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Courtesy University of North Carolina

We have time for one more of our 20 Questions (actually this is only 12, but there’s some good info in there) feature before this glorious World Cup comes to a close, and – perhaps the most legendary women’s soccer coach of all-time (at least in our country) – Anson Dorrance was kind enough to give us a few minutes of his time from the road.

Dorrance will soon begin his 33rd season as women’s coach at North Carolina where he has won an outrageous 21 national titles (20 NCAA), but he was also the coach of the very first World Cup champions, leading the United States to the 1991 title in China.

And to slip in a book recommendation, as a women’s soccer coach and fan, “The Man Watching”, a biography on Dorrance and story of the remarkable UNC dynasty is one of my top five books of all-time.

All White Kit: People talk about 1999 and the 99ers, but do you ever feel bad for the 91ers who started it, that they aren’t remembered as much?

Anson Dorrance: No, not at all. I think what’s important is the legacy of the team, and I think how the current team is doing.
People like Abby (Wambach) and a lot of those girls spend a lot of their interviews honoring the past, and I think honestly they’re set up with those kinds of questions. Even though they come from a proud tradition, I think they’re extending that tradition. I love what they’re doing, obviously we’re all hoping they can triumph on Sunday. Then they’re a part of they’re own tradition, and they should be.
I’ll always feel a part of the U.S. team, and I think the way we were honored in the past is sufficient, and I’m fine with that.

AWK: What’s one thing that people might not believe today about the first World Cup in China 20 years ago?
AD: I think people would be shocked that even back then there were huge crowds. Of course, I think the Chinese made sure, I think it was part of a long term bid to get the Olympics. I think they did a great job organizing the event, even though we knew the people in the stands knew nothing about soccer, I think they were certainly happy to be there. What was also kind of amusing to us is that different sections of the stadium were forced to root for different teams. All of a sudden we’d do something well and there would be an eruption from one part of the crowd, then the other team would do something and the other side would erupt. The Chinese did a very good job organizing and legislating that event. I think the modern fan would be shocked at how filled the stadiums were, but also how one-dimensional that filling was because most of them were probably forced to be there by the Chinese government.

AWK: Obviously, you’re still on the inside a little bit, but how satisfying is it to see the growth in women’s soccer since you started to today?
AD: Well, I thought this was a very important demarcation for us because we’re in a real fight for world supremacy, not just for the event (2011 World Cup), but for all time.
Honestly, the Germans had won the last two, we had won two, so this was almost like the rubber match. This was in Germany, so I really felt with how strong the German team was, and how well organized their soccer culture is and with their commitment to the event that we were going to struggle to dominate them.
So to see us alive and the Germans eliminated, this is our chance to win the rubber match, so I think from that perspective, if we do win this could be a significant historical victory, and put us in a very unique position in women’s soccer history.

AWK: If Brazil had beaten the United States, there would have been four men coaching in the semifinals of the World Cup. Did you think that might not be the case by 2011 a few years back?
AD: It doesn’t surprise me. I think there are a lot of capable men out there coaching elite teams. Two coaches in particular did a significantly good job at the World Cup. I thought (Tom) Sermanni from Australia made it very hard for teams to play against him, even though he’s got a tiny player population to draw from. So I think that was a signficant coaching achievement watching the Australians play, even against Brazil. They made it very hard for Brazil.
I thought the French coach (Bruno Bini) was brilliant. I thought that team was a revelation. I thought watching them compete was incredibly exciting, and I’d like in a public forum to express my respect for what he’s done with that French team.
I don’t think having three men out of four in the semifinals is a negative, and also – as a tribute to Japan – their evolution in their technical development in a very short period of time is nothing short of miraculous, so the Japanese coch (Norio Sasaki) and his staff, and also from what I understand Tom Byer, an American who I think has contributed significantly to the Japanese women’s soccer culture, should be lauded.
Having said all that, I like a lot of the stuff that Pia (Sundhage) has done. You can see the legacy she’s leaving with us already is the technical platform. I think our players are more skillful. I think looking at Rapinoe’s serve into Wambach and Cheney’s serve into Wambach in the semifinals, I think the technical platform she sets for us has taken our soccer culture to a different level.
This was shared to me by Marcia McDermott, about how much time Pia will commit to a crossing drill or a fundamental technical drill, and I think all of us in the coaching profession could learn from her and her patience with the American players’ technical development.

(Question I forgot to ask: Pia Sundhage, Silvia Neid, and Carolina Morace all played – and scored – in the 1991 World Cup. Would have like to gotten Anson’s opinion on them as players. D’oh. Next time.)

AWK: You were in Germany at the beginning of the tournament, correct?
AD: I saw the first two U.S. games, North Korea and Colombia, live, and then I came back to the United States.

AWK: How hard has it been to follow and stay in touch since you’ve been back?
AD: Actually, it’s easier to watch from here for me because of the tremendous commitment ESPN has made to coverage of this event, so honestly it’s a lot easier because I don’t have to fight the crowd or traffic or parking, so – to be completely honest – even though I thoroughly enjoyed both of those games live, it’s much easier to follow a world event when it’s covered with the sort of commitment ESPN has dedicated to this event.

AWK: You’ve mentioned part of an answer to this before, but in 1991, Japan got outscored 11-0 and you blew them out. France wasn’t even in the tournament. You alluded to it before, but what have those two countries in particular done right?
AD: The thing I really like about watching France is it’s not just the technical platform that they’ve demonstrated. They had a nice combination of the way the Japanese play, which is excellent technique and possession, but also the way classic U.S. teams play, with dynamism, with speed, with movement, and with commitment to the attack. So, I’ll be completely honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a new world order now thanks to the French and the Japanese.
And the thing I like about the French is that they’re playing a style that we (the United States) are also very capable of playing, sort of a flashing, swashbuckling attack with great athletes, commitment to players forward, while also keeping wonderful technique.
I must say, for a paying spectator, I would certainly continue to pay to watch the French play, they were really enjoyable and I want to tip my hat to the French coach and all of his athletes and their federation for giving women’s soccer in the world another reason to turn the game on.
And also the Japanese, it’s extraordinary. For a culture with a tiny player population and also a small physical stature, and very average athleticism, I mean they certainly don’t have the speed of the United States or the French, or even the Germans. For them to be in the final is a credit to their gritty athletes and their coaching staff. I want to tip my hat to them as well.

AWK: What does that mean to the United States going forward? Obviously, they’re in the final, which is great, but do you think you’ll see a more technical United States going forward?
AD: Yes, I think what a world championship (World Cup) does for the coaching population of the world is set a new bar and a new standard, and I think we’re all going to benefit from this World Cup.
It’s been fun to watch. The teams that have won have won the right way, with technique, but also – like the French – with a slashing kind of attacking furor and tactics, so I think a lot of people are going to study this, certainly the Japanese and the French, and I think fortunately they’ll continue to study the United States.

AWK: And I’ve seen you say in interviews, even recently, as you just said to me, about the tactical stuff changing. Does that or will that change anything you do at North Carolina?
AD: I think none of us can spend enough time on fundamental technical training, and I think that Pia has drawn that example for us. But I also think the French have thrown the gauntlet down because their fundamental technical training is also done with a functionality at top speed, which I also think is very exciting and dynamic.
So I think we can learn a lot from a lot of these cultures and what they’ve done, and I think this World Cup has been a tremendous example for all of us in the coaching profession.

AWK: When Heather (O’Reilly) missed the Sweden match, it was the first time in U.S. history there were no starters from North Carolina in a national team game. Did that hurt, or was it inevitable?
AD: Of course, we were all joking about it, that that’s what you get when you don’t play any Tar Heels (the U.S. lost the match 2-1). But it was going to happen some day.

AWK: Have you talked to Heather or Tobin (Heath) at all in Germany?
AD: No, we’ve waved to them from the stands and we’ve gotten the thumbs up from them. We’ve tried to text them, but my guess is Pia – appropriately – has told them to shelve your cell phones or something. They’re trying to protect the players, and they should. I’m getting more e-mails back from Tobin’s father than Tobin, but it was certainly a pleasure to watch Tobin play and to celebrate with Heather O’Reilly’s fiancee who was in the stands with us.

AWK: Where will you be watching the final?
AD: I don’t know, I fly back from Denver on Sunday and I’m hoping I’m not caught where I don’t get to see some of the game. But rest assured that if I miss it live, the greates invention of our era is TIVO, and when I get home to Chapel Hill, I’ll watch the whole game in its entirety.

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