professional Soccer coaches American Olympic coaches