When U.S. women’s national team defender Becky Sauerbrunn was a teenager, she idolized the players on the team she now co-captains. As her teammates and peers so often studied the movements and preparation routines of the game’s best players, Sauerbrunn took her adulation one step further, scrutinizing the mental approach of Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain and other American stars.
Sauerbrunn was drawn to a particular phrase, a two-word expression that she knew the Americans latched onto after winning the 1999 World Cup.
Wholesome discontent.
It was a rallying cry for a U.S. women’s team that had already reached the pinnacle of its sport — an Olympics gold medal, a World Cup championship — yet wanted more.