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Four San Diego Spirit Players Named to U.S. World Cup Team

August 26, 2003 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)
San Diego Spirit News Release


SAN DIEGO - U.S. Women's National Team head coach April Heinrichs named the 20-player 2003 U.S. Women's World Cup Team today, and four Spirit players, the most of any WUSA team, are a part of the team that will have the honor of playing for a world championship in their home country. USA and Spirit team captain Julie Foudy, defender Joy Fawcett, midfielder Aly Wagner and forward Shannon MacMillan earned roster spots for the largest women's sporting event in the world. For Foudy (229 caps) and Fawcett (214 caps), it will be their fourth Women's World Cup. For MacMillan, it will be her second and Wagner, one of the last players released from the 1999 Women's World Cup squad, made her first Women's World Cup Team. Wagner, who is the second youngest player on the team at 22, has played 45 times for the USA, scoring 10 goals.

The inclusion of MacMillan, the USA's leading scorer in 2003, marks a remarkable comeback from ACL surgery on May 21 after suffering the serious knee injury three days earlier while playing against the Boston Breakers at Torero Stadium. MacMillan worked tirelessly to rehabilitate her knee with Spirit athletic trainer Tony Ontiveros and U.S. Olympic Training Center-Chula Vista Strength and Fitness coach Zach Weatherford, and was ready to train with the USA last week during the four practices at the OTC. She still has almost four weeks left before the opening match on Sept. 21 against Sweden at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

"I have to give a lot of credit to (Spirit team physician) Dr. (David) Chao, who went in right away and gave me a great new knee," said MacMillan. "Tony worked hard to get me out of the training room as soon as possible. Then Zach took over and we worked every day to see how far I could come. I'm still working hard to get back into playing fitness so I can help this team in any way possible."

MacMillan has scored 18 goals with 17 assists in her Spirit career. She has 58 career goals in 153 games for the U.S. Women's National Team.

"It was incredibly emotional when April told me," said MacMillan. "I know I still have a lot of work to do, but this World Cup will mean more to me than anything else in my soccer career to this point. There were a couple days in the process that I thought I couldn't push myself as hard as I needed to, but I give that credit to Zach because he was always there to keep me motivated and working."

The 2003 U.S. Women's World Cup Team is currently on a break and will re-group in Los Angeles for training at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Carson, Calif., from Aug. 29-Sep. 3. The team will then travel to San Jose, Calif., where the U.S. will be based from Sept. 4-7. That schedule includes two matches, the first against Costa Rica on Sept. 1 at The Home Depot Center (8 p.m. PT on ESPN2) in the first-ever game for a U.S. National Team at the sparkling new stadium and the second on Sept. 7 against Mexico at Spartan Stadium (10 a.m. PT on ESPN).

2003 U.S. Women's World Cup Team: GOALKEEPERS (2): Siri Mullinix (Washington Freedom), Briana Scurry (Atlanta Beat); DEFENDERS (7): Kylie Bivens (Beat), Brandi Chastain (CyberRays), Joy Fawcett (Spirit), Christie Pearce (New York Power), Cat Reddick (UNC), Danielle Slaton (Carolina Courage), Kate Sobrero (Boston Breakers); MIDFIELDERS (6): Shannon Boxx (Power), Julie Foudy (Spirit), Angela Hucles (Breakers), Kristine Lilly (Breakers), Tiffany Roberts (Courage), Aly Wagner (Spirit); FORWARDS (5): Mia Hamm (Freedom), Shannon MacMillan (Spirit), Tiffeny Milbrett (Power), Cindy Parlow (Beat), Abby Wambach (Freedom).

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