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Countdown to Beijing '08 - Soccer outlook
// USOC Media Services // October 3, 2006
Outlook - Women
Currently all of Women’s Soccer’s focus is on the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China. Once that event is over (Sept. 10-30, 2007) then the team will start focusing on the Olympic Games in 2008. The team could be much different from what it is now, with different story lines and different stars, but right now the main priority for Women’s Soccer is just focusing on qualifying for the Women's World Cup.
Story Lines - Women
NEW STARS EMERGE
After the glorious run to the 2004 Olympic gold medal, many of the U.S. Women’s National Team legends retired, which meant plenty of opportunities for the slew of talented young players to emerge as the new American stars. U.S. head coach Greg Ryan has had a year and a half to begin to build a team that will attempt to qualify for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup. There is a fantastic core group of veterans to build around – Kristine Lilly, Abby Wambach, Shannon Boxx – and a group of very, very talented young players who have loads of experience at the youth international level.
GK HOPE SOLO STEPS UP
When legendary goalkeeper Briana Scurry stepped away from the game for a year in 2005, Hope Solo emerged as the USA’s No. 1 and has played extremely well, piling up a record of 11-0-4 over 2005 and 2006. With Scurry back in the fold, and young GKs Jenni Branam and Nicole Barnhart chomping at the bit, the USA most likely has the finest quintet of goalkeepers in the world. Long a standout for the U.S. Youth National Teams, Solo’s emergence as a world-class goalkeeper has been a boon to the USA, which suddenly was without experience in the nets after Scurry took time off. Considering that when you combine the caps of all the goalkeepers who have played for the USA since Scurry debuted in 1994, the total adds up to just a few more matches than Scurry herself has played, Solo stepped into some big shoes. But she has filled them admirably, earning shutouts against Germany, China, France and Canada among others.
LILLY THE LEGEND
Kristine Lilly is the “Queen of Caps.” Perhaps on her final run to a world championship at the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Lilly’s consistency has been her hallmark and the captain of the U.S. Women’s National Team has somehow stayed among the world’s best, even at age 34. Taking over the captaincy from the retired Julie Foudy, she is following a distinguished line of players who have worn the armband for the USA, including Michelle Akers, April Heinrichs, Carla Overbeck, Foudy and Joy Fawcett. Lilly is one of the true legends in women’s soccer and one of the greatest female athletes in the history of the United States. Early in her career, she was perhaps the only player to have so many stories written about how she was “underrated and under-appreciated” that she became highly rated and appreciated, and arguments can be made that she is the best “all-around” player in women’s soccer history. The world’s all-time appearance leader is the first soccer player, man or woman, to play 300 times for her country. She has 308 caps and is still going strong. The U.S. women have played 359 matches in their history. Lilly has played in 308 of them, about 85 percent. It is not clear which is more impressive, her longevity or her productivity. Her longevity, consistency and excellence defies physics, medical science and logic, but she just keeps producing. Lilly has scored 109 career goals, good for second all-time in women’s soccer history, and has 92 career assists as well. She is second in both categories to Mia Hamm. Lilly is poised to play in her fifth Women’s World Cup, something never done before, and has started every world championship match ever played by the USA. All 40 of them.
THE GOLDEN GENERATION
The late -1980s produced a “golden generation” of Kristine Lilly, Mia Hamm, Joy Fawcett and Julie Foudy (Brandi Chastain would make her impact a few year later), who are among the most legendary players in women’s soccer history. But the early 2000s may have produced a “golden generation” as well. Four of the top players from the USA’s team that won the 2002 FIFA U-19 World Championship are making an impact on the senior team. Forward Heather O’Reilly, midfielder Lindsay Tarpley, midfielder Leslie Osborne and defender Lori Chalupny are four of the brightest young stars in the United States and proved their mettle early on, shocking a crowd of nearly 50,000 Canadians in Edmonton in 2002 by winning the world championship, 1-0, over the hosts. O’Reilly and Tarpley have already made an impact at the senior level as they scored in the semifinal and final respectively at the 2004 Olympic Games, the two youngest players on the Olympic Team coming through on the biggest stage. Chalupny, long a flank midfielder, has shown that she may be the left back of the future for the USA, and maybe the present, and her attacking presence from the defensive line has added an extra spark to the already potent U.S. attack. Osborne has become an increasingly productive defensive midfielder, backing up Shannon Boxx, and after seasoning at Residency Training Camps in 2004 and 2006, is poised to make her mark at the full international level. The success of the quartet underscores the importance of the U.S. youth national teams in developing players for the full team. The youth programs are not just producing young contributors, but helping to develop impact players who have a shot to start and play in a world championship.
WAY OUTSIDE THE BOXX
Rare is the U.S. Women’s National Team player who comes on the team so late in her career and makes such a big impact, but that’s exactly what Shannon Boxx did. A standout player in the WUSA her first two seasons, Boxx had a breakout year after being traded from San Diego to the New York Power before the 2003 season. Remarkably, she made the 2003 Women’s World Cup Team before ever playing for the USA at the senior level, then set a team record, scoring in her first three matches for the USA. She became a starter during the WWC, scored two more goals in the tournament, and was named to the Women’s World Cup All-Star Team. She is now considered the best defensive midfielder in the world and is a key part of the USA’s recent success. Boxx has played in 59 matches for the USA, starting 58 of them, and has started 34 consecutive matches in which she has played. She has also scored 14 goals, a hefty sum from the defensive mid position. She also captained the FIFA Women’s World All-Star Team to a victory over Germany at a match in Paris in May of 2004 and finished third in the voting for 2005 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year.
SOCCER MOMS ARE NOW STATUS QUO
When former U.S. defender Joy Fawcett started having babies in 1994, a world-class female athlete with children was almost unheard of. Carla Overbeck soon followed with her son, and today, thanks much to the U.S. Soccer Federation’s unique support of its Women’s National Team moms, the U.S. players no longer think twice about making a comeback from childbirth. The latest Soccer Mom is defender Kate Markgraf, one of the stalwarts of the U.S. team who played her first world event at the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Forward Danielle Fotopoulos has two kids (a girl and a boy), Christie Rampone made her comeback this year after the birth of her daughter in 2005 while defender Tina Frimpong has a five-year-old daughter.
ABBY-SOLUTELY STRIKING
Soccer fans love goal scorers. And Abby Wambach scores goals - lots of them. In fact, she has the best strike rate in U.S. history, scoring a goal every 1.33 games she plays for the national team. Some are saying she could become one of the best players in the world. Some are saying she already is. She is saying she has a ways to go. Still, inspired by her partnership with Mia Hamm on the WUSA’s Washington Freedom, which she credits for helping her develop as a professional, Wambach has scored an amazing 54 goals in her first 72 games and has proven to be an unstoppable force. Her 31-goal performance in 2004 marked the second highest total in a calendar year by a U.S. player and she is one of only five players to score 20 or more goals in a year, joining Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Kristine Lilly and Tiffeny Milbrett. In addition, Wambach’s 31 goals and 13 assists mark just the seventh time a U.S. players has recorded double figures in goals and assists in a calendar year, but four of those years came from Hamm. The 31 goals and 13 assists for 75 points mark the 2nd highest point total in U.S. history, surpassed only by Michelle Akers in 1991 (39 G, 7 A = 85 pts) and ahead of Mia Hamm in 1998 (20 G, 20 A = 60 pts).
FÚTBOL IN ALABAMA
Cat Reddick, of Birmingham, Ala., had the 2003 Women’s World Cup all figured out. She would sit on the bench as a key reserve and hopefully get some quality minutes in a few games. She would run on the field at the end of the championship game to celebrate the USA’s Women’s World Cup title (maybe even be on the field as a late-game defensive sub) and enjoy every minute of the journey. It was going to be fun. Well, she got the last part right. Reddick did enjoy her first Women’s World Cup, but due to the broken right foot suffered by starting central defender Brandi Chastain in the first half of the USA’s opening match against Sweden, Reddick’s tournament and career changed dramatically at halftime in the locker room at RFK Stadium. She went on for Chastain at the start of the second half and immediately made an impact, stuffing several Swedish attacking forays during the 45 minutes in which the Swedes had the USA on its heels, helping the Americans secure an historic 3-1 victory. She never left the field again, starting and playing the full 90 in the USA’s next five matches, and became one of the world’s brightest young stars with an excellent tournament on the world’s biggest stage. She also became the first and only defender to score twice in a Women’s World Cup match, against North Korea. She has carried that momentum through the next three years when she became a regular starter, and is now solidified in the center of the U.S. defense. The college football fanatic and monster SEC fan got married to her college sweetheart on New Year’s Eve 2005. At just 24 years old, she has already played 89 times for the USA.
RYAN BRINGS USA TO NEXT LEVEL
Greg Ryan won his first official match as head coach on June 26, 2005, against Canada, but that was after an even more impressive accomplishment. Ryan coached the U.S. team at the 2005 Algarve Cup with an “interim” tag, leading the team to four straight shutout wins over four top European teams, including a victory over powerhouse Germany in the championship game. He was officially named the head coach and technical director on April 8, 2005, taking over from April Heinrichs, who coached the team since early in 2000. Since then Ryan has not lost a match in regulation time, racking up a 14-0-4 record in his first 18 matches at the helm, the only U.S. head coach to go unbeaten in his first 18 matches. The U.S. team has played tremendous team defense during Ryan’s reign and the attack has also shown signs of devastating goal production. Ryan was a long-time Division I women’s college head coach who served on Heinrich’s staff during the highly successful run to the 2004 Olympic gold medal. Ryan began his coaching career in 1983 as an assistant with the Colorado College men’s team in between North American Soccer League (NASL) indoor and outdoor seasons. Following the completion of his professional career in 1985, Ryan began his head coaching career with Wisconsin, where he led the Badgers to a 108-32-12 record and five trips to the NCAA tournament, almost all when just 12 teams made the tournament. Ryan led UW to two appearances in the NCAA Final Four (1988 and 1991) and one trip to NCAA Championship Game in 1991, where the Badgers fell to UNC, 3-1.
FRIMPONG OVERCOMES ADVERSITY
U.S. defender Tina Frimpong got pregnant at 18, delaying her freshman year in college. While caring for her daughter MacKenzie, and with tremendous help from her parents, coaches, teammates and boyfriend, she graduated from the University of Washington as the all-time leading scorer in school history and two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year. Still, she was nowhere near the U.S. National Team. After struggling at forward with the U.S. Under-21 team, U.S. head coach Greg Ryan suggested a position change. It was an excellent idea. Frimpong has begun to develop into an unbeatable force in the center of the U.S. defense and is contributing already with just 10 caps under her belt. Perhaps the best athlete in U.S. history, she is the daughter of immigrants from Africa, her dad from Ghana and her mom from Nigeria, both of whom came to the USA to pursue higher education in college. Her journey from teen mom to college graduate to U.S. Women’s National Team player is one that inspires. She will be marrying MacKenzie’s dad, Brad, later this year.
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