Michelle Akers’ own glorious history mirrors the story of American women’s socccer

The Olympics, alas, was too much to ask.

Michelle Akers’ fight against illness and injury, an epic battle she’s waged most of her career, finally came to an end Aug. 22, just 23 days shy of the Americans’ opener in Australia.

The reaggravation of a longstanding shoulder injury, combined with the constant effects of chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS), convinced the 34-year-old midfielder and her doctors that the time to quit had come.

“This had been a day-to-day thought – retirement – for the past several months, but really the past three years, since the [Atlanta] Olympics,” said Akers, who made her decision after a heart-to-heart talk with Dr. Mark Adams, one of the U.S. women’s team’s physicians.

She’d hoped to bid farewell from the medals podium in Sydney, but her damaged shoulder – first dislocated in September 1998, damaged again during the WWC (while high-fiving fans), surgically repaired when dislocated again last March – was reinjured during an Aug. 15 friendly against Russia. She played in one final game, 14 minutes in an Aug. 20 friendly with Canada, then decided enough was enough.

“This year just seems to have been a non-stop climb of Mount Everest, with 80 [mph] winds at my face …,” said Akers, who had returned to the field after a four-month rehabilitation during the Americans’ European trip in July. “I was battling at an absolute gut level to just get through the day, and finally the last straw was that I reinjured the shoulder. Finally, I said enough was enough. I am no good to myself like this, and I am certainly no good to my team.”

Her spot on the 18-woman Olympic roster will be taken by midfielder-defender Michelle French, 22, who said she “didn’t dream in a million years that I would be going to the Olympics.” Midfielder Aly Wagner took French’s spot among four alternates.

AKERS, JORDAN AND GRETZKY. Unquestionably the world’s finest female player, Akers has reigned over the women’s game despite her struggles with the debilitating CFIDS, which first appeared shortly after she led the United States to victory at the first Women’s World Cup, in 1991. It has dominated every aspect of her life since, and her accomplishments – an Olympic gold medal in 1996, the Bronze Ball for her role in last year’s WWC championship – appear superhuman in context.

U.S. coach April Heinrichs, a native Coloradan who played alongside Akers in China in 1991, compared Akers’ retirement with that of Denver Broncos great John Elway, but the more apt analogies are Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky.

Her history mirrors the U.S. team’s and the sport’s: She made her first appearance in the Americans’ second game, scoring a goal against Denmark August 1985. She played in 152 more games, scoring another 104 goals, numbers that only begin to underscore the qualities in her game and her importance to the U.S. women.

“It’s hard to say goodbye,” Akers acknowledged. “It’s hard to stop when I’ve been pressing so hard [battling CFIDS] for 10 years. To suddenly say I’m done – it’s tough. I keep waking up every morning thinking I have to go into battle, and I’m done.”

Akers plans to work as a “cowgirl” on her Georgia farm and intends to play for the Orlando team when WUSA kicks off next spring. She knows it will be tough watching her comrades battle for gold in Sydney.

“It’s going to be weird – I think I’m going to hate it,” Akers admitted. “What’s weird is realizing that somebody else is going to be wearing No. 10. …

“It’s kind of tough to let go. Those are my buds out there, we’ve battled for a long time for our goal, our dream. Seeing them out there fighting together, knowing what an incredible experience it is, win or lose, it’s going to be hard to watch them go through it without me.”

by Soccer America senior editor Scott French