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Kristine Lilly

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Olympic medal record
Representing  United States
Women's Football (soccer)
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta Team Competition
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney Team Competition
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens Team Competition

Kristine Marie Lilly (born July 22, 1971 in New York City) is an American soccer player, who has been a fixture on the U.S. women's national team since 1987. She grew up in Wilton, Connecticut.

Kristine attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she won the Hermann Trophy in 1991. Interestingly, her first cousin Derrick Lilly also attended North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There, he led the Tar Heels to back to back National Championships in 1992 and 1993.

Kristine is known for her work ethic and her longevity in the sport. She surpassed the previous women's world record of 151 caps, held by Norway's Heidi Støre, on May 21, 1998. On January 30, 1999, she surpassed what was then the men's record of 164 caps, held by Adnan Al Talyani of the United Arab Emirates (the current men's record is 181). After the US women's win at the 2004 Summer Olympics, she had played in 282 international matches, more than any other player (male or female) in soccer history. As of Team USA's final 2005 match on October 23, she had made 299 international appearances. On January 18, 2006 Lilly made her 300th international appearance in a game against Norway, a world record for both men and women (in the same match, she equaled Michelle Akers for second place on the team's all-time goal scoring list with 105).

Unlike several of her longtime teammates, among them Mia Hamm, she did not retire after the team's "farewell tour" of the USA, which finished on December 8, 2004. Currently (July 15, 2007), her record stands at 328 caps, with 123 international goals scored. In 2006, Lilly was named as a finalist for the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year. She finished second in the voting to Brazil's Marta Vieira da Silva. She did, however, win U.S. Soccer's Female Athlete of the Year award for the second year in a row.

Lilly played in the now-defunct Women's United Soccer Association with the Boston Breakers. She currently plays alongside USA teammate Kate Markgraf in Sweden's top division with KIF Örebro.

300th cap trivia

  • Lilly has appeared in a few games in which her caps total was greater than the total of the opposition's starting lineup.
  • Her first cap was in the USA women's 15th match.
  • Her 300th cap was in the USA women's 353rd all-time match, which means that she had appeared in about 85% of all USA internationals.
  • Of her 300 caps, she has made 289 starts.
  • She has started every match that the USA women have ever played in World Cup or Olympic competition.
  • Her total number of caps earned after she moved into first place all time for caps among men or women (135) has been surpassed by fewer than 20 men. Of the roughly 25 women who have amassed more than 135 caps, 12 are her current or former teammates.

Club/Pro Statistics

Year Team League Games
Played
Goals Assists Points
1994 Tyreso F.C. Sweden
1995 Washington Warthogs CISL 6
1998 Delaware Genies W-League 4 5 2 12
2001 Boston Breakers WUSA 21 3 10 16
2002 Boston Breakers WUSA 19 8 13 29
2003 Boston Breakers WUSA 19 3 4 10
2005 KIF Örebro DFF Sweden
totals 63 19 29 67

Championships

Year Team Championship/Medal
1989 University of North Carolina NCAA National Champion
1990 University of North Carolina NCAA National Champion
1991 USA WNT FIFA World Cup Champion
1991 University of North Carolina NCAA National Champion
1992 University of North Carolina NCAA National Champion
1996 USA WNT Olympic Gold
1999 USA WNT FIFA World Cup Champion
2000 USA WNT Olympic Silver
2004 USA WNT Olympic Gold

External links