Hamm retires from women’s game

Legend hangs up her boots

A match between the USA and Mexico in Carson, California has witnessed the end of one of the most glittering careers in international football.

Mia Hamm - named in FIFA’s list of 125 greatest living players earlier this year - played in her 276th and last women’s international. In a career spanning 17 years, she netted a remarkable 158 goals and won two World Cup winners’ medals and two Olympic golds.

Writing in The Times, Peter Lansley reflected on the Mia phenomenon:

“Young girls grew up wanting to wear Hamm’s No 9 shirt and the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) was a sensational if short-lived success. Bend It Like Beckham, the hit film, and increasing crowds for England’s matches helped to accelerate the popularity of women’s football in England, where next summer the 2005 European Championship will be staged at grounds such as Ewood Park and the City of Manchester Stadium. At 32 and with her powers clearly on the wane, Hamm, married to Nomar Garciaparra, the Boston Red Sox baseball player, goes out on a high after helping the US to win the Olympic tournament in Athens.”

Born in Alabama in 1972, Mia is quoted as saying:

“Am I going to miss football? Absolutely, but I just know it’s right. I get pangs in my heart when I call my sister and talk to my nephews or when I see them and they’ve grown another six inches. I want to be part of their lives.”