TOP 40 FEMALE ATHLETES OF THE PAST 40 YEARS
#27: MICHELLE AKERS
Akers’ résumé should be required reading material for young soccer players. She was a four-time All-American at Central Florida. She scored 105 goals in 153 appearances for the U.S. She earned the Golden Boot as the leading scorer (10 goals, including five in one game) at the inaugural Women’s World Cup, won by the U.S. in 1991. She won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Summer Games and another World Cup in 1999. She was voted FIFA Woman Player of the Century, alongside China’s Sun Wen. And in 2004, Akers and Hamm were selected by soccer great Pele as the only women on his list of the 125 greatest living players.
Above all else, Akers is known in soccer circles for her relentless work ethic, for getting the most out of her size (she is 5-foot-10), strength and speed. “She always wanted more criticism,” says North Carolina head coach Anson Dorrance, who guided Akers on the 1991 World Cup squad. “She kept asking for more, and I was thinking at the time, ‘Are you kidding me?’ Any flaw I did mention, she would correct it immediately. I’d see her after practice, perfecting whatever we had talked about.” - (x)
