For you Tar Heel fanatics and aficionados. Give me your all time 1st 2nd and 3rd teams. I suspect the 3rd all time team would beat most programs 1st all time team. I'm not acquainted enough to even attempt it. Let me hear from you guys/gals.
Let me start by saying that it is difficult to compare players from different generations. Keep in mind: -many great players played at UNC in the 1980s when their were few opportunities to even compete internationally (eg. April Heinrichs only has 47 caps and retired at 27 because there were no other opportunities to play, if she had been born 20 years later she would likely have 200+ caps with the USWNT). -Many more great players who played at UNC in the 1990's had the opportunity to compete at the World Cup and Olympics, however did not have a professional league to play at and therefore many retired at much earlier ages. (eg. Tisha Venturini retired at the age of 27 and still had 134 Caps. For comparison, Alex Morgan is currently 31 with 173 caps) -Also, are we comparing players depending on how they performed at UNC? Professionally? Internationally? I composed the list on how these players performed through their entire career, not simply while they were at Carolina. -I personally only created a 1st and 2nd team as the 3rd team is increasingly difficult as there have been so many amazing players at UNC, differentiating some players was very difficult. -I selected the teams with 6 Midfield/Forwards, 4 Defenders and 1 Goalie. Think of it as if I put the 6 best Midfield/Forwards on the first team and the next 6 on the second team, without any thought towards how the actual team would play together (ie. most deserving not best fit/formation) -Lastly, I expect to have missed players, and I don't think I am right, I literally just put this together because I thought it was fun. I expect people to disagree. Also, I am no soccer expert, simply just a fan. 1st F/M Mia Hamm Kristine Lilly April Heinrichs Heather O’Reilly Cindy Parlow Tisha Venturini 1st D Carla Overbeck Cat Reddick Tiffany Roberts Lucy Bronze 1st G Siri Mullinix 2nd F/M Tobin Heath Lorrie Fair Shannon Higgins Lori Chalupny Lindsay Tarpley Debbie Keller 2nd D Crystal Dunn Meghan Klingenberg Sarina Wiegman Linda Hamilton 2nd G Ashlyn Harris
I agree with your preface, Keane, and would add a few more wrinkles. Should all time best team include players playing at their "best" (best season, best NCAA tournament etc) or over their entire college career? (I'm leaving out "Games"! ) At this point I'm thinking of a full college season as a benchmark, with extra points if that high level was there for more years than one. But as you comment. it is still hard in that so much has changed as the years have gone by. Are the players of 30 years ago penalized by not having the current knowledge of training regimes, weight raining, endurance training, skill building, diet, advances in physical therapy and reparative surgeries, etc. Had the older athletes been born 30 years later would they have excelled even more with modern training? So does it all boil down to relentless drive, an intuitive soccer mind, great field vision, excellent on-field decisions, reflexes, and great ball skills compared to players of the same vintage?