Mia Hamm: The Legendary Soccer Queen

Women’s soccer is beginning to gain worldwide recognition as more attention is now being drawn to it. This was not so before the playing days of United States legendary female soccer player Mia Hamm.

Her name is one that will stick in the memories of soccer lovers for a very long time, just as the names of legendary male footballers like Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff or Pele resonate brilliance and greatness.

A woman of many firsts in the professional game, Mia became the youngest ever player to feature for the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) when she made her international bow at just 15 years old.

In her four seasons with the North Carolina Tar Heels, Mia netted more than a century goals. Such was the enormity of her contributions to the women’s game that Brazilian legend Pele named her in his list of 125 best soccer players of all time. There were only two women on the list. 

She won the maiden award of FIFA Player of the Year for the women’s category in 2001 and won the same award the following year.

Mia put the ball in the back of the net a record 158 times in 275 outings for the United States. This record means she has more goals than any woman or man for her beloved country. She also claimed the 1991- and 1999-Women’s World Cup titles with the US and won Olympic Gold with the same country in 1996.