Equal pay is just the start. Cindy Parlow Cone has ambitious goals for U.S. Soccer

There are several things that make Cindy Parlow Cone, the president of U.S. Soccer, stand out among the sport's top executives.

She's a former World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist who made 158 international appearances. She was inducted in the National Soccer Hall of Fame and coached the Portland Thorns to a league title in the NWSL's inaugural season. She's a volunteer, running one of the world's largest, richest and most complex soccer federations for free.

Then there's her gender: Of the 211 national federations that belong to FIFA, only nine have female presidents. Yet lost among all those significant and rare accomplishments is the fact that Cone's short reign has arguably been among the most impactful of any U.S. Soccer president.

"When you put a woman at the table," said Julie Foudy, a former teammate, "they get s— done."

Maybe. But Cone, the only woman president in U.S. Soccer's 109-year history, would prefer to think her talents and life experiences have more to do with her success than her gender or playing