Spanning the Globe Pays Off for Women

The Harlem Globetrotters have nothing on the U.S. women’s soccer team this year. “Wide World of Sports” could feature the world champions in a promo, for all the spanning the globe they’re doing.

With the goal of peaking at the Olympics in September, the women have been to Portugal and Australia. They’ve played from coast to coast in the United States. They’ll head to Europe this summer, then stage a three-game send-off tour just before the Sydney Games.

In January, while the veterans were in a contract dispute with the federation, a group of younger players went to Australia. Just as in the Algarve Cup in Portugal in March and the Pacific Cup last month Down Under, they won the title. Four players from that youth team are playing in the Gold Cup, which concludes Monday night.

While the winning certainly is welcome, it isn’t necessarily the primary objective in the buildup to Sydney.

“I believe in controllable goal-setting,” says April Heinrichs, who took over from Tony DiCicco as coach this year. “For every one goal you set that your control-ability is outside, you must set four goals you can control. I don’t have control over wins and losses, but I have control over the style we play.

“One of the goals I set is performing well abroad. The Olympics will not be played in the major football stadiums of America with 50,000 or 60,000 or 90,000 people in the stands.

“We will look back on the schedule and say one of the best things we could have done was go to Australia for the Pacific Cup, and then to Europe to play Norway, China and Germany (later this month). There are so many parallels. The trip to Australia for the Pacific Cup and for the Olympics, there is a 15-hour plane trip. The food, the culture, the climate all cause adjustments. We went from sunny hot and arid San Diego to cold, wet and snowy in Australia. It is not like the transition from spring to summer, but more like a jolt to the system.

“I feel like it was a phenomenal dry run for us in so many ways, almost visionary in some ways.”

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The vision most people have of the U.S. team is of near-invincibility, but that’s not fair. While the Americans have been impressive lately, they did lose 1-0 to China in the Pacific Cup opener. Only Canada’s upset of the Chinese allowed the United States to rally for the title.

But they played very well against China in Canberra, Australia. And they routed their next three opponents in that tournament before edging the hosts 1-0 for the championship.

The makeup of Heinrichs’ traveling band has changed all year. Currently, the Americans are without their top goalkeeper, Briana Scurry, who has been plagued by shin splints. They are missing captain Carla Overbeck, who has a knee injury and also is battling Graves’ disease. And their most identifiable player for nearly two decades, midfielder Michelle Akers, is recovering from shoulder surgery.

Heinrichs expects all three to rejoin the team this month, although Akers’ availability is more uncertain. The coach expects Scurry and Overbeck to play in Europe.

Rather than being stymied by such absences, the Americans have prospered. Lorrie Fair has developed rapidly at center midfield, to the point where even a healthy Akers might not beat her out. Siri Mullinix has been strong in goal, and Heinrichs says she “would have no hesitation” playing Mullinix in critical games. Without Overbeck, the coach has given playing time to Christie Pearce, who has become a strong playmaker from outside fullback.

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Perhaps most significantly, the older players are meshing well with the youngsters and newcomers.

“I think that’s what our success is built on,” says Julie Foudy, the team’s captain with Overbeck sidelined. “The transition has been great and it is so necessary. We can’t have too young a team, or a bunch of old ladies. We need the balance, and this is the best balance we’ve ever had.

“These younger players see how hard we work and how that is our foundation, and they know they have to follow along just to keep up. And then they are getting their international caps and more confidence every day.”

And if they get out of line?

“The vets just kick their butts,” Foudy says with a loud laugh. “We just whack them around.”