News & Media II: Articles, photos, videos, etc.

Now a mom, Lilly yearns to play again

Practice with the Breakers is going to start at the end of the month, which is none too soon for Lilly, who was interested in playing in the upcoming Algrave Cup in Portugal with the national team but was left off the roster by head coach Pia Sundhage.

"It wasn't my decision. I think she wants to look at other players, so I'll kind of just wait this opportunity out," Lilly said. "In May and June, there are some friendlies, and hopefully, I'll be a part of that. But if that's not a go, maybe there are some changes."

Lilly has mainly been a midfielder. She scored 129 goals, second only to Mia Hamm, and has 103 assists, again second only to Hamm. She played in three Olympics, winning two gold medals and a silver.

Lilly has played in five World Cups, winning two gold and three bronze medals. She is the all-time leader in minutes played, nearly 27,000, which is over 450 hours on the soccer field.

"I would like to stay (with the national team), it's just a matter of fitting it in," Lilly said. "Pia, she wants to see new players. She's obviously seen me before, so I think it's just finding out if the fit is going to work.

"I'm taking it month by month and year by year. "¦ I remember being in the last World Cup (2007) and saying this is my last, but you know what? Maybe not. We'll see."

http://www.connpost.com/sports/ci_11706980


You know this doesn't sit right with me. How about giving some other players a chance to have the same expereiences she enjoyed. She sounds selfish.

Re: Now a mom, Lilly yearns to play again

She's a professional athlete, selfish goes with the territory. Her attitude seems fine. She's not expecting or demanding a slot. Just hoping for a chance and acknowledging the coach as the decision maker.

Re: Now a mom, Lilly yearns to play again

I see nothing wrong with what she said. She feels that she can still contribute.
Are you still irritated at her for defending Scurry and Ryan over Solo? Tell the truth now.

Re: Now a mom, Lilly yearns to play again

Re: Now a mom, Lilly yearns to play again

MRAD that has nothing to do with it. We are rebuilding our program. We need to continue to try new players and work toward the WWC. I just think it is a waste of resources and taking a step backward to allow Lilly back into the fold. Otherwise then why not Chastain back in as well?


Maybe the younger players are not as good as Lilly now, but they will be by Germany. We need to look forward. These younger players need time to develop in real game settings.

I had no personal issues with Lilly other then what i said about finding it a bit selfish to continue to take a spot on the team. I had the same feelings last Olympics when Lisa Fernandez ( who is incidentally my fav. player) tried to continue on the team. She ended up being cut and it gave other younger talented pitchers a chance to play which was good, especially given that was softballs last year. I just think our national team is something special and that more people should have an opportunity to play. I am not sure quite when one would draw the line of "you have been on the team too long", but I do think there is some threshold point and lilly passed it.

Re: Now a mom, Lilly yearns to play again

I was kidding with you a little. I tried to put the smily face thing in but it didn't work.
I do agree that some of the veterans try to hold on too long and not know when to quit. I also agree that there are new players that should be given opportunities. However, I don't blame her for thinking that she still has what it takes to contribute. This is a player that has been the most induring, most caps, etc. Lilly IMO, is no ordinary player.

When last we saw Lilly with the national team, she was still one of its most effective and dangerous players - fundamentally sound, could take on a defender, shoot or cross the ball effectively. As MRAD12 says, no ordinary player. The US won the Olympic Gold last year with admirable, gutsy, never-say-die will and determination, but they weren't more dangerous in the attack without her than with her.

Now that she's had a child and now that she's what, 45? 55? who knows, maybe she won't be able to get back to that level. But why write her off just because 55 (or is it 65?) sounds so old? On that basis we could've written her off the previous Olympics (where she served up the Gold medal winning corner kick for the Big Girl to head home).

Should Dara Torres not have won her last Olympic medals to give some younger swimmer a chance? And I'm no longer so worried about younger players not getting a fair look at the National team because of (thank God!) the new professional league. This is where some young players are going to stand out, make a mark and earn a chance to make the national team, like WUSA did for Shannon Boxx and Abby Wambach. The WPS is a big, big boon to the future of the US team.

Re: Now a mom, Lilly yearns to play again

Which is why there is a coaching staff to make those decisions. If the younger players are better, then they will beat her out. I think Pia is a realist and while she is fond of Lilly I don't think she will choose her unless she thinks she will help the team. The fact that she didn't select her for the Algarve shows that she is looking at younger players and not interested in just padding Lilly's caps.

If Lilly is better, then why shouldn't she win the spot?

Re: Now a mom, Lilly yearns to play again

I agree totally with htide. I will admit that my opinion of Lilly as a person dropped considerably over the Solo saga. She was captain and a veteran so I expected more. She is certainly no Overbeck and I even thought Rampone made a better leader. That being said, Lilly as a player belongs in the Hall of Fame. Her contributions to the National Team over the years cannot be overstated. She will draw fans for the WPS, but now is the time for her to step aside and let the younger players have a shot at the limited spots available. It takes time to put a team together and Lilly has nothing left to prove.

Re: Now a mom, Lilly yearns to play again

You may think she has nothing left to prove, but maybe she feels that she does. Besides, Pia will have plenty of opportunity to see if Lilly is still at the top of her game during the WPS season. Pia doesn't strike me as the sentimental type. If Lilly winds up back on the national team, I expect she'll have earned it. If she's still that good, why not let her play?

And I don't think we need to worry about young players getting opportunities, we're seeing a lot of that already, with Fletcher, DiMartino, Rapinoe, and Woznuk going to Portugal. Look at the Algarve roster--11 of the 18 players are age 25 or younger. The average age is about 25 and a half, slightly younger than the Olympic roster. That doesn't seem overloaded with codgers. Are there certain young players that you think are being overlooked?

Re: Now a mom, Lilly yearns to play again

She doesn't have anything left to prove but she may have more to give. Let the process play out and we will find out.

So should David Beckham give up his bid to continue playing for the English National Team and "let younger guys have their chance", or should he continue his quest if he feels he still has it and feels he can contribute. I compare his and Lilly's as similar. I think Christine Lilly is unique. Didn't they used to call her the Ironwoman or something?

And by the way Stepup, IMO, she did act as the Captain and stood by her teammate whom she's won several World Championships with. For me, if she would have joined Hope Solo in throwing Brianna Scurry under the bus and publicly dissing her coach, I would have lost respect for her. IMO, she did the right thing as Captain. Just my opinions.

First let me say that I have the highest respect for Brinanna Scurry and felt she was dragged through this due to stupid coaching decisions. I never said or felt that Lilly should have taken Solo's side. I just felt that with her years on the filed and being Captain, she could have stopped allot of the B.S. I have all the confidence in the world that Pia will look at everyone available but if we are looking ahead to field a team that plays well together then give the younger players the time. The WPS should give everyone the chance to be looked at.

Not a problem. We all share our opinions here. Ultimately she has to play players that will win. Her job, like all coaches jobs, depends on results. She has what, 2 1/2 years before she has to put together a squad that can win the World Cup. She will experiment with combinations, bring players in and out, etc. But in the end it will be players that are ready to win. and if that means that putting a player like Lilly who can contribute right away and excluding a younger player who is not ready yet, then she will do that. It has nothing to do with what we want. I think the WPS will contribute a lot to getting some of these players ready. That's one of the reasons that the continued existence of the WPS will be very important so that more than a select "pool" of players can be developed.

And now for something completely different:

Dolich soccernet article on the Algarve roster selection. I agree with some but not all of Dolich's analysis. I don't think her conclusion that 2009 is the year of short-term goals. Actually, I think it the exact opposite. 2008 was all about the short-term b/c there was no time to overhaul things b/f the Olympics.

But on the Lilly still wanting to play thing, it might be selfish if she was the one in control of the roster & player decision making. She's not. Pia is.

I do not think Lilly should be automatically included nor do I think Lilly should be automatically eliminated from consideration. Actually, I feel that way about pretty much everyone. Any player can think they have something to add/give to any team's roster but they have to demonstrate it on the field. It is the coaching staff's responsibility to evaluate the skills/level of play of individual players and choose a roster. Pia invited Lilly to participate in those Dec games so that both of them could assess things. The WPS season will provide other chances. It is amazing what happens when you have a confident and highly competent head coach w/ excellent player management skills.

As opposed to..........?

Agreed and repped.

Mitts is on the verge of getting 100 caps. Here is one of those ussoccer media interviews: 11 Questions w/ Mitts.

http://www.tvtuga.com/content/view/1299/1001 - live streaming to final

Solo has minor surgery on her elbow. (Hattip to Cville KC on the Athletica board)

Two friendlies announced for May between the WNT and Japan - one in Texas, one in Utah.

http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_13402114.html

Soccer Is Ruining America

Soccer Is Ruining America
And we have no one to blame but ourselves.

My apologies if this has already been posted somewhere else. I stumbled across this article in the Guardian while looking for more sources for news on English/Scottish women's football. This forum is the only place that I could think of for posting it.

Why the future of football in America is black, female, and from the inner city

Very interesting story. It is true IMO, that soccer in the US is prodominantly a suburban white kids sport as just the opposite in many countries around the world where soccer is a poor kids sport.
In the US this has two faces to it though,IMO.
1. being that much of the soccer for kids in this country is tought by expensive Club Teams, mostly in the suburbs, where many kids and especially inner city kids cannot afford.
2. The attraction for many black kids IMO, and especially for black boys is not in soccer, it's in basketball. Basketball is the glamor sport in the black community. It is the sport that gives you black stars to look up to and want to be like. In the black inner city streets, soccer is not the cool sport that basketball is, where in the suburban white world it is often cool to be on a soccer club team. Two different sport cultures in one country.
I have always said that the US men's team will never win the World Cup untill all it's citizens embrace the sport. The USNT has several African American players and the pool is growing but untill black kids in the inner city embrace the sport fully then this country does not have a complete, diverse pool to choose from.
Women's soccer may have a different future though. As more and more African American girls embrace the sport and as more and more get scholarships to colleges, the less it becomes a mostly white, suburban girls sport but an All-American girls sport. I would love to see soccer fully embraced in the black community.
Can you imagine the powerhouse that the US would be in both men's and women's game with such a diverse pool to choose from? Brazil would be nothing to us (not meant as disrespect to Brazil).