Five of the first six players selected yesterday were Chinese national team players who signed with the WUSA after the foreign draft. Sun Wen, the superstar Chinese forward, went first to the Atlanta Beat.
Dagny Mellgren, the Norwegian midfielder whose golden goal ended the U.S. National Team's gold-medal hopes in Sydney, went fifth to the Boston Breakers, the local franchise that has yet to determine whether it is playing at Tufts or Foxboro.
The first collegiate player selected was seventh pick Anne Makinen, the Notre Dame star who scored the game-winner in the Irish's 2-0 Sweet 16 win over Harvard in November. The 2000 Crimson finished the season ranked 18th in the nation in the final soccer coaches' association poll, which came out last week.