The women’s team may not have been able to draw on a great national soccer tradition. But it wasn’t inhibited by a macho culture like those that dominate the Mediterranean and Latin American soccer powers. When the U.S. women’s team first took the field 10 years ago, it tapped into its pool of college talent to become an instant worldpower. Its record is now 78 wins, just 26 losses and 7 ties. “In a lot of countries they can’t believe women are actually playing soccer,” says U.S. captain Carla Overbeck. “Yet they still can’t believe American women are beating their women.”
Even the American players were surprised by the scale of their success. The team was a part-time affair, its players college kids and recent graduates scrambling to squeeze international soccer into their schedules between classes and real-life jobs. But at the inaugural World Cup in China in 1991, the United States swept six matches, including a 2-1 victory over Norway before 65,000 spectators in the final.
Though the men’s game has evolved (or degenerated, some would say) into a chess match between coaches, emphasizing defensive tactics and brute physical play, the women’s game still celebrates offense. And no team attacks more relentlessly than the Americans. “They go for the jugular,” says the U.S. Soccer Federation’s Hank Steinbrecher. In qualifying for the ‘95 World Cup, they scored 36 goals in four games. “Some people criticize us when we win by scores like 8-0, but that’s our trademark-to never stop attacking,” says Julie Foudy, one of nine ‘91 veterans on the 20-woman squad.
Norway, Germany and China are the strongest World Cup challengers in a much-improved 12-team field. “A red flag went up in a lot of places when we won,” says head coach Tony DiCicco. But with booming youth programs and an abundance of women’s athletic scholarships courtesy of Title IX, the United States now boasts a surfeit of talent. This year the United States has backed that talent with $2 million for a training facility outside Orlando and player salaries, as well as a Nike team sponsorship. That enables stars like Foudy, a four-time all-American from Stanford University, to postpone career decisions–in Foudy’s case, medical school–to play for their country. “For the first time I’m able to make a good living and train as a professional athlete,” says Foudy.
Fitness will be at a premium in Sweden. To defend their title, the U.S. women will have to win six games in 12 days. (In winning the World Cup last summer, the Brazilian men played seven games in a month.) That will be particularly hard on Akers, America’s all-time leading scorer, who netted both goals in their championship win. In early 1994 she was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr syndrome, the condition often called chronic fatigue syndrome. She temporarily quit playing, worked with a personal trainer and altered her diet and sleep habits. Last August, Akers was MVP of the qualifying tournament, though she never played more than a half. But Akers hopes to be able to play the full 90 minutes in Sweden–a severe challenge given a nine-hour overnight train ride between two first-round games.
The World Cup is the beginning of a yearlong push for the U.S. team. Women’s soccer will debut as an Olympic sport next summer in Atlanta. “If things go right,” says Akers, “we could become the Mary Lou Rettons of ‘96.” There might not be enough Wheaties boxes to go around.
