Portland Rain forward Mimi Osei-Agyemang was recently honored with the opportunity to play for Ghana in the African Women Cup of Nations, which was held in Nigeria in November. I had a chance to talk to Mimi recently about her experience.

Q: How did you find out you were going to be taking part in the African Women Cup of Nations?

"I was called only a week before the tournament, so it was kind of a last minute thing. I had participated in a couple of games in World Cup preparation in 1999 for the Ghana National Team. Needing more strikers, they went looking for players abroad. They were aware I'd been in college in the U.S., and they were also aware I was going to concentrate on academics after having suffered an injury in my sophomore year. But they did know I had been playing occasionally with the Rain, and will be graduating (from Columbia University) in May."

Q: Tell us your impressions of the experience, playing in Nigeria.

It was a really incredible experience. It gave me a totally different perspective. It's fun to play soccer at that level, seeing different styles, and witnessing the evolution of African women's soccer, which is still in its infancy. But playing in Africa is experiencing a different setting than playing in the U.S. I had been to Ghana in 1998 and 1999. But this time, it very was difficult to adjust. I was battling food poisoning, and had a reaction to malaria medication. There were lots of things to overcome that weren't on the soccer field."

Q: How did you come to play for Ghana, having been born in the U.S.?

"My father is originally from Ghana, but moved here 25 years ago. Because of that, I am eligible to play for the national team. There are 3 players in the tournament that had recently come to U.S. to play in college, but I was the only one who was born here. Alberta Sackey (captain, at Robert Morris college), Elizabeth Baidu, and Adjoa Bayor (both at Robert Morris as well) all came back from the U.S. to play in Nigeria."

Q: How much playing time did you get during the tournament?

"I was lucky to get the chance to play in one game, against Ethiopia. I started the game and played until about the last 15 minutes. I had one good chance I would highlight as my best opportunity, attempting what was essentially a bicycle kick, but it went wide. The adrenaline that builds up from playing in a game like that makes you feel like you're Wonder Woman. I think it was a really great experience, and I was satisfied with my performance. I was also satisfied with the amount of playing time. I had only been there a week, and the rest of the team had been in training for months before that."

Q: Did you feel like a bit of an outsider, being the only American-born player, and a late addition?

"I have to give a lot of credit to the Ghana coach, who is a new coach, and really did his best to make me feel comfortable. He helped me to acclimatize as much as possible to conditions. A lot of players on the team have been on the squad for a while, and only five girls were on the squad for the first time. This was not my first time, and I felt comfortable. The first time I played in an international match, I was only 16 at the time. So I have had some experience with the team."

Q: What was your first experience with the Ghana National Team?

"The first time was in 1998 in an international friendly played in Ghana against Nigeria In that first match, we tied Nigeria, and ever since, they call me their good luck charm. I was very happy that I did get to play the very first time I was on the roster for Ghana. Soccer fans in Ghana are very knowledgeable about the game, and they live and die by it. In Nigeria, we played in front crowds of 100,000. It was something else, a truly incredible experience! I feel such a burden of responsibility, given the conditions of their lives, and how much soccer means to them. To be part of something at this level was quite an experience."

Q: Ghana has now qualified for the 2003 World Cup. What do you expect your involvement will be with the team when they travel to China?

"By the time the world cup comes around, I should be pretty well integrated into the team. I've had to make a few adjustments, since they play a different soccer style. American soccer plays a more direct attacking game. Ghana very much plays soccer in the African sense, a more flamboyant attacking style." "The Ghanaian community in Portland is making efforts to bring the National Team here to Portland for World Cup preparation. We are hoping the Rain will adopt them as a sister team. The plans are for several friendly matches over the course of a month against the Rain and other teams from the PCSL. I think the Ghana team would benefit greatly from being exposed to the American style of soccer."

Q: How do you think that playing for the Portland Rain in the Pacific Coast Soccer League for the past two years has improved your game?

"I think it has improved my play tremendously. For me, there are two levels of preparation: Training that you do on your own, and game experience. When you are playing at a high level against competitive teams, that is where the rubber hits the road. Everything you've been practicing doesn't mean a thing until you can play high-level soccer against good players. That experience against good players has been what I needed to prepare, and it's what makes me a better player. I definitely think the PCSL has good players, and most of them have been playing long enough at a high level to play at a decent speed. I had a big advantage in Africa from that experience, because in Africa, there are no youth programs. The growing strength of the leagues for women in the USA will help lock the U.S. team in at the top for a long time."

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

"I just want to give a big thanks to my parents. My dad Simon has been my coach my whole life, and though my mom never played soccer growing up she's done the best she could to be a soccer mom for me. I'll never forget when I was about nine, having my mother Myra, out in the field, kicking and throwing the ball to me." Thanks to Mimi for giving me a few minutes of her time, and good luck to Mimi and the Ghana team in World Cup 2003 in China.