WORLD CUP SOCCER Reddick steps in to lineup following Chastain's injury

The defender is the lone amateur on this year's squad.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- If Cat Reddick wasn't a soccer player, she might be a debutante.
Or a cowgirl.
She is a soccer player, however, and thanks to defender Brandi Chastain's broken foot, Reddick figures to be a starter for the U.S. team through most of the World Cup.
Reddick, the only collegian on the squad, replaced Chastain at halftime of the United States' 3-1 victory over Sweden Sunday. She played well enough to earn a starting berth Thursday night against Nigeria.
"This is a very difficult team to break into," coach April Heinrichs said Monday. "Cat was the best player on the 2001 U.S. team that played in the Algarve Cup.
"I truly believe we have great depth. As coaches, we tell these players we believe in them, and we do believe in them. In the next two games, they'll truly understand we do believe in all 20 players' ability to help us."
Aggressive play
Reddick's aggressive style on the field and bubbly personality off it make her a perfect addition to a team already filled with such players: Chastain, Julie Foudy, Briana Scurry, Kate Sobrero and Shannon MacMillan, for instance. In 2001, when Reddick first was called up by Heinrichs at age 19, she was in tears on the way to the airport, fearful she wouldn't fit in.
But she fit so smoothly that the senior at North Carolina is the only amateur on the team.
"It definitely is intimidating when you join," she said. "These players are incredible, some with 15 or more years doing this. They're idolized by so many girls -- I was one who did idolize them.
"Now, it's turned to respect. I was definitely worried back then, because I was 19 years old and was afraid they wouldn't want me there or respect me. But they are very accepting and quickly make you a part of the team."
Youngest team member
Reddick, 21, is the youngest member of the team. A native of Birmingham, Ala., she is a former debutante -- a Birmingham Belle -- who also has a love for sports, trucks and "muddin'.
The love for sports comes naturally: Her father played football at Virginia Tech, although both are Georgia Bulldogs fans now. Her love of driving pickups through the mud, well, where did that come from?
"Muddin'? Some people call it off-roading," she said. "We'd do wheelies and get all this dirt on the trucks and it would be looking so cool when you would drive it up to school the next day: 'Hey, look at all that dirt!'
Reddick promises she never wore her debutante hoop skirt to any muddin' outings. Asked if she had her soccer cleats on under the dress, she said no.
"But I could have," she added with a laugh. "I learned all the manners ... a nice Southern belle. I was 17.
"There are a lot of blackmail photos around."
Senior at North Carolina
Reddick says a perfect morning would involve riding horses. She wore a John Deere baseball cap after Sunday's game, a present from her boyfriend. She doesn't hide her allegiance to her favorite college football team, even if she plays soccer for the Tar Heels.
Heinrichs calls Reddick "composed and not easily rattled," and compares her to, yes, Chastain.
"Brandi's loss is a loss, no question," Heinrichs said. "Any team that loses a starter of Brandi's status and ability, you feel a loss. We have players who have to step up, and they did. Cat did. You have to believe they'll continue to."