Photo: Jeffrey A. Camarati, UNC Athletic Comm.
Liviu Bird of EqualizerSoccer.com--one of the best sources for women's soccer news and content that you should now bookmark--tracked down U.S. women's national team coaching legend Tony DiCicco to ask him a few questions about his former player and now new Thorns FC head coach Cindy Parlow Cone.
“She was a student of the game as a player,” former national team head coach Tony DiCicco said in a phone interview. “It’s awesome to have her get this chance. I think she’ll learn a lot, and I think she’ll be really good.”
DiCicco expects Parlow Cone’s learning curve to be short in the new league.
“I think you’ll find that she’ll play a possession style,” he said. “I think you’ll see some of the UNC aggressiveness in her coaching.”
DiCicco is a pretty good authority having led the USWNT to their famous World Cup triumph in 1999--a team Parlow was a key member of.
The article goes on to talk about some of the challenges DiCicco sees Parlow Cone may face in her first season but he remains confident that she is more than up for the challenge.
Bonus tidbit: DiCicco described the first time he and his assistant, and UNC legend Anson Dorrance brought Parlow into national team camp, in 1994. She was training with the U16 national team, and the coaches thought, “Hey, let’s bring that tall, red-headed kid in here. She looks like a player,” DiCicco recalled.
