U.S. Pulls Out All the Stops and Earns a Berth in Final

Scurry is the name, and this summer, it has also become a job description.

As in: During this Women’s World Cup, as she plays behind the madcap ad-lib artists who comprise the United States’ back line--otherwise known as “Ninety Minutes At The Improv”--boy, does Briana scurry. For the past two weeks, in a sudden and unexpected departure, it hasn’t been easy being Briana Scurry, starting goalkeeper for Team USA. Usually, the assignment has called for putting on padded gloves and using them to applaud the steady stream of goals Mia Hamm, Tiffeny Milbrett and the rest of her teammates pound into the net on the other end of the field.

Which is how Scurry prefers it.

“I’d rather have a very boring game any day of the week,” she says. “In all honesty, I’d prefer we win, 6-0, all the time.”

But leaning against a goal post and catching some rays in a spring exhibition match against Portugal or Japan is one thing; standing in and bearing the brunt of rampaging Germans and Brazilians in the pressure-cooker of the World Cup is quite another.

Sunday in the heat at Stanford Stadium, in front of 73,123 Fourth of July revelers expecting proper pyrotechnic bang for their buck, the United States advanced to the World Cup final by defeating Brazil, 2-0, in something of an upset. The result wasn’t the surprise; the U.S. women, at home, on Independence Day, against a talented but still-green opponent, are a pretty safe bet. But that zero on the right-hand side of the final score--that is nothing to sneeze at, not with Brazilian forwards--and American defenders--seeming to invent new ways to score every match.

It was a combustible combination: the mercurial Sissi and her dangerous sidekick Pretinha, shifting into overdrive deep into American territory, with nothing standing in the way of the goal except for the United States’ back four defenders--heart-stopping merry pranksters, each and every one of them--and Scurry.

What that meant for Scurry was a workout and a half. For most of the game, Scurry was in a hurry--backpedaling to the far post to palm away incendiary lobs into the box, lunging to get a vital finger or two on otherwise goal-bound rockets, leaping into the mosh pit on Brazilian corner kicks to take away the ball, and, if necessary, take out an attacking forward or two.

And with the United States milking a 1-0 lead until Michelle Akers’ 80th-minute penalty kick, every move Scurry made was amplified to full volume.

“We knew had to play a lot of defense today,” said an exhausted and exhilarated Tony DiCicco, the U.S. coach. “We knew we had to try to find way to take space away from Sissi and the rest of the Brazilians.

“We did a good job of that, I thought, but whenever Brazil was good enough to get it in, Briana Scurry was awesome. She certainly was our No. 1 star today.”

A few questions later, DiCicco, a former goalie who runs goal-keeping camps across the country, was upping the ante.

“I’ve said all along she is capable of being the best keeper in the world,” DiCicco said. “She has proven she’s the best keeper here. Her play has had a calming and securing effect for our team.”

Scurry has 52 shutouts in 95 starts for the U.S. women’s team, so by now, she knows her way around a clean sheet. She also blanked Denmark and North Korea in first-round games during this tournament.

But Sunday was special, Scurry had to acknowledge.

“Actually, that’s got to be the best game I’ve ever played,” she said. “I really felt I earned my money today, so to speak.”

Which is considerably more than the $20 and $50 bills Scurry’s father used to slip her after an exceptionally good game as she made her way through the youth soccer ranks in Minnesota. Now the bonus money at stake reaches five figures for the eventual World Cup champion, with thousands more to be had from bandwagon-leaping sponsors and advertisers, if and when Team USA delivers the gold medal.

“I was in a zone, so to speak,” Scurry said. “The ball looked big to me all day, even in warmups. It felt good, to have a game like that when the team needed me most.”

On a day when comparisons to the U.S. men’s team were flying around Stanford Stadium--at the site on July 4, 1994, the U.S. men were eliminated from the World Cup by Brazil, 1-0--Scurry played with an efficiency that brought to mind her American male counterpart, the great wall of Washington state, Kasey Keller.

Those are some twin towers minding the nets for U.S. Soccer--Keller and Scurry.

Yes, Americans do know how to catch the ball.

Scurry, however, is not big on comparisons. Asked if she emulated any other world-class keepers or studied videos of their handiwork--Keller, say, or perhaps Peter Schmeichel--she shook her head no.

“Just my own,” she said.

Not a bad place to start, when you get down to it. U.S. assistant coach Lauren Gregg said Sunday’s performance by Scurry was nothing out of the ordinary.

“Bri’s doing what Bri does,” Gregg said with a grin. “The hotter the fire, the cooler she is. She thrives in this environment. She was called upon to step up today, and clearly, she rose to the occasion.

With her parents in the stands, all the better.

She was looking forward to celebrating the moment with them, although Dad won’t be reaching into his wallet this time.

No, Scurry said, this bonus will be much sweeter.

“Just a big sloppy kiss,” she said.