Milbrett was a member of the US-under 20 team from 1990 to 1993, and saw her first action with the
United States women's national soccer team in 1991, against
China. She scored her first goal with that selection in 1992, against
Norway, and helped the team win the International Women's Tournament in
France in 1993. She played a total of 21 games with the senior team during that period, and in 1995, she finally joined the senior team full-time. She was a member of the team that finished third at the
World Cup that year in
Sweden, and in 1996, she became a starter for the team that won the 1996
Olympic gold medal in
Atlanta, scoring the game-winning goal in the gold medal game against China. In 1997, she set a women's national team record with five assists in a game against
Australia, and in 1998, she was a member of the team that won the gold medal at the
Goodwill Games. In 1999, she was the goal leader on the US team that won the
World Cup, and in 2000 she helped the team obtain Olympic Games silver in
Sydney. She was named the
CONCACAF Offensive Player of The Year that same year, as well as
Chevrolet's female athlete of the year. She was also nominated along with Hamm and
Sun Wen for the first ever
FIFA World Player of the Year award, and participated in the 2001
Nike Women's Cup. She also won the Chevrolet Female Athlete of the Year Award for the second time in a row in 2001. She stepped away from the national team in December 2003 due to philosophical differences with manager
April Heinrichs. Milbrett preferred a more creative style of play to which she was more accustomed from her time at the University of Portland, while Heinrichs favored a more tactical brand of soccer which valued speed, athleticism and versatility. She argued, "My philosophy about the game, for instance, is that you have players out there who really do different things. You can't ask every player to do the same thing. That's why we have amazing midfielders, defenders, forwards and keepers. You can't ask them to be of the same mold." After Heinrichs resigned in February 2005 and was replaced by
Greg Ryan, Milbrett returned to the national team, and finally earned her elusive 200th cap on June 30 in a
friendly against rivals
Canada in
Virginia Beach, Virginia. Her 100th goal came in Team USA's next match, a friendly against Ukraine in her hometown of Portland at
Merlo Field.
International goals ==Coaching career==