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| | Tuesday, January 18 | |||||
| NEW YORK -- April Heinrichs continues to break
ground.
Heinrichs, the first female in the United States Soccer Hall
of Fame, Tuesday was given the top responsibility for the
country's powerful women's soccer program, getting named coach.
Heinrichs officially took over the reigning Women's World
Cup champions, replacing the departed Tony DiCicco. Heinrichs,
35, was an assistant to DiCicco during the 1995 Women's World
Cup and the gold-medal 1996 Olympic squad.
"I am thrilled to be the U.S. Women's National Team
coach," said Heinrichs. "It's with great pride and pleasure
that I take on this challenge. I know there's much to be done
in the coming days and weeks and I'm looking forward to the
first opportunity to get on the field with the players. That's
where I'm most at home."
She becomes just the third woman to hold a coaching job at
the highest level in women's international soccer. Marika
Domanski Lyfors of Sweden and Tina Theune-Meyer of Germany were
the only female head coaches among the 16 teams at last year's
Women's World Cup.
Heinrichs' first game in charge will be Feb. 6 against
1999 World Cup semifinalist Norway in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The captain of the 1991 women's national team that brought
the USA its first world championship, she was "Soccer America"
magazine's Player of the Decade in the 1980s.
"The team is very excited to have April as our coach," said U.S. co-captain Julie Foudy. "She is an unbelievable leader, motivator and tactician. We look forward to training and working hard with her as we prepare for the Olympics." In 47 appearances for the United States, Heinrichs scored 38 goals, retiring after the 1991 victory over Norway in China. While playing for powerhouse North Carolina, she led the Tar Heels to an 85-3-2 record. She has guided the U.S. Under-16 Girl's team since 1997 and also has been the coach at Virginia, Maryland and Princeton. Her collegiate coaching record is 116-70-18. The USA's thrilling penalty-shootout win in the 1999 Women's World Cup final over China at the Rose Bowl on July 10 drew better than 90,000 fans and capped a stunning period that saw the team become America's darlings. On the heels of the triumph, there has been heightened talk of a women's professional league in the United States. But the national team has clashed with its governing body, the U.S. Soccer Federation, in a salary dispute that reportedly hastened DiCicco's departure Nov. 3. In the recent Australia Cup, the marquee players for Team USA remained behind. DiCicco assistants Lauren Gregg and Jay Hoffman guided a team with an average age of under 20 to victory in the four-nation tournament with Sweden, the Czech Republic and the host country. The starting lineup included six players under 20, including two 17-year-olds. | ALSO SEE New U.S. women's coach wants her players Trecker: Heinrichs must confront boycott Ratto: And you've got problems AUDIO/VIDEO   April Heinrichs is named the USA Women's coach.RealVideo: | 28.8 April Heinrichs' Q&A period.RealVideo: | 28.8  | |||||