That’s Kristine Lilly, member of the 1999 World Cup-winning U.S. National Team who also won two Olympic Gold medals and two World Cups in her illustrious career talking about what the U.S. team has to do win against Japan Sunday. Here are some excerpts from her interview with espnW.com:
Earlier this summer, Kristine Lilly posed with her husband, David, and their daughter, Sidney, after the U.S. Women’s World Cup send-off game.
On watching the games or playing in them:
“It’s more nerve-wracking to be a fan than to play, to be honest with you, because you really can’t do anything about it as a fan. You can just cheer, so the nerves are multiplied for you. I want them to win, I want them to feel what it’s like to be a world champion, because it’s a pretty incredible feeling. That’s really what I can relate to them. If they win, then they know what it feels like.”
On the U.S. / Japan final:
“You’ve just got to play your best. Japan’s gonna be ready. This is their first World Cup final. I think their team — out of all the teams — was pretty consistent throughout the World Cup. They played some great soccer throughout. I think the U.S. got better with each game, which is positive for us. You’ve got to bring your “A” game. It’s the World Cup final. Anything can happen, one mistake could [matter]. One slide to the ball could win the game for you. So every little thing matters, and they’ve just got to give it their all.”
On recent changes to women’s soccer:
“The women’s game has grown, the level’s gotten better worldwide. Japan’s playing in a final, they’ve been in all the World Cups, but they’ve never made it past the quarterfinals [before]. If you look at that, it just shows you how much commitment their county has given them to be better. And I think a lot of the teams are better — you saw Colombia in their first World Cup, they did a great job, Equatorial Guinea did a great job for their first World Cup. So I think worldwide the level of play is just getting better.”
To read the complete Q&A:
http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-opinion/6772478/want-win