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Akers to go Fifteen World Cup veterans return for Olympics
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Despite a youth movement from a new coach, the U.S. women's Olympic soccer team will look a lot like the team that won the World Cup a year ago. Fifteen of the 20 players from the World Cup squad, including all of the regular starters, were chosen Thursday by coach April Heinrichs to make up the 18-player roster that will represent the United States next month at the Sydney Games. Heinrichs made the veterans nervous when she experimented with younger lineups after she succeeded Tony DiCicco in January. It quickly became apparent that five players from the World Cup team -- Tisha Venturini, Danielle Fotopoulos, Tiffany Roberts, Tracy Ducar and Saskia Webber -- did not figure in Heinrichs' Olympic plans. But the mainstays are still there, from Mia Hamm to Brandi Chastain to 34-year-old Michelle Akers, the oldest member of the team. Akers, who had shoulder surgery in April and suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome, has said this will be her last international tournament. "Actually I didn't think I was going to make it this year," said Akers, who wore a shoulder harness as she practiced with the team Thursday. "There were many times I thought 'There's too many obstacles, too exhausting, too much pain.' Every time I hit the wall something was there to help me over it and, one day at a time, I made it." Akers has played in 150 games for the U.S. national team, appearing in three World Cups and the 1996 Olympics. Two other players recovering from injuries also made the cut. Captain Carla Overbeck, who is also retiring from international competition after the Olympics, had knee surgery in May, but it held up well in Thursday's grueling practice. Goalkeeper Briana Scurry was selected after a long battle with shin splints, but she is now the backup to Siri Mullinix in the only major change to the starting lineup from the World Cup. "Having Michelle Akers and Carla Overbeck on this team was a decision that I made in my mind two or three months ago because of Carla's leadership," Heinrichs said. "While Carla's knee might be at only 70 to 75 percent right now, her will and power among these players, along with her leadership, makes her the glue of this team. ... We all know that Michelle one year ago helped this country win one of its most impressive trophies ever. One year away from that she is still a world class player, but she struggles with her shoulder. I think what we will see over the next couple of weeks that she will get better." Heinrichs' eye on the future was reflected in three players who weren't at the World Cup: Mullinix, 22, Nikki Serlenga, 22, and Danielle Slaton, 20 "After the first week some players approached me and were a little concerned about brining in these young players," Heinrichs said. "I told them if we had more than two-to-three younger players, we've made too much of a change. I'm so proud of these players who've hung in there, and clawed to hang around this team. We weeded out the ones that aren't mentally ready yet, and we weeded out the ones that aren't physically ready yet." The team is training in Annapolis and will play there against Russia in the first game of a three-game Olympic kickoff tour Sunday.
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