Gapitan World: Natasha Kai Female Football Player

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Natasha Kai Female Football Player

Natasha Kanani Janine Kai (born May 22, 1983) is an American soccer forward currently playing for Philadelphia Independence of Women's Professional Soccer. Kai is of Hawaiian, Chinese, Filipino, and Caucasian heritage. She is very close to her family and says they are her biggest fans.

At 5 years old, she accidentally stepped on a glass bottle and the tendons in her foot were severely hurt. Doctors were afraid she might never be able to run again, but she fully recovered from the injury.

She is also known for her distinctive tattoos. She has 46 tattoos, two being "Sleeve tattoos" on her left and right arms. She has tattoos on both legs, arms, feet, and hands, and on her back, chest, sides, and the front, side, and back of her neck. Along with the tattoos, she also has two lower lip piercings. Her status as both the most electrifying and most physically decorated women's soccer player on the planet catapulted her to media stardom. She was featured on an episode of the hit show "LA Ink" and had a large spread in ESPN The Magazine's "Body Issue."

Kai has openly discussed the fact that she is gay, and was one of only two openly gay individuals on the 2008 USA Summer Olympic Team. During an interview with NBCOlympics.com, Kai was quoted as saying the following:

It was a hard time... I had missed the first camp [under new head coach Pia Sundhage] in early-January because I had bronchitis, and I was going through a nasty break-up with my girlfriend. Then [Coach Sundhage] told me my job was on the line.

Kai was first brought in with the U.S. U-21 Women’s National Team in 2004, and was the leading scorer in the team with 12 goals, including six in international matches. She helped lead the U-21s to the Nordic Cup title in Iceland, scoring three goals in the tournament including two against Germany. She injured her shoulder in her final college game of 2004, then re-injured it again in her first U-21 camp of 2005, necessitating surgery, and did not get called into an U-21 camp until January 2006.

Kai started her first training camp with the full United States Women's National Soccer Team in February 2006. She made her full Women’s National Team debut at the 2006 Algarve Cup in Portugal, scoring in her first two games against Denmark and France, as a substitute. She became just the fourth player in U.S. WNT history to score in her first two caps.

Kai scored four goals in her first seven WNT matches, including the winner in a 1-0 victory over Japan on May 9, 2006. She went on to become the first-ever player from Hawaii to play for the full Women’s National Team and to make a Women’s World Cup Team. She played in 17 games during her first year on the National Team, starting in four matches. She scored six goals, two of them in the 2006 Algarve Cup. She also scored against Japan, Ireland, Canada and Australia. Her goal against the Matildas came in a 2-0 win at the Peace Cup in South Korea.

In 2007, Kai played in seven games heading into the final pre-Women’s World Cup match, starting in four. She had two assists and one goal that came in a 2-0 win over China at the Four Nations Tournament to give USA the tournament title. She was one of the final three players chosen to the 2007 U.S. Women’s World Cup Team.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Kai scored the winning goal in overtime to lead the U.S. past Canada in the quarterfinal round. Kai last played for the U.S. on March 11, 2009 against Sweden. She has not been selected for national team duty since having major shoulder surgery in the fall of 2009.

Natasha Kai Pictures

Gapitan World

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Natasha Kai Female Football Player

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