"We try to work hard some days and other days it's easy. It's not hard work every single day. It's a high level of concentration every day, but not physically hard, because we'd just wear team out,” Coach Tony DiCicco said later. “It wouldn't be fun to play and it's gotta be fun to play."

Of course, fun part of soccer is playing game, executing what you've practiced and defeating your opponents.

The next day team took on Brazil in an exhibition game.

I had passes that allowed me to be on field during game to shoot photos and to interview players after game (The other photographers there looked at me as if I was just tagging along with my dad, but really, my dad was tagging along with me!

At that time, Mia Hamm had already tied record for most international career goals at 107. The players, media, and more than 10,000 fans, were expecting her to break record that night. She had an opportunity to do so early in game, but goalie saved it. Right at end of first half, Mia shot and scored record-breaking goal. I was standing 15 feet away from her! AWESOME!!! After referee blew whistle for halftime, Mia was interviewed by ESPN. As she was going into locker room, I stuck my hand out and she slapped me a high-five!

During second half, U.S. scored two more goals. The last goal was a set play exactly way they practiced day before: one player crossed it from left side over goalie to another teammate who headed it back to middle, where Tiffeny Milbrett converted easy shot from five yards out. That's what practicing is all about!

After 3-0 win over Brazil, I was with a pack of reporters and used my tape recorder to capture Mia Hamm's comments about her record-setting 108th goal.

"It was a great ball coming from Cindy Parlow's one- touch pass. She touched it outside because I was running forward. I didn't touch it very well, and I thought I was leaning back, but I guess I hit it right through her legs, so I was lucky this one got through," she said.

"It means a lot to me right now, but it will probably mean even more once I stop playing and look back on my career. I just love fact that I could be here and share it with my teammates - they're a big part of all these goals,” Hamm said. “The fact that they all ran out on field was awesome. They were telling me how proud they were of me."

She signed my Mia Hamm jersey, as well as my copy of her book, Go for Goal. I also had a binder signed by most of other players.

Coach Tony DiCicco was sitting on stairs eating pizza so, between slices, I asked him to sign binder too. I laughed when his assistant said, "Here's head coach of best women's team in world, eating pizza on some stairs."

After he finished his late dinner, coach talked about what makes a national team. "I look for players with character, players that I can trust when we're not together as a team, they're going to work hard even by themselves," he said. "I also look for players that have a special quality. Maybe they're fast, maybe they're leaders, maybe great headers on ball, but they have to have a special quality. When you get all those qualities together, you can kind of piece puzzle together."

So now you know what it takes to be a world-class athlete. If you want to become one, get to work!

Shouldn't you at least take a peek at your opponent, maybe out of corner of your eye? No: “You are not trying to hit him. You strive to miss him. Therefore, since you must watch what you strive to hit and not follow what you only wish to miss, keep your eye on ball, and let your opponent take care of himself.”

Tilden provided a chart in The Art of Lawn Tennis, a very simple one, but one that I hope you will commit to memory. It looked something like this:

A—1—2—3—4—B

Imagine a ball passing from point A to point B, with you as receiving player at B. According to Tilden, it can be taken as a scientific fact that if you keep your eye on ball throughout its flight, your chance of making a good return is five times as great as it would be if you took your eye off ball at point 4 (4/5ths of a second of its flight). Furthermore, your chance is ten times as great as it would be if your removed your eye from ball at point 3 (3/5ths of a second of its flight).

Tilden wrote: “The average player follows ball to 4, and then he takes a last look at his opponent to see where he is, and by so doing increases his chance of error five times. ... Remembering 85 percent errors in tennis, I again ask you if it is worth while to take risk?”

Keeping your eye on ball is a good practice not just because you make fewer errors, but also because it strengthens other parts of your game through developing habit of concentration. As Tilden humorously explained, “It tends to hold [your] attention so outside occurrences will not distract. Movements in gallery are not seen, and stray dogs, that seem to particularly enjoy sleeping in middle of a tennis court during a hard match, are not seen on their way to their sleeping quarters.”

So there you have it – one-fifth of a second that can make all difference in your tennis game. It can truly be magic moment for you, IF you cultivate discipline to keep your eye on ball not just occasionally or even most of time, but during every single shot.

P.S: Bill Tilden's The Art of Lawn Tennis is in public domain, which means you can find it and read it online for free. I highly recommend that you do so. Although his references to events and personalities are of course dated, his playing advice is timeless.