She’s Striking Back : Epstein-Barr Slows Akers, but She Still Has Her Goals in Sight

The world’s top woman soccer player was curled up on her hotel room bed, watching gymnastics on television.

The night before, she had spearheaded the United States’ 3-0 victory over Brazil in Tacoma, Wash. The next afternoon, she again would help defeat the Brazilians, 4-1, in Portland, Ore.

But in between, she was too weak to leave her room, too exhausted to go on a midday shopping trip with her teammates.

This is what life has become for Michelle Akers.

Four years ago, at the first FIFA Women’s World Championship in China, Akers led the United States to the world title. With 10 goals in six games, including a world-record five in one match, she was hailed as the world’s best woman striker.

Now, with the second FIFA Women’s World Championship in Sweden only two weeks away, Akers is fighting a far more insidious opponent than any she has met on the field.

How successful she is might determine whether the U.S. team can repeat as world champion.

Afflicted with the Epstein-Barr virus for more than two years, she has seen her life turned upside down by an illness that, even now, she has a difficult time understanding.

“It’s been a soul-searching process,” she said, her voice unsteady. “Not only physically, but also emotionally.”

The ailment is difficult enough for the average person to cope with. But for a world-class athlete, it is devastating. For Akers, months of misery preceded the discovery that she had the virus.

“For 2 1/2 years, every month I would get sick,” she said. “I’d get chest colds that would go up to my throat. I’d lose my voice. I’d get sinus infections, eye infections. I’d rest for 10 days and take medications and it would go away.”

But she kept playing, unsure what else to do. She thought perhaps she had mononucleosis. Doctors seemed none the wiser.

Finally, after fainting and becoming delirious at a sports festival in San Antonio, she realized something was seriously wrong and sought further help. Blood tests eventually pinpointed the Epstein-Barr virus.

The problem is, the virus can only be controlled, not eradicated. It is an ongoing battle.

“There are no drugs you can take,” she said. “Basically, you’re in a hole, your immune system is screwed up and you have to rest enough so that your immune system can come back.

“I’ve learned that there are certain restrictions in my life.”

Even so, her determination to play in Sweden and in the 1996 Olympics--when women’s soccer will be a medal sport for the first time--causes her sometimes to push too hard.

A vacation after the United States won the qualifying tournament in Canada to earn its place in Sweden helped.

“I gave myself three weeks,” she said. “I was going through [a] divorce and I needed a break from business and phones and everything, so I went to the mountains.”

Although born in Santa Clara, Akers, 29, grew up in the Pacific Northwest. She was a three-time All-American at Seattle’s Shorecrest High and a four-time All-American at the University of Central Florida.

Since her debut with the national team against Denmark in 1985, she has played 87 games for the United States and scored 82 goals. No one else is close to matching those figures.

She played professionally for three seasons in Sweden with Tyreso, helping the club win the national championship in 1992, the year she led all goal scorers in the country, male and female.

But the world championship in China was the high point of her career, one that she is eager to repeat next month.

The question being pondered by U.S. Coach Tony DiCicco and his assistants is whether she can withstand the rigors of a world championship in which the United States will have to play six games in two weeks to retain its title.

The recent series against Brazil was a good test. The Brazilians, outplayed on both ends of the field, took out their frustrations with bone-crunching tackles and fouls. Akers was a favorite target, but she laughed it off.

Akers figures she is at least 80% fit for the world championship that opens June 5 in Helsingborg.

“I would say 100%, but I still have to be careful,” she said. “I still can’t play all out like I used to. I have to choose my moments, and that’s been tough to learn.”

Unlike the other China ’91 veterans, most of whom are likely to retire after the Atlanta Games, Akers said she hopes to be playing in 1999, when the United States has made a bid to stage the third FIFA Women’s World Championship, and in 2000 at the Sydney Olympics.

“I still just love to play,” she said. “I’m enjoying the game. These past two years have been so weird. It was hell. I thought I’d never make it through the day at some points.

“But then I said, I’m still scoring goals, I’m still beating people, I’m still a force out here. If I feel like this and can play like that, then I can play in the year 2000, if I’m still enjoying myself.”

When she scored the world championship-winning goal against Norway in front of 63,000 at Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou, China, in November of 1991, Akers was, without question, the world’s best.

Now, after all she has been through, she’s not certain of her status.

“The past couple of years have been tough for me, being referred to as the best player in the world when I could only play for 20 minutes,” she said. “At first I wanted to tell people, ‘No, I’m not the best player in the world.’ But I think when you reach that level, I think I’ll always be referred to as one of the best players in the world just because I have that talent--I can score a goal when it’s needed, hopefully.

“I think I can be the best player in the world again, but at this moment, I don’t know.”