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What: “Breaking Through: Women of the World Cup”
When: Tonight, 7:30, Lifetime
We’re going to get to know the women of the U.S. national soccer team pretty well by the time the World Cup concludes July 10 at the Rose Bowl, and this half-hour special gives us a glimpse of this fun and likable group.
The show, hosted by CBS’ Michele Tafoya, also provides two in-depth features on foreign players--Linda Mendalen of defending World Cup champion Norway and Laurie Hill, a U.S.-born, three-time All-American at UC Santa Barbara who used her mother’s heritage to qualify her for the Mexican team after being cut by the U.S.
There also are brief looks at resurgent China, which won the silver medal in Atlanta in 1996, Australia, Brazil and Germany.
But the star of the special, which follows a WNBA game between the defending champion Houston Comets and the expansion Orlando Miracle, is U.S. co-captain and 11-year veteran Julie Foudy of Laguna Niguel. Foudy and her teammates play for the fun of it. “The day I stop loving this sport is when I give it up,” she says.
Foudy talks about the bond and chemistry of the team. “We’re like sisters and we know each other better than our husbands do.”
So what’s her analysis of her teammates? “We all belong in an insane asylum,” she says. “We’re crazy, a bunch of wackos.”
But lovable wackos. “People will be immediately drawn to the personalities on this team,” Foudy says.
The profiles of Mendalen and Hill are well done. Mendalen is a fiery former police officer who works part-time as a private investigator searching for missing children. “Watch out, America, Norway is coming,” she warns.
The diminutive Hill, whom Foudy describes as “4 foot 2, or maybe 3 foot 2,” is charming. In one light moment, Hill gives a Mexican police officer a jersey, then heads the ball back and forth with him. The policeman is thrilled.
