The bloom of women's soccer

Kristine Lilly is -- or should be -- the face of women's soccer.

Lilly was playing as a teenager when the women's game started gaining acceptance and she has transcended generations in becoming the most-capped player in the history of the game. Along with the sheer force of her presence -- Lilly has performed in 323 matches, 90 percent of the US national team's games since the program started in the 1980s -- she symbolizes the athleticism, skill, and aesthetic sense of the sport.

But that meant little to David Heavey and the guys at Station 5 firehouse in Brookline, who saw her walking her golden retriever one September day in 2003.

"I was on break after the [2003] World Cup and I was walking my dog by the station," Lilly recalled while preparing for tomorrow's US-Mexico game at Gillette Stadium. "He saw me and walked across the street and it's history from there."

Heavey and Lilly were married last October, and a few days later she scored the deciding goal as the US defeated Canada to win the Peace Queen Cup in Seoul.

"He didn't know much about soccer," Lilly said of her husband. "He played hockey and golf at UConn. But now he is a soccer fan. I gave him 'Dare to Dream' [a history of the US women's national team produced by HBO] and after that he had an understanding of what I've been through."

Indeed, Lilly's life must seem like a film. Lilly was 16 when she started playing for the United States in 1987. Once the team started developing a fan base, its popularity grew with unprecedented speed. Two months before the start of the first Women's World Championship in 1991, organizers sold 5,000 tickets for a US-Norway match at Tufts University, using a private telephone line with almost no media support. Eight years later, the team defeated China on penalty kicks to win the Women's World Cup before a television audience of 40 million and 90,185 at the Rose Bowl.

US women's soccer rode the wave into the millennium, but in recent years has been brought a little closer to earth. Germany won the '03 Women's World Cup in the United States (the US finished third); the Women's United Soccer Association folded; the US won the '04 Olympic title in Greece. Crowds have decreased -- tomorrow's US-Mexico/Revolution-Toronto FC doubleheader is expected to draw 20,000, the largest domestic crowd to view the team since 2004.

And Lilly, 35, considers all of it as she decides her future.

Lilly moved to Brookline in 2001 as a member of the Boston Breakers. Many of her teammates have retired and started families, and Lilly might well join them after the Women's World Cup in China, though she could remain involved in a revived WUSA next year.

Asked about plans to have children, Lilly replied: "Eventually, when I am done with soccer."

As for her playing plans, Lilly said: "The Women's World Cup is the immediate goal. We want to get there and win again. It's not that we have something to prove, but we want it back. Germany won in '03, we won the Olympics in '04, and we are working hard to get it back.

"Since 1991, it's been a challenge the whole time. When you are playing to be the best in the world, it's never easy.

"Playing against Norway ['91], beating China on penalty kicks ['99], it's never been easy; to be the best, you have to play the best. The level of play is getting better, the game is more attractive, it's more tactical, it's exciting to see. England has qualified for this World Cup and for that to happen in a country in which soccer is male-dominated, they are a team to look out for. African teams are getting better, Mexico and everyone in our region has gotten better. We have some new faces, a lot of great talent and new personalities who we want people to get to know, players like Carli Lloyd, Abby Wambach, Cat Reddick Whitehill, Lori Chalupny, Heather O'Reilly."

The success of women's soccer is a modern phenomenon. But players such as Lilly also represent a throwback to a time when top-level athletes were accessible, they perambulated around the neighborhood, kicked the ball around with youngsters.

"Looking back at things, everything does happen for a reason," Lilly said of her move to Boston. "There is great support for soccer here and the Breakers did well here. We need a [women's] league to provide high-level competition. It's good for our society and we need it for the girls who are playing on the national team."

US-Mexico
What: Women's soccer friendly before Revolution-Toronto FC MLS game

When: 5 p.m. tomorrow

Where: Gillette Stadium

Tickets: $32-$100 (one ticket provides admission to both games)

Frank Dell'Apa can be reached at f_dellapa@globe.com.