She opens the flap of an olive drab knapsack and pulls out vacuum-sealed pouches of military survival food. "These are MRE's," she says. "It stands for 'Meals-Ready-to-Eat.' The spaghetti isn't too bad, actually." About once a month, Mia Hamm gets together with the other wives of her husband's platoon for hands-on experience in the field near Quantico Marine Base, south of Washington, DC. These maneuvers are designed to show the wives what their husbands go through "on a good day" in the corps. It's a welcome change of pace for this busy athlete who is known throughout the world for her own deadly maneuvers on a different sort of battle field - the soccer pitch.

Hamm invited us to her house on the day she was to depart for the inaugural US Women's Cup. After making everyone feel at home, Hamm sat down and discussed the recent World Cup, her recent marriage and several other topics. As she reflected on Sweden, I looked for any sign of soccer memorabilia in her apartment. Figuring to see walls filled with awards from her many accomplishments... I saw none.

"Well, we didn't win," she said with a sigh, "which was our ultimate goal." Some people believed that the US Women's National Team would repeat as FIFA World Champions for the second time. But after their victory over Norway in China in 1991, the rest of the world started catching up with the once dominant Americans. "The competition is getting better and better," Hamm states. "We couldn't assume it was ours for the taking." In the semifinals, a rematch of the 1991 final, the American's lost 1-0 to eventual champions Norway.

Following the frustrating loss to Norway, the US team got together and decided they were going out on a positive note. In the third-place match, they beat rival China 2-0 on goals from Tisha Venturini and Hamm. Hamm was proud of the team's gutsy performance. "Both teams were exhausted but it was an entertaining match. We could have gone home a couple of days early and just forgotten about that game, but we didn't. We played well."

Trying to get Hamm to talk about her own play can be like pulling teeth. To her the team is more important. She hands out compliments to everyone but herself. After the loss to Norway though, coach Tony DiCicco said, "We just didn't have the legs to play the way we normally do, but you saw an awesome, relentless performance from Mia Hamm."

Her soft-spoken demeanor belies her fierce competitive nature. If you didn't know who she was you'd never realize this quiet, sincere, almost shy woman is one of the most feared strikers in the game. Her quickness, speed and will to succeed have earned Hamm the right to be called one of the best female athletes in the world.

Where does she get her competitive edge? Hamm figures it comes from growing up in a family of six children. "When I was a kid," she remembers, "I'd quit a lot of games because I hated losing so much. I thought if I'd quit before the game was over then I really didn't lose." This attitude didn't sit well with her siblings who refused to let her play with them anymore. But then she discovered soccer around age seven and she hasn't quit since.

Now Hamm is a formidable presence with the US National Team and a veteran of the first two Women's World Cups. Over the years, Hamm's role in the US team has changed. Because of her goal scoring prowess, she now plays primarily on the front line as opposed to midfield and relishes the pressure of being the most dangerous forward on the field. "That's always the player I wanted to become," she said confidently, "the one the opposition is worried about."

In Sweden, she feels she wasn't marked as tightly as Carin Gabarra or Michelle Akers, who was out most of the tournament due to a concussion received in the first round 3-3 draw with China. She confided though, "I think people were aware of me." And who wouldn't be? One glance at her list of accomplishments proves that she really is the complete player.

On June 8 however, her versatility was put to the test during the USA's first round 2-0 victory over Denmark. Goalkeeper Briana Scurry was ejected in the 84th minute for a highly-contested hand-ball infraction outside the US goal box. Since there were no other allowable substitutions to be made (the US had previously used their allotment of three) Mia Hamm was chosen to step into goal.

"I was scared to death," she said as her eyes widened. "I felt like 'Mia Campos.' But it's really a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I hope I don't have to do it again." Despite her misgivings, Hamm performed admirably, posting a save in the last minute of the match. She was determined not to let anything get by her.

There was also a free-kick that tried her nerves late in the match. "I was so out of position," she said rolling her eyes, "I was hiding behind the wall. I didn't know what I was doing. I'm just glad the girl missed the goal!" She now knows how the other half lives.

The experience has given Hamm more respect for goalkeepers. "The goal is so much bigger when you're inside it than when you're shooting at it," Hamm said prophetically. "You've got to get inside it to see what it's like."

Continued...