U.S. team rolls
CARSON, Calif. – The rain ended, the skies cleared and the stars came out – three of them for the last time.
At 9:50 p.m. Wednesday, Mia Hamm stepped off the soccer field and into the history books. The United States-Mexico match had nine minutes to go when Heather O’Reilly, one of the stars of tomorrow, took over from Hamm.
“She’s the future,” a tearful Hamm said after it was all over.
Wearing the name Garciaparra on her back in honor of her Chicago Cubs shortstop husband, Nomar, it took Hamm almost a minute to reach the sideline as she stopped to hug each of her fellow players.
She waved to the 15,549 at the Home Depot Center, then shook hands with Mexico coach Leonardo Cuellar and his assistants and finally walked over to the U.S. bench to be hugged by coach April Heinrichs, her assistant coaches and the rest of the American players.
An unforgettable career had finally come to an end.
Moments later, Julie Foudy joined Hamm in another tearful but smiling exit. Like Hamm and injured defender Joy Fawcett, she too is retiring after the three had enjoyed memorable, 17-year careers with the U.S. women’s national team that saw them win everything, including two world championships and two Olympic gold medals.
The game itself, which the United States won, 5-0, was pretty much secondary to the farewell performance.
“I just want to thank you for making my last game and Julie’s and Joy’s so memorable,” Hamm told the crowd.
Mexico, minus several of its stars, wilted faster than the flower bouquets Fawcett, Foudy and Hamm received before kickoff.
The Mexicans were behind 3-0 within the first half hour and trailed by five goals little more than an hour into the match. Aly Wagner and Abby Wambach each scored twice and Shannon Boxx once.
But the goal everyone had been waiting for – the final one of Hamm’s unique career – never came.
She had one shot hit the crossbar, two shots fly wide left and two that were saved by Mexico goalkeeper Pamela Tajonar. But the goal eluded her, and so her world-record 158 international goals will be the standard by which all future strikers are measured.
Hamm, twice a winner of FIFA’s world player of the year award and in the running to win for a third time Dec. 20, has been the face of women’s soccer for so long that it is difficult to imagine the sport without her.
Her haul of 158 goals – more than any other man or woman in soccer history – set her apart, but it was more than that.
It was, said Foudy, “her selflessness, her demeanor and the way she handled herself and carried herself and carried the sport on her shoulders. And her consistency. It wasn’t just a game here or a game there. We could always count on her. I’m just happy I got to play alongside her for 17 years because I consider that a great honor.”
Fawcett, perhaps the finest defender in the 20-year history of women’s international soccer, added something else.
“It was her dedication and hard work,” she said. “Every time she went on the field she worked hard. It wasn’t just the scoring side of the game. You would see her track back on defense and … constantly help this team. Being a defender, I appreciated that. She never sat on her laurels of being Mia Hamm. She always gave it her all.”
Now it is all over. Hamm will turn her attention to her family and raising a family of her own.
“It’s been a blast,” Hamm said in praising the players she has shared the field with over the years. “We talk about teammates and we throw that word around, but these are more than just players who wear the same jersey as me. These are some of my best friends.”