The B;
fhe Battalion
Sports
Page 3 • Wednesday, July 7, 1999
^Taking on the world
Maying for second title, shot at professional league
motivates USA Women’s World Cup Soccer Team
BY RUTH STEPHENS
The Battalion
This weekend, Texas A&M as
sistant soccer coach Robin Confer
flying to Pasadena, Calif, to join
e other A&M soccer coaches and
Ihousands of other Americans in
I Cheering on the U.S. Women’s
I soccer Team as they battle the
I People’s Republic of China for the
Championship.
“I’m hoping they (the U.S. team)
l:an win the whole thing,” Confer
I said. “With the caliber of players
I hey have, they could win it all.”
To reach the final game, the
J.S. women beat Denmark (3-0),
Nigeria (7-1) and the People’s Re-
ublic of Korea (3-0) in the first
round, Germany (3-2) in the quar
terfinals and Brazil (2-0) in the
semifinals in a whirlwind two
weeks of soccer.
This year the United States is
hosting the World Cup, which is
played every four years and con
sidered the most prestigious tour
nament in soccer.
Venues are scattered across the
country with games in New
York/New Jersey, Chicago,
Boston, Washington, D.C., Palo
Alto, Calif., and Los Angeles.
“The only complaint I’ve
heard about is the excessive trav
el for some teams to change
venues,” Confer said. “Other
wise, the tournament and the
fans have been great. The crowd
•VO'I Hr Bffld
their mod charles bennett/ap photo
Mtingir:- Venturin'!, left, and other members of the U.S. Women’s World Cup
I team meet with children of the SOS Children’s Village in Lockport, III.
support is unbelievable.”
Throughout the tournament,
each match has averaged 62,000
fans per game, while the United
States has averaged over 70,000
fans at their games, including the
73,123 at the semi-final game
against Brazil last Sunday.
Confer, who played four years
with the perennial powerhouse
University of North Carolina has
also played with the U.S. National
Team since 1996. She said she is
still friends with many of her U.S.
National teammates and keeps in
close contact with them.
“Goalkeeper Tracy Ducar is a
good friend of mine,” she said.
“We’ve been e-mailing throughout
the tournament.”
More than just a victory. Confer
said winning the World Cup would
be a huge boost for women’s soc
cer and could help start a women’s
professional soccer league.
“Winning would make it easier
to launch a pro league,” Confer
said. “It’s been in the works for a
couple of years, but officials are
hoping a victory by the United
States will push it to reality.”
Confer said that with this
dream comes pressure on the na
tional team to win.
“They know a win is important
for the league to start,” she said.
“I think they’re dealing with the
pressure well though.”
There have been tense mo
ments along the way, though, es
pecially in the quarter-final match
against Germany when they had
to come from behind twice to win
the game 3-2 and then defeat an
JEFF ZELEVANSKY/AP PHOTO
U.S. Women’s World Cup soccer player Mia Hamm, left, drills with
Julie Foudy during a practice at the Pingry School in Martinsville, NJ.
upstart Brazil team 2-0 in the
semifinal match last Sunday to ad
vance to Saturday’s championship
game.
Confer said the United States-
Germany game was the toughest
quarter-final game of the tourna
ment.
“The players are taking it game
by game, though,” she said. “This
is what they trained so hard for in
the spring.”
Confer said, U.S. coach Tony
DiCicco’s main concern is the
see World Cup on Page 4.
All-Stars:
Popularity or
production?
A s baseball’s best and bright
est get ready to gather for the
All-Star game next week in
Boston’s Fenway Park, one thing
has become i
painfully clear
about the Mid
summer Clas
sic: instead of
being a show
case of the
game’s best
players, it has Doug
become noth- SHILLING
more than ■■■■■■■■■■■■■
mg
a popularity contest.
Sure, most of baseball’s best will
still be at the game, but the honor
of starting the game, an honor that
should go to the players who have
been the best over the first part of
the year, has become just like a
high school student council vote —
whoever has the most friends wins.
While the problem is not as bad
in the National League, the prob
lem of undeserving people in the
All-Star is rampant in the American
League.
Cleveland Indians fans tried
their best to make it a game with
their team against the National
League.
The Indians fans placed four of
their players on the starting lineup,
and almost added another three.
In fact, Texas outfielder Juan
Gonzalez, the winner of two of the
last three AL MVP Awards, was so
upset by his snub in favor of the In
dians players, that he has request
ed he not be picked for the All-Star
team at all.
If baseball wants to keep the in
tegrity of the All-Star game intact,
see All-Stars on Page 4.
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