Tony DiCicco, who coached the United States women’s soccer team to pioneering victories in 1996, at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and in 1999, at the World Cup, died on Monday at his home in Wethersfield, Conn. He was 68.

The cause was cancer, his family said.

DiCicco (pronounced de-CHEEK-oh) coached with a calm demeanor and was popular with his players because he welcomed their suggestions and maintained an ebullient approach. His mother — named Welcome because her parents had three sons before she was born — played an influential role in his appreciation of women’s sports.

“She used to shoot baskets with me in the driveway,” he told The New York Times in 1999. “She was a great swimmer. I always knew girls could play, because I played with her.”

In 1996, as the inaugural Olympic tournament for women’s soccer approached, DiCicco made a switch in the team’s defensive alignment. He also listened when his players told him they had felt overtrained and fatigued during the 1995 World Cup in Sweden, when they finished a disappointing third.