Twin Cities Native & Fmr. World Cup Star Is Optimistic About US Team
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The U.S. Women's Soccer team beat Australia 3-1 Monday night in the opener at the Women's World Cup. A former Twin Cities soccer star says it wasn't the best performance, but a win is a win.
Briana Scurry was the starting goal-keeper for the United States women's national soccer team at the 1995 World Cup and she won a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics games. She also played in the 1999 World Cup, the 2003 World Cup and the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. She is also in the Minnesota High School Hall of Fame.
Scurry spoke to WCCO Radio's Dave Lee about the team this year.
"It was clear there were some pretty gaping holes in the defense in that game," she said.
She said as a goal-keeper you get a bird's eye view of the field, and it's important to get that information to the coaches. In Monday night's game, she thinks that may have just happened.
"I think they played better in the second half," she said.
The U.S. won the title in 1991 and 1999, and improved to 5-0-2 in World Cup openers.
While the American women have won three straight Olympic gold medals, the third World Cup title has eluded them.
Scurry said it's a long tournament, but she thinks the U.S has a good chance this year.
Scurry's own career ended because of a concussion in 2010. While playing in a game, during a fairly routine play, she was making a save and one of the opponent's knees hit her in the head.
"I didn't know what was going on. I was having a lot of symptoms. Dizziness and loss of balance," she said.
She said it's taken a long time to recover and she now wants to raise awareness about the dangers of concussions in soccer.