To Tianjin

The U.S. team traveled from Shanghai north to Tianjin this morning, an easy two-hour flight from a city of 14 million to a city of just 10 million. The team arrived in mid-day, had lunch and went to training, which was fairly light, but sharp. The team’s travel to this venue that will host its quarterfinal against England was delayed a day due to Typhoon Wipha, but today there was no inclement weather at all and the flight to sunny Tianjin went smoothly. Tianjin seems especially stoked for the Women’s World Cup, with tournament signage everywhere, and prior to tonight, the venue had hosted just one match so far, meaning the fans are thirsting for some more games. Tianjin played host to a sell-out crowd of 55,832 tonight that watched China advance to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 win over New Zealand.