Interview with Boxxy

How did you get your start with the U.S national team ?

I have April Heinrichs ( U.S head coach , 2000-05 ) to thank for giving me my first shot with the U.S team. She believed in me , telling me , ' I know you can go out there and do well , even though you don't have a cap '. I was able to do well because I had confidence behind me. IN the time I had her as a coach , I really learned from her.

How would you characterize Pia Sundhage as U.S head coach ?

What I love about Pia is that she brings such a passion for playing soccer. ' Love it , love what you do ' , she says. If your not enjoying it , you shouldn't be out there. Plus , we're learning so much technically. The Americans have always been known to be very fit and aggressive and fast paced and now we're reinforcing that and adding the technical side of it as well.

Has Pia tried to ' wipe the slate clean ' following the 2007 World Cup ?

We didn't perform as well as we had wanted to at the World Cup , but that doesn't mean that the slate had to be wiped clean. I think that we have a great base. We added some players and we lost some , to pregnancy , injuries and retirement. Pia has a great situation , where she has a great base , and now she's going to add her flare and find those players that can add to what we already have.

What's it like being one of the senior members of the team ?

You know , I've been bumping into that the last couple of years. I love it. I love that players can look up to me for what I've been though and accomplished. They give me the motivation to perform well. Veteran midfielders Kristine Lilly and Julie Foudy did that for me when I was young on the team , and I'm trying to do the same.

You've got some competition for a midfield spot on the U.S team. Are there any midfielders in camp that impress you ?

We have a great group here. I would even consider the midfielders better this year. You've seen players like Leslie Osborne . Lori Chalupny , Carli Llyod emerge in the last couple of years. The great thing about this team is that you're always fighting for a spot. It's always a challenge. For me , coming back from injury ( she missed eight months of action in 2006 due to torn ligaments in her knee ) , thats' what I had to do. I had to challenge myself to get a spot back. Every single person is fighting for a spot. Constantly. With a new coach especially.

What are your lasting impressions of the 2007 World Cup ?

Personally , I was just really proud of myself for making it back from injury. I was just happy that I was fit and I was out there and playing well. The emotion just all came out when I scored the goal against England. I was just having a great time.

For me the tournament didn't end well , to get a call ( red card in the semi final loss to Brazil ) like that. I was pretty disappointed , and that's going to stick in my head this whole year when I'm out there training. If I ever doubt how I'm feeling and I don't feel like training that day , all I've got to do is think about how awful it felt and I get my butt out there.

What was worse , getting the red card against Brazil , or the team conflict revolving around goalkeepers Hope Solo and Briana Scurry ?

Personally , it was so hard to know how much I worked to get back , and then for it all to come down to somebody else controlling what happened to my game. The biggest thing that people forget is that we had to play with 10 players.. Because of that call , my teammates had to struggle to play with 10 men for over 45 minutes. That was the most heartbreaking thing. In a way , I let my team down. That was hard for me.

The ' Bri ' thing , all I can say is that it's over , and we hope we can all learn our lesson from it. We are closer as a team because we dealt with it as a team.


I don't see how Boxxy can say she let her team down in that match. It was a stupid call from the ref and the Brazilian antics just after it didn't help. The only person who let the team down that day was Greg Ryan in the way he dropped the best keeper in the world and his formation after the sending off.

I just knew you'd say that before even reading your response.

I don't hold a grudge lol , honest