A pretty dominating effort by the USA today against China. Whether it was the USA's aggression, the USA's possession, the wind or the fact that China just doesn't play so well in Europe, something took the stuffing out of the Chinese today. Of course, giving up early goals in both halves is never a confidence builder, but all-in-all, a great way to start the tournament for the USA. The USA got four very nice goals: a sublime finish from Lindsay Tarpley (how does she always find a gap to sneak into?), a first-ever goal from Tobin Heath whose youth belies the sophistication of the finish, a fantastic endline dribble from Shannon Boxx leading to a goal by Abby Wambach (and when Abby starts scoring, they come in bushels), then a dribble-shot combo by Carli Lloyd that defines what an attacking midfielder should be. Tomorrow, the team will have training in the morning and then get ready to face Italy on Friday. The Italians lost 4-2 to Norway today, but are a team with great passion and commitment, and feature one of Europe's craftiest strikers in captain Patrizia "The Scorpion" Panico. Let's hope the U.S. backline can make like Meerkats. Because if you've ever watched Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet, you know that Meerkats love to eat scorpions and for some reason, are immune to their sting.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
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As one of the very few fans at the game (more will come for later games I am sure), I'll say that even this glowing report does no justice to the sheer domination of the WNT. It could easily have been 6 or 7 goals. They hit the crossbar twice and had a few other strong opportunities. Nicole Barnhart was called upon to make only one real save by my count (although she also stopped a point-blank shot by an offside striker).
I was most impressed by the blazing speed shown by some of the newcomers. They will torment opponents for years to come.
Also would like to thank the team for being so kind to my daughter when she asked for autographs post-match. No big time football egos here; everyone was extremely kind.
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