'I wish I could remember them all': Kristine Lilly on her 354 international caps
Kristine Lilly played 354 times for the United States – a record number of international appearances by any soccer player – and not unreasonably admits she doesn’t remember every single game. She scored 130 goals for the US between 1987 and 2010, won the Women’s World Cup twice, won gold medals at the 1996 and 2004 Olympic Games and somewhere in there fit in time to have her first daughter.
“I wish I could remember them all,” she says. “I remember the last one, which I wish I couldn’t because we lost to Mexico in World Cup qualifiers and I played about 20 minutes. I remember my first and I remember a lot of the World Cup games.”
Lilly’s greatest single moment in US colors was over in one second but changed the history of women’s soccer in her homeland. The iconic image of the 1999 World Cup for American fans is usually a raw Brandi Chastain on her knees and shirtless celebrating her tournament-winning penalty. Yet it was Lilly’s off-the-line headed clearance 10 minutes into golden goal extratime that allowed the historic shootout against China to even take place.
“The funny thing is the weakest part of my game is heading,” Lilly laughs, 20 years after the epic Rose Bowl final. “There are so many moments that make a success and, granted, me heading off the line was like ‘Whaaaa?’ but I’m just glad I was there to make it. Everyone remembers the Brandi moment and I love it, too.”
Lilly not only helped ensure a clean sheet for the US – and keep the team in the game – but stepped up to take a penalty in the shootout in front of 90,000 fans in Los Angeles, and millions more watching on TV across America. The silence in her head as she stepped up to take her penalty in the shootout was, she says, golden.
“Athletes talk about being in the zone,” she recalls. “During the end of the game I could hear the crowd and the cheers and then we got to penalty kicks. I was walking up to the penalty spot to take mine but I didn’t hear one thing. I was just in my head. Then when I took my kick all I could hear was the crowd. It was weird to walk up and feel so isolated but in such a strong and powerful way. Then you score and hear the roar and think ‘Oh, thank goodness I scored!’ I wasn’t overly nervous for my kick but then I got nervous for my teammates because I couldn’t control anything. You are totally tied in with your teammates because you don’t want them to feel crappy. Then the nerves come back.”
Then Mia Hamm scored, so did Chastain, and the USA had beaten China after a marathon final.
“Then you go crazy,” Lilly recalls. “I thought I was so tired but then I felt like I could go another 90 minutes.”
Lilly retired from the US team in 2010. Now 47, she lives outside Boston with her husband and two daughters, keeps her medals in a drawer at home, coaches youth sports, and recently coauthored Powerhouse, a motivational book that ties the sports teamwork ethic to business success.
She remains a strong advocate for women’s sport and – while it is inarguable that the 2019 women’s national team exists in a more equal world than the ‘99ers’ – Lilly supports the current generation’s legal action against the United States Soccer Federation that includes a play for financial compensation equitable to their male counterparts.
“They’re fighting for more than just equal pay,” Lilly explains. “They’re being proactive and opening the door. Back in the day, we were getting middle seats on the plane and the guys were not. If you are feeding the men’s team three meals per day and the women only two meals, you are doing that because they are women and that is wrong. You are the governing body of both teams. There are all these little pieces that we are looking for equity in and it is not just about the pay.”
Lilly says the USWNT dispute is not just about soccer, either.
“Let’s talk about high school sports,” she says. “The boys’ lacrosse team is practicing at 5pm in prime time and on the main field while the girls’ team is practicing whenever on a crappy field. That is the stuff we are talking about. Make it equal.”
The upcoming Women’s World Cup will see a significant majority of competing teams coached by men. Of the serious contenders for the title, the US are led by Jill Ellis in her second World Cup while host nation France are coached by Corinne Diacre, the first woman to ever coach a men’s professional team. Lilly says women’s soccer on all levels needs more female coaches and that the talent is there. The pathways? Not so much.
“I love coaching because you can be such an example – not just to young women but young boys too,” she says. “Guys get the chance and if they don’t succeed it is like ‘oh’ but if a woman doesn’t succeed it is because she is a woman. We have to open the door for talented coaches.”
Lilly says it’s not just the top of the game that needs more female coaches. The grassroots – suburban fields on weekends – require gender equity too.
“I’m always looking for women and they’re not out there,” she says. “Maybe they don’t know if they can coach because they haven’t done it but we have to keep encouraging each other and supporting each other. If you don’t know anything, still get out there. You know how to talk to kids. A lot of the guys coaching don’t know the game.”
Lilly – unsurprisingly – names the US as a World Cup favorite but says the emergence of other nations like England and Australia is due to those country’s local governing body’s finally taking women’s soccer seriously, including establishing and supporting national leagues. Success, she says, comes from taking the women’s game – and women’s sport in general – seriously.
“If you look to see what changes when you do take things seriously you can talk about the England team and the Australian team,” Lilly says. “They get support and now look at how they are doing. Sam Kerr and Australia have been playing some good soccer. England win the She Believes Cup. The support England has been getting from their governing body and their country adds so much to a team.
“It’s been exciting to see what’s been happening with both those countries. You need the support and you need a place to play. It does so much. If a federation is putting finances behind women’s soccer you then get good