Four Teams, One Hotel

The USA, England, China and New Zealand are all staying at the same hotel in Tianjin, which you think would make for some lobby stare downs, but not really. The USA and England are very cordial as many of the players know each other, or of each other, as several England players have played in the USA, including star Kelly Smith. The Chinese were basically incognito today preparing for their match tonight and well, how can you not like the Kiwis? Speaking of New Zealand, they put on an absolutely inspiring performance against China in front of almost 60,000 fans and lost just 2-0. Although they lost all three games, they should return to New Zealand with heads held high. After returning from the game, China got a standing ovation from the hotel staff, and everyone in the lobby, including some New Zealand fans. Amazingly (or maybe not so much), the small contingent of New Zealand fans made even more noise when their team arrived back. Next stop for NZ, Auckland. Next stop for China, Wuhan, and a quarterfinal match-up with Group C champion Norway, which trounced hapless Ghana 7-2 tonight.