Preparing for her fourth World Cup, women's soccer legend Mia Hamm spent this past weekend in Charlottesville practicing with the national team.
Hamm is no stranger to Charlottesville or Klöckner Stadium. The soccer standout visited the Virginia stadium while playing for North Carolina in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The Tar Heels only lost one game in Hamm's four years with the program, but had a tough scare at Klöckner in 1993. Only a late North Carolina goal that broke a 1-1 tie kept the Tar Heels undefeated on their way to a perfect 23-0 record and a national championship that season.
Associate editor Sean McLernon caught up with the superstar after Saturday's training session to talk about that game, her fondness of Charlottesville and the challenge of winning a third consecutive World Cup.
SM: Does coming back here bring back any memories from your college years?
MH: Yeah, we were talking about that driving up. I played in the stadium once while in college. Most of the time we played on one of the two auxiliary fields. I love coming up here. It's always a long drive but it's so beautiful. My sister went to grad school here so I would come and visit her. It's a special place and this [is] one of the first soccer stadiums that they made for a college team.
SM: In 1993 you guys had a close game up here against Virginia.
MH: That was the game that was played up in Klöckner. It was a tough ride up and it was a tough game. Emotionally, I think our team wasn't really there and focused and Virginia really came out. We scored at the very end to go ahead. It was a long ride back, too.
SM: You've played on three World Cup teams in the past. Is their anything different or distinguishing about this team?
MH: You know, there are. Every team takes on its own personality and the chemistry of this team is extremely strong. I think the WUSA has brought out personalities that you may not have seen two years ago and it's just made our team even better.
SM: Coming into the World Cup as defending champs, there must be a lot of pressure to win it all again.
MH: Our goal is to win. That's what we want this year, just like we won in '99 and just like we won in '95, but we also understand that just wanting it isn't enough. You have to show up to play and you have to make adjustments. Being one of the top four teams everyone's going to come after you, but that's okay.
SM: Are you confident that you're going to win it again this year?
MH: I never make predictions. What I can tell you is our team will go out every single game and play their hardest. This team will play hard and that's the one thing I can promise people that watch, and we won't give up.
Read More
West Coast woes strike again as men’s basketball gets hammered by Stanford
By Emory Huffman | 9 hours agoVirginia, once again in a lost season, looked aimless on the floor.
ISTVAN: Tony Bennett left Virginia in a hole
By Ben Istvan | 17 hours agoHis decision to retire doomed this men's basketball season.
