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Overcoming The Mia Factor Overcoming Mia

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By BILL WARD, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 10, 2007

Updated: 09/10/2007 12:13 am

TAMPA - Just in case you haven't heard, a World Cup starts today. We'll forgive you if you were oblivious. It's got some competition for attention, most notably the start of the NFL and college football seasons. And then there's the fact it's soccer, and it's being played 12 time zones away in China.

But the toughest public relations hurdle for the U.S. women's squad seems to be the fact no one on the roster is named Mia, or even Brandi. Those two icons - Hamm and Chastain - have retired, along with two other U.S. stars that helped bring home two World Cup titles and two Olympic gold medals - Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett.

With only Kristine Lilly remaining from that 'Fab Five,' it's little wonder Nike ads promoting the 2007 World Cup squad have gone with the slogan 'The Greatest Team You've Never Heard Of.'

No one expects this World Cup to receive the type of coverage it enjoyed in the summer of 1999. That lightning bolt of exposure was captured in a bottle of national attention when the Americans defeated China in a penalty shootout at the Rose Bowl and Chastain performed her famous sports bra celebration.

But the lack of media attention was painfully obvious to veterans such as Kate Markgraf, formerly Kate Sobrero, and Abby Wambach, the former University of Florida star, as they headed off to China.

'We kind of have gone quiet in the media,' Markgraf said.

'They call it 'The Mia Factor,'' Wambach said. 'When you focus all of your energy on one person for so many years, a lot of people can be left in the shadows.'

Wambach is quick to point out she isn't complaining about the attention players such as Hamm and Chastain brought to women's soccer.

'I live in the house I live in and drive the car that I drive every single day because these women afforded me that opportunity,' said Wambach, who during her pro career has won three cars, two for being U.S. Soccer's player of the year and another for being the MVP of a WUSA title game. 'They paved the way. They are the pioneers.

'They'd probably be the first to say that there were many women that came before them, but for me, in my life, they were very instrumental and inspirational.'

So now, it's up to the 'Greatest Team You've Never Heard Of' to make some noise. Whether another Mia or Brandi emerges from this group remains to be seen. But it certainly has a good chance of doing better than the U.S. squad that crashed out of the 2003 World Cup. That tournament was played in the United States, and despite the Fab Five's presence, the U.S. was knocked out of the semifinals with a humbling 3-0 loss to eventual champion Germany.

In that defeat, former coach April Heinrichs, a member of the winning 1991 World Cup team, was criticized for her tactics and inability to deal better with the technically sound Germans. Even though Heinrichs coached the U.S. to the gold medal in the 2004 Athens Games, U.S. players presented her a letter that asked her to step down. Two weeks later, she resigned.

Greg Ryan, an assistant under Heinrichs during the Athens Olympics, was named her replacement. With the retirement of the big-name stars, Ryan took over a squad in transition. He quickly put his mark on the team by dropping Chastain - the player who scored the winning PK against China in 1999 - bringing in new players, and changing tactics and formations.

It would have been easy for the U.S team to slump as it searched for its identity. But since Ryan has taken over, the Americans are 39-0-7 and head to China with the No. 1 spot in the world rankings.

'I think, based on our performance over the past two years, we're definitely one of the favorites,' said Ryan, who was an All-American at Southern Methodist and later coached women's teams at SMU, Colorado College and Wisconsin. 'But I think there's greater parity than there's ever been before in any past World Cup.'

For a versatile striker like Wambach, the coaching change and new players have been positives.

'These younger players, regardless of whether you know their names or not, I think they're becoming fast veterans in terms of how long they've been in this national team program,' Wambach said. 'The major thing, I think, is we're at a place where we can play more freely.'

Reporter Bill Ward can be reached at (813) 259-7456 or wward@tampa-

trib.com

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