U.S. Women: Transcript of March 17 media teleconference from Portugal

The following is a transcript of the March 17 media teleconference featuring U.S. women’s national team coach Tony DiCicco, midfielder Julie Foudy and forward Mia Hamm:

Opening remarks from press officer Aaron Heifetz

We’re talking to you from Vilamoura, Portugal, V-I-L-A-M-O-U-R-A, which has been our home base here for the 6th Algarve Cup since we arrived in Portugal. As you know, USA is in group A of this tournament. They tied Sweden and then defeated Finland 4-0. The final group match is tomorrow versus defending world champion Norway. The match will decide who will face China in the championship game on Saturday. China has already won Group B with a match still left to play. Norway only needs a draw against the USA to go to the championship game. The match kicks off tomorrow at 2:30 local time which is 9:30 Eastern time. Norway and USA have split the last two meetings between the teams. USA won 3-0 on a match played in China in January of ’98, but in the final group game of last year’s Algarve Cup, the U.S. fell to Norway 4-1. It was the only loss of ’98 for the U.S. team. Before we begin, we would be remiss if we do not wish Mia Hamm a happy birthday. She turns 27 today; so, thanks for joining us on your b-day, Mia. Mia now has 104 career international goals. The world scoring record, which is held by long-retired Elisabetta Vignotto of Italy was previously thought to be 108 goals, but the Italian Federation has now confirmed that the world record is, in fact, 107, putting Mia four goals away from breaking the record. Before we begin the question and answer, the schedule for the U.S. team: Obviously the Norway match is tomorrow. The placement match is on March 20. Hopefully that will be the championship. USA then returns to the United States on March 21 for a five-day break, and will regroup in Los Angeles on March 26 in preparation for the match against Mexico on March 28 at the Rose Bowl, which, of course, is the site of the World Cup final this summer. USA will then spend three days in the Arco Olympic Training Center in San Diego, before going on another week break, and then reconvene in Orlando on April 7. They are not going to go too long tonight, because as some of you may know, Inter Milan vs. Man U. on in approximately an hour.

Q&A Session

Q: This would be for Mia and Julie, how is the team coming together right now, how comfortable the team is at this juncture, because I know in the past the team has had some trouble in March and at the Algarve Cup. JULIE FOUDY: You know, obviously our first game against Sweden was a bit rough. We came away with a 1-1 draw which, looking at it from our side, we weren’t too happy with. However, we had a very good game against Finland yesterday with a 4-0 win. I think there’s always the kind of shock of playing a Scandinavian team. We haven’t played them in a while, and against Sweden, it was quite evident in that first game, but I think they were a good tune-up for the Norway game tomorrow. So the spirits are high, and people have a lot of confidence. Plus, we’ve never been successful at this tournament; so obviously, there’s a lot of incentive besides just playing Norway. Q: Mia, your turn. MIA HAMM: Well, I think as a team, you know there are a lot of things that we still feel we need to improve upon, but I think seeing people step up and play different positions — and I think as a team we’re starting to all find our roles. And our game yesterday, I think Tiffeny Milbrett did an incredible job up front for us. I think you saw some great performances. Shannon MacMillan played really well. Our defense was solid. And I think — I think we’re starting to gain some confidence going towards this summer. Q: Julie, I was wondering if you could just talk about how the different alignment, how that’s helped your offensive game? JULIE FOUDY: Well, before when we played the traditional four midfield, I was much more defensive in terms of I had to stay for the counterattack and be very conscious about holding and have one player hold on that scene as kind of a reload, both offensively and defensively. Now with the three midfield system we’re playing, we have a deeper midfielder, usually in Michelle or Brandi; that is, that holding midfielder that assumes more of a defensive responsibility; so I can get rid of the ball and chain and move forward and play a more attacking role, which I really enjoy, as I have told Tony every day since we’ve changed. Q: Mia, you mentioned before about starting to gain confidence, but yet your team basically has been almost a hundred percent successful for almost a year or more. And how do you maintain or continue to keep up, you know, with this long build-up to the World Cup considering the expectations are going to be for you this summer? MIA HAMM: I think as a team, we just need to focus on what we feel we can do, and, you know, every team going into the World Cup wants to win it. And I think we feel as a team that we have the talent to do it. But in the World Cup, it takes more than talent. At this level, the margin of victory is so small that anything that we gain through any game we play we want to take into this summer’s competition. I think as a team what happens when you’re off for awhile and you get back together, as competitive as it is right now with people pushing for spots and playing against competition like we’re playing here, I think that can have a really positive effect on your confidence, or, at times, it can have a negative affect. So what we’re trying to do is make sure that as a team we’re as best prepared as we can and we’re going into the World Cup with the most amount of confidence that we can. Q: Can the players talk a little bit about what was kind of wrong in the last few weeks? Was there anything in particular that you felt like — was the reason you weren’t clicking as well? AARON HEIFETZ: Mr. DiCicco has a comment on that. TONY DICICCO: I think a lot of people said, what’s wrong with the team. Well, there’s nothing wrong with the team. The team was in preseason. We’re still basically in preseason. I would say that this tournament is like our preseason tournament. It’s the end of our preseason. I think we have been doing some wonderful things in training. It’s not always translated into the game. The training has been very intense and very difficult. But I just think it’s — as Mia, said — we break; we leave; we come back together; so there’s a normal ebb and flow of how the team is going to perform. And we are — I can tell you firsthand that I’m impacting some of our success because I’m trying things and some of those things don’t work. For instance in the World All-Star Game, I started a different system — totally different. We’ve never used it before, because I knew there was a lot of coaches out there that would be looking at us and scouting us; so it was difficult for the players without any practice to adjust to that system. So that’s all right. I think that we’re in really good shape, and yesterday was an exciting game for all of us. And I know people say, “Well, it was Finland.” Well, Finland has one of the best-organized defenses in the world as far as I’m concerned, and we broke them down and it was fun to watch. Q: Can I ask Coach DiCicco about the Swedish game? Obviously, I wasn’t there to see it. I’d be interested to know what formation the Swedes played; why you think they gave you particular difficulty? TONY DICICCO: Well they played a 4-4-2. Q: Their normal formation? TONY DICICCO: That’s normally what they play. Once in awhile they will play a 4-5-1, but they played a 4-4-2. And they are very combative. They are a hard-working team. I think their work ethic is among the best in the world. They take a lot of pride in their game, and they just — they wouldn’t let us put them away. We dominated the game for stretches of it, but we weren’t able to get the goal that would put the game away; and sure enough in the end they stole two points from us. But they are one of best teams in the world, quite honestly. And they did the same thing to Norway yesterday. The game was 1-1 until Sweden had a player sent off, it ended up 2-1; so Sweden played about 65 or 70 minutes down a player, but what I saw of it before I joined my team for pregame was pretty even. Q: So you think they are a major threat, do you? TONY DICICCO: I think every team in the World Cup is a major threat. I think every team in the World Cup will be better than they are today. And for sure, Sweden has one of the traditions of winning and they are — they are better than they were last year, and they will be better in June than they are in March; so I’m glad they are not in our group, if that helps answer that question. Q: This is for Mia. Mia, you’ve had to deal with lots of media and fan attention through the last few years. How difficult has that been to adjust to? MIA HAMM: Well, it hasn’t — I don’t think my life’s really changed that much, to be honest with you. I don’t have any bodyguards, unless you count Tony, or Julie for that matter. But I think, you know, what I’m conscious of right now with my responsibilities to my sponsors is to make sure it doesn’t interfere with this team and what we want to do this summer. Q: In the last few games, it seems like a lot of other people have been scoring for you guys and you’ve at times been more of a set-up-type person. Is that — in some ways has your role kind of changed to become that, or is that because the opposing defenders have obviously been focusing on you the last few years? MIA HAMM: I think you’re right in terms of I’m probably getting a bit more attention than I used to get. I think Michelle was that person, and that’s probably how I got a lot of the goals that I got. But, I’ll play whatever role this team needs me to play to win; and if that means, you know, bringing two or three defenders to mark me and have Tiffeny Milbrett score or Kristine or anyone on this team, that’s what’s most important to me. It’s not how much records I break; how many goals I score. I just want to help my team win. And if that means sitting on the bench I’m willing to do that, or if that means setting up goals, I’m willing to do that as well. Q: Do you hate being called the “best player in the world”? MIA HAMM: Yes, because I know I’m not. I think if you’re at this tournament, I think you could easily see that that’s not the case. Q: This is for Tony. Tony, could you talk about progress that Cindy Parlow and Danielle Fotopoulos are making? TONY DICICCO: We started Cindy yesterday, and which was pretty exciting for me because, you know, she’s been injured since her collegiate season, and we’ve been easing her back in. I think the intent was to bring her to the tournament knowing she wouldn’t play in the first game but to try to get her minutes in the second and third game. And I think she made a difference for us. I thought we were more dynamic up front. I thought she held the ball well for us. Her checking runs are well-timed, and I thought Mia and Tiffeny used the space that she pulled defenders out of very nicely. I like that combination. And then she scored a goal, and she’s very good in the penalty area. She sets up her defenders as well as anyone. Danielle Fotopoulos has been a very pleasant surprise all year. She came into residency — in the first day of residency, she was farther along than I thought she would be. And, you know, we gave her a half yesterday as well. She almost scored a goal, and she had a good presence in the game for the entire half that she was in; so I’m very pleased where she is, and it’s great to have Cindy Parlow back in the lineup. Q: Both of them, their size, how will that help you against certain teams? TONY DICICCO: Well, they are both excellent headers of the ball, and certainly we need that in both ends of the game here. We need it in the attacking side because when Millie, Mia and Kristine or Shannon are up front, we don’t really have that traditional target player. It’s like a bunch of midgets running around up there. They are quick and they are fast, and they are tremendously dynamic. But it’s nice to have a player who can just go up there and be with the other best headers in the world, and both Danielle and Cindy give us that option. Q: This is for Tony. Tony, you’ve talked about the way that you set up a new style for the All-Star Game. Are you seeing anything much different from the other teams that you’ve seen so far? Do they have a lot of new players, or do you feel that maybe some of them are just holding back on showing any changes that they are really making or is this — do they look like the teams used to look last year? TONY DICICCO: I think the teams that are here are in the same phase that we are. They are building their teams. They are not hiding players back in Sweden and Norway or China or any — they are bringing their best of players here, what they think are their best players today. They might have somebody injured and will join the team later. And there is some experimentation going on, and there’s a lot of the players we saw last year. There’s a couple of new players in each team. Pretty much same players we competed against last year we’re competing against this year. Q: I have a comment and a question. I’m calling from a small town in Florida and we get very little coverage, if any, of — I don’t know if anyone is getting coverage, live coverage, of the Algarve Cup and I wanted to know maybe Aaron can answer the question if there’s even an Internet site or a website that we can tune in to, to view it live. AARON HEIFETZ: I can answer that. The Portuguese Federation puts on this tournament mainly to give great competition to the top women’s national team players in the world. And women’s soccer around the world is not at the stage it is in the United States where the games are promoted and televised, you know, on a very high level. I can tell you that the first time ever in this tournament, they are televising the Portuguese games, and they will televise the final; however, it’s a Portuguese cable company that you don’t get on your standard cable package. So far as any live broadcast no. As quickly as I can get the game report done, it will be put up on both Women’s World Cup website and the U.S. Soccer website. But maybe that’s down the road, televising the Algarve Cup. Q: And the second part of this goes to Coach DiCicco. How would you rate, I guess, on a scale of one to ten with ten being the most important. How would you rate the Algarve Cup as far as a tournament? The World Cup obviously is the most important you about I guess as far as how many risks you’re willing to take in trying new things. How would you rate the Algarve Cup that you’re participating in now? TONY DICICCO: I think it’s very prestigious tournament. It pales in comparison to the Olympic tournament or the World Cup. And I would put it on a level, or maybe just below a level with the U.S. Women’s Cups that we play annually because those are promoted games. The crowds are great. This is more, as Aaron said, more of a competition tournament. The teams come together, but I think it’s gaining in prestige. And this is the first year that we’ve seen some crowds at these games, and I think that people as they hear about it more and more are trying to make time to see some of these games. And so there’s a lot of English tourists here, and some of them have been coming to the games, et cetera. It is prestigious, but on a one to ten scale, it’s around a five or a six compared to where the World Cup is at a ten and the Olympics are at a ten. Q: Going into the match against Norway, is there some sense of revenge for the team given last year’s Algarve Cup loss? JULIE FOUDY: I don’t know if it’s a sense of revenge. We kind of did that to ourselves. They played a great game, and so I think it’s more of something internally you want to solve. So for us, any time we play Norway, it’s a great battle. And I think, you know, we beat them 3-0 in China. The year before, I think we lost to them 4-1. It can go either way; so for us, the challenge is imposing our style on the game early. So we always look forward to these games. In fact, we love them. I wouldn’t call it a revenge. I would just call it an opportunity that we love to play them. Q: How are the younger players doing like Aly Wagner and Michelle French? Obviously, they were at the U-21s and they did very well, but how is the team adjusting to them, and how are they adjusting to the team? TONY DICICCO: Both players are doing quite well. We’re very excited about Aly Wagner, and she will come with us to L.A. and when we play Mexico on March 28th. And she is a tremendously talented midfielder that solves space or solves pressure individually as well as any young player I’ve seen. And she has an attacking nature to her game, and she is a very good final passer. And we just think that she’s not only coming back from that knee injury, but now is fighting for a spot on the roster. Michelle French has done very well. I think the experience — both those players, especially for Michelle to play with the U-21s, being their captain, is very valuable for her and she’s done quite well. And some have the younger players that we have here, Sara Whalen has done quite well. Christie Pearce and Lorrie Fair have done well. So everybody is getting comfortable, having their games come around, and it’s a very hotly contested, competitive training camp for those roster spots. Q: It seems that you played a 3-4-3 in your last game, is that something you want to do just against Finland, or was it in response to anything from the Sweden game? TONY DICICCO: It’s a system that we played for a long time with the United States and we’ve played it through the last World Cup and for a number of games in the Olympics. It’s a system that I think is a system that we never want to become unfamiliar with. And against Finland, with their defense, and it’s so packed in; it’s so tight, I just wanted to get in as many attacking personalities in the game as I could. So I took out Kate Sobrero, who is a wonderful defender so that I could put in somebody like Shannon MacMillan or Cindy Parlow; take your pick. And we got one more attacking personality in the game and Shannon MacMillan, I thought had her best game in a year yesterday. I mean, she was just all over the field. She had two assists, and it was great to see because we need her to get back to her Olympic form. So we have a number of systems we could play yesterday. We just played them 3-4-3. Q: Tony, did you see any of the Norway games? Have you seen Norway play in this tournament at all? TONY DICICCO: Yes. We have seen their two games because we played doubleheaders. Our whole group played; so we’ve seen them play the two games. Q: Are they still playing the same style or have they changed? TONY DICICCO: No, they are still a pretty direct team. Although, against Finland in the first half, they tried to play direct, and they were pretty frustrated because they just sent long balls in and the Finnish had good headers and defended well. The second half they came out and they played into feet and they are talented players; so they can play that style. And they started to break down the Finnish defense, and the last five or six minutes they got the goal to win the game 1-0. But they are still — would have to be considered a pretty direct team. They only make short passes to set up their long, direct passes. Q: Julie, how do you and how do the team handle the fact that this summer you know you’re going to be heavy favorites here, at least amongst local fans? Even when they are talking about the scheduling, they are talking about you and the quarterfinalsand the semifinals and the finals. How do you handle that knowing that there’s a tremendous amount of pressure on you not just to be in the tournament, but to win it? JULIE FOUDY: I think we put that pressure on ourselves. Any time we go into a tournament, we expect to win it, and that’s always been the trademark of our team. And so, it’s more of an internal pressure instead of an external one; and so every day we train. When we won the Olympics in 1996, you know, people said, “Were you surprised to win the gold medal?” I said “No, that’s what we came in to do.” And what we expected to. And it’s not an overconfidence, but it’s an attitude and a confidence where you come in and you know you’ve put in the work; you’ve put in the hours. And we’re here to finally put on a show; so we look forward to the opportunity to play in front of huge audiences and to play in front of a national TV audience and feel that the timing is right. And so we don’t consider it a pressure at all. Q: This question is to Mia and to Julie as well. Maybe if you could each pick — you one of you mentioned that Norway is a fun team to play. Maybe if you could pick the team that you most like to play and least like to play against because of their style of play, or for whatever reason. If each of you could do that for us. MIA HAMM: I think there are probably two teams, although there are so many teams that give us problems, but I think consistently I think the two teams that no matter how many times we play them it seems that we’re always battling to make our adjustments and to stay focused and that would be Norway and China. They play two totally dissimilar games. Norway, as Tony said, is a very direct team and I think they exploit a lot of our weakness as a team and as a country. We’ve gotten a lot better with our clearances heading out of the back but they really put immediate pressure not only on our defenders but on our midfielder tracking back to win the second ball. China is a team I don’t think there’s any team — you know maybe Brazil is athletic or as skillful on the ball as a whole as they are. Technically, they are all so sound. They are incredible athletes. And for us, you know, we all joke about it. We basically wait for them to lose possession, and then hopefully try to score after that. So those teams I think we love the challenge of playing against those teams, but on any given day, you know, as we’ve seen in the past, any team can win. JULIE FOUDY: The team I most like to play is our staff. It’s a great confidence-builder. The team I least like to play is probably our reserves. That’s something you play every day. You play every day and they are good, which is a great thing because every day in practice is you’re training against some of the players in the world, many of the best players in the world. AARON HEIFETZ: Thank you all for joining us from Portugal.