Michelle Akers

Michelle Akers

Personal information
Full name	Michelle Anne Akers
Date of birth	(1966-02-01) February 1, 1966
Place of birth	Santa Clara, California, U.S.
Height
Position(s)	Midfielder, forward
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1985–1988	UCF Knights
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990	Tyresö FF
1992	Tyresö FF
1992	Orlando Lions Women
1994	Tyresö FF
International career
1985–2000	United States	153	(105)
Medal record Women's football (soccer) Representing the United States Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta Team competition FIFA Women's World Cup 1991 China Team competition 1999 USA Team competition 1995 Sweden Team competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Michelle Anne Akers (born February 1, 1966) is a former American soccer player, who starred in the historic 1991 and 1999 Women's World Cup victories by the United States. She won the Golden Boot as the top scorer in the 1991 tournament. Regarded as one of the greatest female soccer players of all time, she is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, and was named FIFA Female Player of the Century, alongside Sun Wen.

Early life

Born to Robert and Anne Akers in Santa Clara, California, Akers grew up in a suburb of Seattle, Washington, where she attended and played soccer for Shorecrest High School. She was named an All-American three times during her high school career. At 5 feet, 10 inches in height and 150 pounds, Akers had an imposing physical presence on the soccer field and was noted for her aggressive and physical style of play.

University of Central Florida

Akers attended the University of Central Florida on a scholarship where she was selected as four-time NCAA All-American. She was Central Florida's Athlete of the Year in 1988–89, the all-time leading scorer in UCF history, won the Hermann Trophy in 1988, and had her #10 jersey retired by the school.

Playing career

International

Akers was a member of the 1985 United States women's national soccer team for its first game at a tournament in Italy in August 1985. Due to an ankle injury, she did not play in the first game. However, in the second ever international game for the United States she scored the first goal in the history of the program against Denmark, in a 2–2 tie.

Akers scored 15 goals in 24 games for the U.S. from 1985 to 1990 before scoring a team record 39 goals in 26 games in the 1991 season alone. In 1990 and 1991 she was named the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) Female Athlete of the Year. Akers was also the lead scorer in the inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup in China in 1991, scoring ten goals, including five in one game. This led the U.S. women's team to the first women's world championship, defeating Norway 2–1. Akers scored both goals in the finals.

Utterly exhausted after the World Cup, Akers was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome in the spring of 1994 which could have started in late 1991 and of which she never fully recovered. She learned to manage her diet and training habits, and was shifted to the midfield in part to minimize the beatings doled out by opposing defenders. Despite the precautions, Akers suffered a concussion and a knee injury early in the 1995 World Cup, and was hampered by the knee in a semifinal loss to Norway.

In 1996, Akers was again a member of the U.S. women's national team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where it won the gold medal. She was also a member of the gold-medal-winning, 1998 Goodwill Games team. On June 7, 1998, she was awarded the FIFA Order of Merit, their highest honor, for her contributions to the game of soccer. Akers again was part of the 1999 Women's World Cup team, leading to a second World Cup championship.

Shortly before the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Akers retired from the game as the U.S. national team's second all-time leading scorer (behind Mia Hamm) with 105 goals, 37 assists and 247 points.

International career statistics

Nation	Year	International appearances
		Apps	Starts	Minutes	Goals	Assists
United States	1985	2	2	180	2	0
	1986	5	5	420	0	0
	1987	9	8	720	3	0
	1988	2	2	180	0	1
	1990	6	5	425	9	1
	1991	26	25	1941	39	8
	1993	12	12	887	6	6
	1994	12	7	571	11	7
	1995	18	17	1195	15	5
	1996	17	16	1246	7	3
	1997	2	2	180	1	0
	1998	15	15	929	5	4
	1999	20	18	1334	6	1
	2000	7	3	242	1	0
Career total	14	153	137	10450	105	36

Matches and goals scored at World Cup and Olympic tournaments

Michelle Akers competed as a member of USA teams in three FIFA Women's World Cup: China 1991, Sweden 1995 and USA 1999; and one Olympics: Atlanta 1996; played in 18 matches and scored 13 goals at those four global tournaments. Akers was a goal medalist at Atlanta 1996 Olympics, and world champion at China 1991 and USA 1999 world cup tournaments. Akers with team USA finished third at Sweden 1995 world cup.

	Key (expand for notes on “world cup and olympic goals”)
Location	Geographic location of the venue where the competition occurred
Lineup	Start – played entire match on minute (off player) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time off minute (on player) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time (c) – captain
Min	The minute in the match the goal was scored. For list that include caps, blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal.
Assist/pass	The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information.
penalty or pk	Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.)
Score	The match score after the goal was scored.
Result	The final score. W – match was won L – match was lost to opponent D – match was drawn (W) – penalty-shoot-out was won after a drawn match (L) – penalty-shoot-out was lost after a drawn match
aet	The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation
pso	Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parenthesis; the match was tied at the end of extra-time
	Orange background color – Olympic women's football tournament
	Blue background color – FIFA women's world cup final tournament

Goal	Match	Date	Location	Opponent	Lineup	Min	Score	Result	Competition
China 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup
	1	1991-11-17	Panyu	Sweden	Start			3–2 W	Group stage
1	2	1991-11-19	Panyu	Brazil	Start	39	4–0	5–0 W	Group stage
2	3	1991-11-21	Foshan	Japan	{{{4}}}. off 41' (on Lilly)	20	1–0	3–0 W	Group stage
3						37	2–0
4	4	1991-11-24	Foshan	Chinese Taipei	Start	8	1–0	7–0 W	Quarter-final
5						29	2–0
6						33	3–0
7						44 pk	5–0
8						48	6–0
	5	1991-11-27	Guangzhou	Germany	Start			5–2 W	Semifinal
9	6	1991-11-30	Guangzhou	Norway	Start	20	1–0	2–1 W	Final
10						79	2–1
Sweden 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup
	7	1995-06-06	Gävle	China PR	{{{4}}}. off 18' (on Milbrett)			3–3 D	Group stage
	8	1995-06-15	Västerås	Norway	Start			0–1 L	Semifinal
Atlanta 1996 Olympic Women's Football Tournament
	9	1996-07-21	Orlando	Denmark	{{{4}}}. off 62' (on Parlow)			3–0 W	Group stage
	10	1996-07-23	Orlando	Sweden	Start			2–1 W	Group stage
	11	1996-07-25	Miami	China PR	Start			0–0 D	Group stage
11	12	1996-07-28	Athens	Norway	Start	76 pk	1–1	r 2–1 aet	Semifinal
	13	1996-08-01	Athens	China PR	Start			2–1 W	Gold medal match
USA 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup
	14	1999-06-19	E Rutherford	Denmark	Start			3–0 W	Group stage
12	15	1999-06-24	Chicago	Nigeria	{{{4}}}. off 45' (on Fair)	39	5–1	7–1 W	Group stage
	16	1999-07-01	Washington	Germany	Start			3–2 W	Quarter-final
13	17	1999-07-04	Palo Alto	Brazil	Start	80 pk	2–0	2–0 W	Semifinal
	18	1999-07-10	Los Angeles	China PR	{{{4}}}. off 91' (on Whalen)			0–0 (pso 5–4) (W)	Final

After soccer

Since her retirement, she has continued to promote the game of soccer and has written several books, including one that documents her battle with chronic fatigue syndrome. ^{[[[Citation needed]]]}

In 2002, she was voted FIFA Female Player of the Century, an award she shared with China's Sun Wen.

In 2004, she and Mia Hamm were the only two women named to the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living soccer players selected by Pelé and commissioned by FIFA for that organization's 100th anniversary. Also in 2004, Akers was inducted, along with Paul Caligiuri and Eric Wynalda, into the US National Soccer Hall of Fame.

She currently lives with her husband Steve Eichenblatt, an attorney who represented her in her rehabilitation lawsuits against the USSF after her retirement, and their son Cody, who was born in 2005 in Orlando, Florida. Akers now resides in Powder Springs, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, and dedicates herself to rescuing horses.

See also

• List of women's association football players with 100 or more international goals
• List of FIFA Women's World Cup goalscorers
• List of Olympic medalists in football
• List of 1996 Summer Olympics medal winners
• List of 2004 Summer Olympics medal winners
• List of players with the most goals in an association football game
• List of University of Central Florida alumni
• List of athletes on Wheaties boxes
• List of Golden Scarf recipients
• List of prizes named after people

References

Match reports

Further reading

• Akers, M.; Lewis, G. (2000), The Game and the Glory, Zondervan, ISBN 0310700256
• Grainey, Timothy (2012), Beyond Bend It Like Beckham: The Global Phenomenon of Women's Soccer, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 0803240368
• Kassouf, Jeff (2011), Girls Play to Win Soccer, Norwood House Press, ISBN 1599534649
• LaFontaine, P.; Valutis, E.; Griffin, C.; Weisman, L. (2001), Companions in Courage: Triumphant Tales of Heroic Athletes, Hatchette Digital Inc., ISBN 0759520518
• Lisi, Clemente A. (2010), The U.S. Women's Soccer Team: An American Success Story, Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0810874164
• Longman, Jere (2009), The Girls of Summer: The U.S. Women's Soccer Team and How it Changed the World, HarperCollins, ISBN 0061877689
• Mitchell, N.; Ennis, L. (2007) Encyclopedia of Title IX and Sports, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0313335877
• Rutledge, Rachel (2000), The Best of the Best in Soccer, First Avenue Editions, ISBN 0761313923
• Silverman, Al (2004), It's Not Over 'til it's Over, Penguin, ISBN 1468304313

External links

• National Soccer Hall of Fame biography
• University of Central Florida biography
• Michelle Akers' U.S. Olympic Team bio
• Michelle Akers horse rescue website
• Michelle Akers on Twitter