One solution, Heinrichs believes, is to accelerate the development of female players in the United States by having them play up in age as they advance through the club and national-team systems and by having them play more often against boys, who tend to be faster and stronger.

“When people say the gap is closing, I would say the gap has closed and we’re falling behind in these areas,” Heinrichs, 51, said of the disparity between the United States and other countries.

Perhaps no one can match her breadth of experience in American women’s soccer. Heinrichs won three N.C.A.A. championships while playing at North Carolina. She served as captain of the United States team that won the inaugural Women’s World Cup, in 1991. And she coached the American team to a gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, a silver at the 2000 Sydney Games and third place at the 2003 World Cup.

Heinrichs was the first female coach of the women’s national team and the first female player elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame. She is convinced that American determination, fitness, hustle and competitiveness must be broadened with accelerated development of technical skill if the United States is to keep pace with teams like Germany, France and Japan, the defending World Cup champion.

“We think players on an elite track that aspire to be women’s national team players one day should self-select and play up earlier,” Heinrichs said. “If more players and more club coaches saw the value in having their players in the most challenging environment that she could have on a daily basis, they would see how much faster she would grow.”