A sorry end

Onetime U.S. hero Chastain relegated to bench for Olympics

A U.S. hero in the 1999 Women's World Cup, Brandi Chastain has been relegated exclusively to the bench in the Olympics. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

THESSALONIKI, Greece -- She's a women's sports touchstone, a proud champion and perhaps a future U.S. national soccer team coach.

And yet Brandi Chastain is the only U.S. field player who has not seen a second of playing time in these Olympics.

On a night without much buzz -- the less-than-full-strength Yanks tied Australia 1-1 to seal first place in Group G and a quarterfinal date with Japan -- the biggest news was which reserve didn't take the field.

Chastain spent the game on the extreme end of the bench, as far as humanly possible from U.S. coach April Heinrichs, who was perched at the other extreme end.

Two reserves started the game: forward Cindy Parlow (for the suspended Abby Wambach) and defender Heather Mitts (for the yellow-card-carrying Christie Rampone). Three more came off the bench in the second half: forward Heather O'Reilly and midfielders Angela Hucles and Lindsay Tarpley.

Chastain, who is perfectly healthy, never even rose to warm up. How times have changed since a year ago, when she was slated to anchor the U.S.'s central defense in the Women's World Cup. After breaking her foot in the WWC opener, Chastain was replaced by 22-year-old Catherine Reddick, who has been the starter ever since.

If Chastain didn't play in this low-stakes game, there's no way we'll see her in the knockout rounds (barring a U.S. injury). Which begs the question: Why would Heinrichs bring the 36-year-old Chastain to Greece if she had no intention of playing her? Is she here to be some sort of feel-good mascot? A smiling insurance policy?

Judging from her body language, smiling and feel-good were hardly the words to describe Chastain here on Tuesday. Despite my request to speak to her after the game, Chastain was not made available for comment by U.S. Soccer Federation officials.

I did get to ask Heinrichs about Chastain, and this is what she said: "The process for our evaluation has been seven months and 160 training sessions and 20-some-odd games.... Our process sifted out that next level, the Olympic level. The four [defenders] that we started in the first two games are the most consistent performers we have at the highest level.... You saw the Brazil game where their quickness on the ball was remarkable. Our process tells us that the ones we started are our best defenders first and foremost.... What Brandi contributes is possession out of the back and leadership and a strong air presence."

Translation: In Heinrichs' eyes, Chastain isn't fast enough to be a reliable defender anymore.

For Chastain's sake, we're still thinking there might be a situation tailor-made for her in these Olympics: like, say, in the final minutes of extra-time in a tied gold-medal game. Why not sub in Chastain just to let her take the decisive penalty kick?

We could only imagine how she might celebrate that one.