Celebrating that on Saturday was why Tech N9ne called it a “monumental moment” in an on-field interview before he performed his “KCMO Anthem,” and it was why Eric Stonestreet was right when he proclaimed “we get to be on the front row to history right here.”

And it’s why coach Vlatko Andonovski, the former USWNT coach who has traveled the world for the game, stepped off the bus and was slammed by the realization, “Oh my gosh, this is happening” — and soon found himself having to calm the “the atmosphere a little bit” pregame lest his team burn out before the game even started.

Then it all really did happen.

And somehow it felt bigger and better and more everlasting than Berman, surely among others, could even have imagined.

It was one thing to be saying at the NWSL office, “If you build it, they will come.”

It was quite another to be here to see the living, breathing impact of what “it means to actually invest in brick and mortar and physical infrastructure” that she reckons will “change the footprint of this city forever” and have a “greater impact than anyone can imagine.”

Because this already is a game-changer that has shifted the very dynamics of what is to be in the NWSL, where the impact on financial commitments has altered radically in the wake of the Current’s actions. For that matter, Berman said, the Longs have personally taken the ownership of every other team in the league through every phase of the building process.

“I know they’re excited about having been a pioneer in this space,” Berman said, “but their legacy will actually be that they won’t be the last.”

She later added, “It’s very cool to see the origin story … and that’s something that will live forever.”

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