Beat Stars Help Lead Their Nations to World Cup Berths

Published on November 11, 2002 under Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
Atlanta Beat News Release


ATLANTA (November 11, 2002) - While the Atlanta Beat was preparing for the a week long minicamp that began this morning, Atlanta Beat stars Briana Scurry, Cindy Parlow, Charmaine Hooper and Sharolta Nonen were busy with their national teams qualifying for the 2003 Women's World Cup in China.

The Atlanta Beat kicked off its final week of training, before heading into the official post season, this morning at Morris Brown College. The Beat is scheduled to train twice a day, Monday through Thursday and will end the week with an intersquad scrimmage on Friday.

The four stars of the Atlanta Beat, who will join the team later in the week, faced off on Saturday with the 2002 Gold Cup Championship on the line, as the U.S. Women's National Team, with Scurry and Parlow, faced Hooper and Nonen's Canadian side in the Gold Cup final.

With an appearance in the finals of the Gold Cup, both the U.S. and Canada clinched a spot in the 2003 Women's World Cup. The four Beat players, two playing for the U.S and two for Canada, played integral roles in their nations' success in the tournament. Scurry, who started all five games in the tournament for the U.S., won each of those matches and is looking like she will be the number one keeper for the U.S. heading into 2003. Parlow, a forward/midfielder for the Beat, notched five goals in five games and finished two tallies behind the tournament leading scorers. Parlow has now scored 57 goals in 116 matches for the U.S. Women's National Team.

The Beat's Canadian duo, of Hooper and Nonen, led their nation to the final game, allowing only three goals and scoring 26 in the tournament. Nonen helped anchor the Canadian defense, while Hooper notched six goals through the opening round and semifinals. With a goal in the final, her 7th of the tournament, Hooper tied Tiffeny Milbrett and teammate Christine Sinclair for the tournament lead. Hooper also has now notched the most goals, 10, by a single player versus the U.S. Women's National Team.

Currently the Beat has five players that, as regulars with their national teams, have already qualified for the 2003 Women's World Cup, including the duo of Scurry and Parlow for the U.S., Hooper and Nonen for Canada and Liping Wang for China. It is not yet known whether Beat forward Sun Wen will make her return to the Chinese side for international competition. China, as the host nation for the tournament, receives automatic entry into the 2003 Women's World Cup.

Homare Sawa, the captain of the Japanese National Team, helped lead Japan to a 3rd place finish in the 14th Asian Games. Japan's qualification tournament takes place in the Spring of 2003.

The Atlanta Beat is one of eight professional women's soccer teams that make up the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the world's premier women's soccer league. Tickets for the 2003 season are on sale now and can be purchased by calling 1-877-SOCCER-1. For more information on the Atlanta Beat log onto www.theatlantabeat.com.

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