Michelle Akers

Michelle was the most dominant player on the United States Women's National Team from 1985 until she retired in 2000. In 1999, she was named the FIFA Women's Player of the Century, as the top female soccer player in the world. In 2001, Michelle and her teammates from the 1991 Women's World Championship were awarded the Medal of Honor from the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Akers had a celebrated international career with the United States Women's National Team. She scored 105 goals in 153 appearances, which ranks her second all-time in goals scored in Women's National Team history. In 1985, Akers scored the first goal in team's history against Denmark in a 2-2 draw in Jesolo, Italy.

Akers first gained worldwide attention at the FIFA World Championships for Women's Football (later renamed FIFA Women's World Cup in 1999) in 1991. In the World Championship she scored an astounding 10 goals in six matches including both goals in the Final, a 2-1 win over Norway. Both goals came as a result of passes from Hall of Famer Shannon Higgins. Michelle scored five of her 10 goals against Taiwan in the quarterfinals.Akers was one of the blades on the 'Triple-Edged Sword' in the United States attack (the other two are April Heinrichs and Carin Jennings who are both Hall of Famers). These three Hall of Famers scored an amazing 20 out of the 25 goals that United States scored at the 1991 FIFA Women's World Championship.

Akers was the unquestioned leader of the U.S. Women's National Team at the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. Spearheading the United States to their second World title in three tries. Akers this time was playing more of defensive minded role where she anchored the midfield. Akers scored a vital penalty in the 2-0 win over Brazil in the semifinals. During the final, Michelle had to be substituted at the conclusion of the second half due to exhaustion, and was being re-hydrated intravenously as her teammates completed their penalty shootout victory over China. A somewhat dazed Akers joined her teammates for the medal ceremony and subsequent celebration.

Michelle retired from professional soccer following this match, though she was a 'Founding Player' of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA). She never played a competitive match in the league, appeared in one exhibition in 2002.

At the collegiate level, Michelle was a four-time NSCAA All-American at the University of Central Florida. In 1988, she became the first woman to win the Hermann Trophy.

After Michelle graduated from Central Florida she went to Sweden to play professional soccer, where she played three seasons for Tyresco Club - the first American women to play professional soccer.

Perhaps the greatest disappointment of her national team career was the bronze medal finish in the 1995 FIFA World Championship for Women when she was injured in the first game against China and did not appear until the semifinal loss to Norway, lacking her typical match fitness and sharpness. The triumph of this tournament was the strong will she and the team brought to the 1996 Olympic games in the United States. The team's gold medal performance in the first women's soccer competition in the Olympics signaled beginning of a broader appeal for women's soccer and its participants, which was furthered heightened by the overwhelming reception the 1999 Women's World Cup received in the United States.

U.S. National Team Statistics