WSW USA National Team News

November 11, 2000

Some pregame notes as USA arrives in chilly Columbus for USA/Canada match

Part of the U.S. National Team arrived in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday night. The USA's Northeast contingent of Sara Whalen, Kate Sobrero, Christie Pearce, Saskia Webber and Kristine Lilly could not get out of Newark airport that night, so they returned to their homes and took an early Friday morning flight, planning to make the 11 a.m. training (moved from 10 a.m. to accommodate the late arrivals). That flight was also delayed, causing the five players to miss what was a spirited training session in near-freezing temperatures on a slippery field at the Columbus Crew Training Center in Obetz, Oho. U.S. head coach April Heinrichs conducted her practice, the first one since the day before the Olympic gold medal game, with 12 players as the USA ran through its one and only training before facing Canada tomorrow at Columbus Crew Stadium. After the fast-paced training finished with some crossing and finishing, the players signed autographs for about 50 hearty fans who had braved the icy winds to get their favorite players' signatures, while a half dozen players retreated to the warmth of the Crew locker room for media interviews.

Friday's events
League meetings for the general managers of the Women's United Soccer Association were taking place in Columbus so the USA players had a busy day of introductions to team and league staff, individual meetings with the GMs, interviews with media, team meetings, and for Brandi Chastain, a clinic at a local middle school for Allstate. In addition, Chastain, Shannon MacMillan and Sara Whalen took a hour during the evening to speak with the four Ohio girl's high school teams who will play for state championships tomorrow before and after the USA-Canada match at Crew Stadium. Seven U.S. players did interviews for an upcoming series to air on Fox Sports Net titled tentatively "Beyond the Game" which will chronicle the success of the U.S. women over the past decade. Five more players and Heinrichs did sound bites for the ESPN broadcast tomorrow when the voice of the U.S. Women's National Team - J.P. Dellacamera - and former U.S. international Wendy Gebauer will call the action.

Carla Overbeck
Overbeck will play in the three Glory Tour Games for USA
They will be the final three national team matches for Carla Overbeck, one of the legends of the U.S. Women's National Team. Overbeck, who captained the USA to the 1996 Olympic gold medal and the 1999 Women's World Cup title, was also a starter on the '91 Women's World Cup championship team and the '95 Women's World Cup Team. One of the greatest on-field leaders in women's soccer history, she fought hard off the field to come back from Graves disease and knee surgery to make the 2000 Olympic team. She has played 165 times for the USA, despite taking a year off to have a son after the '96 Olympics. Until becoming a reserve for the Olympics, Overbeck played every minute of the 1991, 1995 and 1999 Women's World Cups as well as the 1996 Olympics. Through the end of 1999, she had started 152 of the 155 matches she had played in her career. Overbeck will continue to play professional club soccer with the WUSA's North Carolina Tempest.

Slaton and Scurry absent
Two member of the 2000 Olympic Team will miss the Canada match. Defender Danielle Slaton, the only collegian on the Olympic roster is playing the end of her season with Santa Clara University while goalkeeper Briana Scurry had family commitments. One or both may join to the team for the final two games of the "Glory Tour." Goalkeeper Saskia Webber, the back-up on the 1999 Women's World Cup championship team, was a late call-in to replace Scurry. Webber last played for the USA on Feb. 6, 2000, in a 3-2 loss to Norway in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Tiffeny Milbrett
With one more goal she will tie German legend Heidi Mohr for 6th on the world's all-time female scoring list. Milbrett currently has 82 career goals.

Brandi Chastain
During the question and answer session with the group of Ohio high school girl's soccer players, Brandi Chastain was asked to describe her most embarrassing moment of the soccer field. She relayed a story from the 1991 Women's World Cup where she was a reserve forward. She was inserted into a match at halftime by then head coach Anson Dorrance and just minutes into the second half found herself on a breakaway, but instead of trying to dribble in on goal, she wound up to hit the hardest shot of her life, and almost totally missed the ball.

"I took a divot out of that field about a foot long," said Chastain, holding her hands apart as if she was describing the fish that got away. "I swear that piece of turf traveled farther than the ball. Our goalkeeper Amy Allmann presented the divot to me after the match."