The Greatest Moments from Michelle Akers’s Legendary Career
Michelle Akers is one of the greatest to ever play the beautiful game. She paved the way for future socceristas to follow her tenacious style of play and drive to win. Akers attended the University of Central Florida where she was selected as four-time NCAA All-American. She also won the Hermann Trophy in 1988 and completed her collegiate career as the nation’s top college soccer player. Akers’s college career eventually came to an end, but it was only the beginning.
Akers was with the USWNT from the team’s very beginning; she played in their first game ever at a tournament in Italy. She went on to score the first goal in U.S. Women’s Soccer history and was later named the Female Athlete of the Year by the USSF. She was a force to be reckoned with on the front line and she and Mia Hamm together were unstoppable. She was part of two World Cup-winning squads (1991 and 1999) and the gold medal-winning 1996 Olympics team. Despite suffering injuries and health issues throughout her career, she never let a bump in the road slow down her journey. She kept working hard and pushed through any adversity that was thrown her way. Akers had a truly stellar career and cemented her place in women’s soccer history.
The Greatest Moments in Michelle Akers’s Legendary Career
1. Her stellar performance in the 1991 Women’s World Cup Final. She scored two goals in the final to lift the U.S. over Norway and become the first Women’s World Cup winners in history.
2. She still holds the records for the most goals in a World Cup. She scored 10 goals at the first edition of the tournament in history.
3. Can’t forget her legendary PK goal in the 1999 World Cup semi-final against Brazil. Akers battled chronic fatigue syndrome throughout the tournament but left everything she had on the field.
4. Her teammates and friends honor her with a testimonial match in 2002.
5. The impact Michelle Akers had on the USWNT cannot be overstated. She left everything on the field and will always be a model for younger generations of players to look up to. Every time she played for the USWNT was a moment to remember.
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