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Julie Foudy was a star of the U.S. Women’s National
Team for more than 17 years. A great leader, she was
the captain of the United States teams in the 2000
and 2004 Olympic Games, World Cup qualifying in
2002, and the 2003 World Cup. During her career as a
midfielder, she collected an amazing 271 caps,
making her the third most capped player in world
soccer history. She was a member of the U.S. teams
that won the Women’s World Cup in 1991 and 1999 as
well as Olympic gold medalist in 1996 and 2004. She
was also Olympic silver medalist in 2000. During the
1996 Olympic Games, she played every minute of the
United States’ five matches.
At 17, Foudy played the first of her international
games for the United States against France in Rimini,
Italy, on July 29, 1988. She scored her first goal
on April 3, 1991, vs. Hungary. She played in 24
World Cup Games, 12 World Cup qualifiers, and 16
Olympic games. She was a member of United States
teams at the 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003 Women’s World
Cups and the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics. In those
four Women’s World Cup and three Olympic Games she
played every one of the United States’ 30 games. She
played her last game on December 8, 2004 against
Mexico in Carson, Calif.
While attending Stanford University, Foudy scored 53
goals and had 32 assists. She was named NSCAA
All-American for four consecutive years. She was the
1989 Soccer America Freshmen of the Year. In 1991,
she was Soccer America Player of the Year. All four
years she was at Stanford, the Cardinals went to the
NCAA Tournament. Upon graduation from Stanford
University with a bachelor’s degree in biology, she
was accepted to Stanford Medical School, which she
declined to continue her soccer career.
Foudy played for the San Diego Spirit in the Women’s
United Soccer Association from 2001 to 2003 and was
a second-team all-star in each of those three
seasons. She played 59 WUSA regular-season games and
one WUSA playoff game. She was a founding member of
the league and later became heavily involved in
efforts to revive it.
In 1994, Foudy joined teammates Michelle Akers, Mary
Harvey and Kristine Lilly to play for the Tyreso
Football Club in Sweden. She played for the
Sacramento Storm, which won the 1993 and 1995
California State Amateur championships. She also
played one season in the W-League and one season in
the Japanese professional league.
Foudy’s work ethic has been seen on and off the
field. She has become an advocate for women’s
rights, rights for children, and fair labor. She was
the President of the Women’s Sports Foundation, a
charitable educational non-profit organization
dedicated to advancing the lives of girls through
sports. She was the first American and woman to win
the 1997 FIFA Fair Play Award, which acknowledged
her documented trip to Pakistan in 1997 when she
personally made sure her shoe sponsor wasn’t using
child labor. In 2005, when there was a threat to
seriously dilute Title IX, a ban on discrimination
in school activities based on sex, Julie was among
those who publicly protested and helped stop the
changes. Recently, she created the Julie Foudy
Sports Leadership Academy, an organization that
through soccer teaches girls how to be leaders on
the field and in life.
Foudy found additional success in a new field as an
in-studio analyst for ESPN on several World Cups and
other soccer events, receiving excellent reviews
from Sports Illustrated, Time, and TV Guide.
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