Q&A;

Lilly: Younger players lighting a fire beneath us

Kristine Lilly says the WUSA's international players bring an added dimension to the league. M. David Leeds/Allsport

By Tim Nash

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Kristine Lilly is back with the national team as the USA plays in the Nike U.S. Women's Cup. The Boston Breakers midfielder and U.S. veteran took time to discuss the recently completed WUSA season and the future of the national team.

Q: How is it to be back with the national team after a 21-game WUSA season?

Lilly: It's been good. It's always nice to come back with the team, seeing everyone again and playing at the highest level. It's been a good week so far. Body's a little sore. No matter how you look at it, though, it's great. Having a league season is something different. It's been a long year, but coming back into the team is always good. Plus, the last couple of games we've played we either lost or tied, and we have that still inside us.

We have a lot of new kids here, so that adds a little spice and lights a fire under all of us. The mood has been really positive.

Q: Do you think the young players who come into the national team have an appreciation of everything the veterans have done to lift the sport to where it is today? Do you think they want it badly enough?

Lilly: I think they want it, but some of them think they should get it. It might take time for them to learn what it really takes to have it. Each time we have a camp, we try to educate the younger players about what it takes and what's expected of them. They realize what we had to do in the early years -- whether it was fighting for contracts or training on our own. We hope that the people who are on the national team now can pass that on in the future. I think that's one of the strengths of this team. The mentality.

Q: In the WUSA, the marquee players like you, Mia Hamm, and Brandi Chastain were marketed heavily. It seems the plan is to get people to come out to the games and hope they find extra reasons to return. Do you think that has worked?

Lilly: I think it is working. But it takes some fans time to get used to the new names. If you watch the NBA it used to be Jordan against Barkley. In Boston, for example, Dagny Mellgren has definitely made a name for herself. I think it just takes a little bit of time. All the players on our team get fan mail. It will just increase as the years go on. I think we take a lot of it on our shoulders because I we know we need to. It comes pretty natural to us because we basically had to sell the national team, and everyone is great at it. It's kind of second nature to us. The Breakers have done a great job of balancing it out. Everyone, all the players, have gotten involved with marketing the team. It's been really good.

Q: The foreign players in the WUSA have obviously helped to develop some of the young American players in the league. Do you think the league is helping to improve their national teams as well?

Lilly: One of my favorite things about the WUSA is the international players. Competing with them has been great. Having them on our team has been amazing. We learn a lot from each other. When we ask them what they do in training, it's always something completely different from what we do. It's so different. They don't do the running we do. I'm not saying that's right or wrong. Just interesting. And you can see how technical the players are, and I wouldn't say that was our strong suit. It's good to have a blend of different styles.

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