The ultimate SI cover jinx

U.S. women face monumental challenge heading into World Cup

MAILBAG MAILBAG Grant Wahl will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Mia Hamm is on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week.

It should be a moment of pride and giddy excitement for U.S. soccer fans: SI's third soccer cover in just over a year; a World Cup starting here on Saturday; a celebrated home team that's favored to repeat its historic 1999 title run.

And yet a funereal gloom threatens to overwhelm the whole thing.

The WUSA, America's three-year-old women's league, closed shop on Monday, just five days before the kickoff of World Cup 2003.

There were plenty of reasons why the league became a $100 million money pit: a lack of mainstream interest, corporate ambivalence, poor TV exposure, unrealistic expectations, an unwillingness to work with MLS in a flagging economy and, not least, a disastrously executed business plan. (It's hard to blame corporate investors entirely when the WUSA braintrust burned through $40 million -- its entire five-year budget -- in the first season alone.)

For every American soccer fan and every WUSA player -- particularly the ones who aren't in the national team picture and must now find jobs -- it's a crushing blow. And the timing only makes it worse.

Talk about a club-and-country conflict. Just two weeks ago, U.S. coach April Heinrichs told me she was worried about the distraction that Aly Wagner's trade from San Diego to Boston would have on Wagner's World Cup performance. Now Heinrichs speaks of a black cloud hovering over the entire team.

The great thing about the World Cup is that it's supposed to focus everyone's attention on the field and away from the boardrooms, away from the unceasing questions about whether soccer will ever "make it" in America (whatever that means). It's a time to celebrate and root for your team.

It isn't that way all the time, of course. For better or worse, if you're involved in American pro soccer -- as a player, journalist, organizer or fan -- you're also expected to be an economist, a sociologist and an expert in ethnic and gender studies. All the layers are part of what makes this sport interesting, of course, and what made the 1999 success such a cultural watershed, but when it comes down to it the game is still the thing.

That's the monumental challenge that begins this weekend: Can the game rescue itself and -- momentarily, at least -- banish that black cloud from the sky? The irony, of course, is that the same remarkable American women are being called upon once again to do so much more than win an incredibly difficult soccer tournament. (And don't let anyone fool you: Raising that trophy on Oct. 12 again won't be easy.)

It's as if the fickle Soccer Gods got together and said, These women have brought their sport from literally nothing to filling the Rose Bowl. What new diabolical challenge can we give them? How about putting them in the World Cup Group of Death? Not enough. How about scheduling their tournament in the middle of a crowded American sports calendar? Not enough. Well, how about ripping their future out from under them on the eve of the Cup?

Which brings us to the latest task of Messrs. Hamm, Julie Foudy and Brandi Chastain: not just to win their third World Cup, but to convince a half-dozen corporate sponsors over the next three weeks to become, if not as "intoxicated" as WUSA investor John Hendricks was four years ago, then at least tipsy enough to cough up $2.5 million each.

The odds are decidedly against them. Then again, they have been before, too.

Five questions about WWC 2003

1. How will the WUSA distraction affect the American team?

Hard to say. If you ask any of the veterans what led to their semifinal defeat in World Cup '95 against Norway, they're sure to mention the "distractions" that came up before and during the tournament, from shoe-contract squabbles to family members bugging them for tickets. At the same time, they were able to prevail four years ago despite the distraction of playing on home soil during the Cup. This is certainly one area where the U.S.'s experience -- the Yanks are the oldest team in the tournament -- will be an advantage, since the veterans should be able to put other concerns aside. If anything, they'll use this to rally the team around a cause.

2. How will this World Cup shake out?

Check out my four-page tourney preview in this week's SI (subscription issues only; no newsstand). In my mind the two best sides are the U.S. and Germany, which appear to be on a collision course for the semifinals. Both teams have loads of athleticism and experience and very few holes in their lineups. The Germans might be the more dangerous offensive team, with fearsome attackers in Birgit Prinz, Maren Meinert and Bettina Wiegmann, but the U.S. boasts the home-field advantage and a front line that will include an in-form Mia Hamm and Heinrichs' choice of running mates: Tiffeny Milbrett, Abby Wambach, Cindy Parlow or Shannon MacMillan.

Though the Chinese aren't as strong as they were in '99, I like them to get out of their half of the bracket and meet my darkhorse, North Korea, in the other semifinal. The North Koreans are easily the most intriguing team of the Cup, having built a continental power (winner of the past three Asian titles) out of ... what, exactly? This isn't a country that can sink a lot of won into soccer development. And yet, at the height of tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, the two teams will meet a week from Sunday in Columbus. Should be Must See TV.

Call me a sucker for drama, but I'm predicting a U.S.-China final on Oct. 12 -- and a first for a World Cup final in L.A.: actual goals during the game! I like the U.S. in the final. (More discussion on this later in the tourney.)

3. Which teams and players are going to have breakout tournaments?

Besides North Korea, Canada has a favorable draw, a much-improved mix of youth and veterans, and a coach who was won a World Cup (Even Pellerud, who led Norway to the '95 crown). As for players, keep an eye on 24-year-old Swedish centerforward Hanna Ljungberg (a target of -- no joke -- Italian Serie A men's club Perugia), Brazilian teenager Marta (taking over for Sissi in the playmaker role) and ...

U.S. forward Abby Wambach. Talk about peaking at the right time. From out of nowhere, Wambach has staked a claim to a starting spot up front, not least because she paired so well with Hamm during Washington's WUSA title run. Having just seen World Cup '91 highlights of Michelle Akers for the first time -- one of many reasons to check out the official site at fifaworldcup.com -- I can say that Wambach bears more than a passing resemblance to the Akers of yore, particularly in the way she dominates in the air.

4. Which U.S. team member is most on the spot?

Among players, central mid Aly Wagner. Playing in her first major tournament, the 23-year-old Wagner will have an enormous responsibility to run the American attack. She's got great skills and vision, but the question (particularly after her up-and-down first season in the WUSA) is whether she can play fast enough at the highest level after recovering from a serious knee injury.

Among others, coach April Heinrichs. No female coach has ever won a World Cup, and after leading the team to a silver medal in the 2000 Olympics, Heinrichs knows that nothing less than a title is expected of her this time around.

5. What are Team USA's strengths and weaknesses?

It's pretty hard to quibble with the 20-player roster Heinrichs has put together. Yes, there are a lot of grizzled vets, but they're counterbalanced by youngsters like Wambach, midfielder Shannon Boxx (playing the Pablo Mastroeni role) and defender Cat Reddick. This is a deep team, and you sense that many more players will see action than we saw at the 2000 Olympics.

Speed is a huge U.S. asset, except perhaps at central defender, where Heinrichs hopes the wisdom of Chastain and Joy Fawcett will make up for any deficiencies. In the goal, Briana Scurry is in top form, as is Hamm at the other end. Nor can any team rival the U.S.'s breadth and depth of experience.

If the U.S. runs into any trouble, though, the biggest complaint would be about the pre-Cup schedule, which pitted the U.S. against horribly overmatched Mexico and Costa Rica -- two teams that didn't even qualify for the tournament. Given the U.S.'s difficult first-round group (Sweden, Nigeria and North Korea), the Federation should have brought in some stronger opposition. Losing to a serious foe in the past three weeks would have been far more beneficial than beating up on some poor minnow. (Witness the positive results of losing at home to China in a pre-Cup tuneup four years ago.)

What lies ahead: the first-round U.S. foes

One definite strength of Brandi Chastain is that she's a soccer wonk, which is why I asked her to size up the U.S.'s three first-round opponents. Here's her take on Sweden, Nigeria and North Korea:

SWEDEN (Sunday, 12:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

"We've played Sweden a lot. We just played them to a 1-1 draw in Portugal earlier this year. They've got a forward [Ljungberg] that's outstanding: great speed, great touch, very elusive. She'll be a handful. They've got a good supporting cast, too. They're a team that's very consistent. They play soccer the way we like to play soccer, moving it up and down the field, combination play, balls over distance. They're extremely organized. It's always a good game. I like playing Sweden. They're a fun team to play against."

NIGERIA (Thursday, 7:25 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

"Nigeria's a different opponent completely. They're unpredictable, incredibly athletic, very powerful, very fast. Perhaps not as organized as Sweden, and that makes them dangerous. Maybe over the last few years they've become more organized and we'll see a different Nigeria team. We haven't seen them since 2000. I heard they beat China a couple weeks ago [3-2 in China]. There's no doubt we understand they're capable of winning every time they step on the field. They're that good. But we have to approach that game differently than we approach Sweden. We have to be more tactically oriented in a defensive posture in terms of team defending as opposed to individual defending. We don't want to get stretched out, because they can solve those types of defenses."

NORTH KOREA (Sept. 28, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

"We played them in '99 [a 3-0 U.S. win], and we know they've beaten China the last three times they've played. They have a player who's scoring goals at will. They're like playing China. They're very quick and speedy under pressure. They get out of things with little touches. I wouldn't call them a team that plays the ball over distance, although I'm sure they're capable of it, but that's not their style. Our strength against them will be pressuring the ball, looking to separate the ball from the player and breaking out in transition."

14 random things

• Great to see Michelle Akers writing for USA Today. It's a shame ABC/ESPN couldn't have found a place for Akers in its World Cup coverage, choosing to use Tisha Venturini-Hoch and Heather Mitts instead. Just as Akers was fearless on the field, she has been smart and unflinching in her opinions for McPaper, showing a play-it-straight candor that's all too often missing from the rah-rah TV and print coverage of U.S. women's soccer.

• On the subject of ex-players speaking their minds, Eric Wynalda's vociferous backing of Taylor Twellman as the best forward in America today on MLSnet.com deserves big ups for its brazen chutzpah (taking on Bruce Arena is a rare thing in U.S. soccer) if not its entirely clear logic. (Just because Twellman can light up MLS doesn't mean he'll do the same internationally.)

• Wouldn't this be a good time for Phil Anschutz, MLS's billionaire benefactor (who hasn't given an interview in three decades), to come out and explain why he believes in MLS? While soccer people know that MLS is on a gradual upswing after dropping two teams in 2001, mainstream sports observers -- if they think about MLS at all -- think it's one foot out of the grave as well. Who better to bring them up to speed than St. Phil himself?

• Really enjoyed last week's MLS Wrap show on Fox Sports World. John Harkes and Sean Wheelock are improving every week, and the chance to see highlights from every MLS game is a godsend.

• One man's WWC predictions:

Golden Boot (top goal-scorer): Birgit Prinz, Germany (Germany-Argentina could well resemble the goal barrage of Germany-Saudi Arabia in last year's men's WC.)

Golden Ball (MVP): Mia Hamm, U.S. She just seems ready to leave it all out there in her last World Cup.

Game of the Tournament: U.S. vs. Germany, semifinals. In much the same way U.S.-Germany in the quarters (3-2, Yanks) was the best game of '99.

• In the past week, Colorado's John Spencer has become the fashionable pick for MLS MVP. I'm not ready to give it to him just yet -- the Rapids' Mark Chung, Chicago's Ante Razov and Kansas City's Preki are on my short list, too -- but Spencer's late header to beat K.C. last week (when he was one of the smallest guys on the field) was priceless.

• As for MLS Coach of the Year, I'm still sold on San Jose's Frank Yallop (who has built the league's top team without an MVP candidate), but Chicago's Dave Sarachan is making a late push.

• For what it's worth, The Shins' Oh, Inverted World is the best CD I've heard all year. (And yes, I know it came out in 2001.)

• Contrary to British reports, no deal has been reached between any English clubs and Freddy Adu yet. MLS VP Ivan Gazidis told me Wednesday the league is still in negotiations with Adu and his agent Richard Motzkin. In other Adu news, the 14-year-old was not one of the three Americans randomly chosen for experimental age-checking wrist scans at last month's U-17 World Championship.

• Warning: William Safire Language Maven discussion coming. I got a kick out of seeing the term pony-tailed hooligans used in the Christian Science Monitor this week to describe the screaming teenaged followers of the U.S. women's team. While it's not much to hang a career on, give me a break: It may be my lasting contribution to the sporting language, and it's been fun to follow the spread of PTH ever since I used pigtailed hooligans in an Aug. 3, 1998 SI article. Since World Cup CEO Marla Messing used "pony-tailed hooligans" (a more accurate but less euphonious construction) in a 1999 press conference, PTH has appeared in 59 different publications according to the Nexis database.

Just so you know, coining terms ain't easy. One guy I know (Landon Jones, the former People editor) happened to come up with baby-boomer. (Well done, Lanny!) But when I tried to label the Home Depot Center as The Woodshed not long ago, it was about as popular as New Coke. Those are the breaks, I suppose.

• On a recent visit to Soho in New York City, I spied a guy wearing a Chicago Fire Puma stocking cap. This was intriguing on many levels: 1) It was a stocking cap being worn in the summer; 2) It was MLS gear in the nation's capital of hip, and I don't recall ever seeing MetroStars gear in Soho; and 3) Was this being worn because Puma is really hot right now, or because of the Fire? Help me out, folks.

• I have to admit, I didn't see a lot of WUSA games. (It was hard to, given the TV situation.) But all three Founders Cups were compelling thrillers.

• Mailbag submission of the week: Ralph from L.A. checks in about the point I made in my most recent column regarding Alexi Lalas vs. Hong Myung-Bo: "As a Galaxy season holder who agrees with you that last year Lalas was the best defender in the league, I need to remark that Hong is a much better player than Lalas. (Lalas has even implied as much). Hong passes better, dribbles better and has a bit more speed. He's better in every aspect of his game than Lalas, except for heading. Hong is the best central defender in the league. The best team for the Galaxy includes Lalas on field at left back. Unfortunatedly, 5,000 Koreans do not make it to anything except special events. Hong plays on merit alone."

I guess reasonable people can disagree, Ralph. (You're not Galaxy assistant Ralph Perez, are you?) I'm guilty as charged on the "5,000 Koreans-per-game" thing. That's an unnecessary exaggeration. And while I have nothing against Hong at all, it does seem interesting that the Galaxy brought in a player who plays the exact same position as Lalas right after Lalas' impressive season. Lately, it seems that coach Sigi Schmid is once again trying to get the two players on the field at the same time. We'll see how it works. You can't blame L.A.'s recent struggles on their road odyssey to start the season.

• My five favorite goal celebrations this year:

5. Dwayne DeRosario (San Jose Earthquakes) and his herky-jerky reggae thing. Looks a little bit like the bad breakdancing I tried to do as a child.

4. Aly Wagner and Julie Fleeting (San Diego Spirit) and their rip-out-the-corner-flag-and-use-it-as-a-limbo-stick thing. Corner-flag originality is a plus.

3. Dema Kovalenko (D.C. United) and his I-will-run-menacingly-with-my-fists-clenched-toward-old-grandmas-in-the-stands thing. And I swear to you that Dema is one of the nicest guys in the league off the field. Really.

2. Jamie Watson (U.S. U-17's) and his 80-yard-run-and-dive-on-the-wet-grass thing. (Had it been Freddy Adu, the Uzbek ref surely would have given him a yellow card for diving.)

1. Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution) and his vaguely pornographic straddle-the-corner-flag-and-pleasure-it thing. Was he really doing that in public? Combined corner-flag originality with bonus points for pushing the envelope. Jocelyn Elders would be proud.

Send me some Mailbag questions. I'll be checking back in soon from the WWC...

Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl keeps you up to date with the world of U.S. soccer at SI.com.