CHICAGO, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Pia Sundhage, considered one of the world's top players during her a 22-year career, has been hired to coach the U.S. national women's soccer team.
Sundhage, 47, is the first foreign-born person and second woman to lead the U.S. women's team. She had 71 goals in 146 international games for Sweden. She has held several coaching positions, most recently as assistant coach for China in the 2007 World Cup. She was given a contract through 2008 by U.S. soccer officials.
"Pia is a highly accomplished player and coach with the vision to guide our women's national team into this next phase," U.S. soccer President Sunil Gulati said. "She brings a fresh perspective and a tremendous amount of experience to the job."
Sundhage replaces Greg Ryan who was released after the World Cup where the United States finished third. Ryan was 45-1-9 as the U.S. women's coach. The lone loss was in the World Cup semifinals where Ryan made the controversial decision to change starting goaltenders.
