Crazy For The Cup

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Soccer is her comfort zone, a place to lose herself within the team and the game. "Growing up, I was very competitive, and I didn't like to lose," she says. "I was an emotional kid, and sports let me be happy, sad, frustrated, all on one field. It was O.K. to be that." Says Tony DiCicco, the U.S. women's head coach: "You see Mia's true personality come out on the soccer field. Coupled with her athletic ability and talent, when she puts it together, she's a dynamo."

Hamm lurks wide on the wings, waiting patiently for the ball like a burglar casing a jewelry shop. When she gets it, she sets off the defense's alarm bells. Explosively fast, Hamm often outruns the support of her teammates, leaving her to fend off two or three defenders.

But stopping Hamm won't be enough. The U.S. team is deep, many having played together for more than a decade. Defender Joy Fawcett has had two children in her dozen years on the team. During the Cup, Mommy will be off, kicking some butt. The words team chemistry here don't refer to drug tests. "You develop a bond that comes from spending too much time together," laughs Julie Foudy, a.k.a. "Loudy," 28, the motormouth midfielder who is available after practice to provide wicked commentary on her teammates' lives. Foudy sealed the Denmark victory with another left-footed bomb, courtesy of a pass from Hamm, and celebrated by running to the bench and turning in a comic pirouette.

Says midfielder Michelle Akers, 33, a cheerful wreck of a player who is fighting bad knees and chronic fatigue syndrome to win another championship: "We're part of each other's lives. We're in each other's stories." And if the team wins another championship, the stories will only get better.