Just Going for a Coffee

When Marci Jobson and Nicole Barnhart headed to the “Old Town” section of Shanghai today, Jobson’s goal was just to get a strong cup of coffee. She ended up going on a shopping spree, buying no less than 12 t-shirts for her nieces and nephews, as well as some other goodies, including some Chinese art. Barnhart got two sets of the ancient Chinese game of Mahjongg, one for her and one for Christie Rampone. The U.S. players have definitely come to enjoy the game after Natasha Kai bought one and taught them the rules. Jobson saw some key chains that had small bats encased in plastic (one of the many “unusual” items you can find in a Chinese market) and thought they would make good gifts for her nephews, but Barnhart talked her out of it. Probably a wise choice, and one that Jobson’s brothers and sisters would likely agree with. Although, how cool would it be to be in middle school and have a bat in plastic on your key chain?

Two Captains

Former U.S. captain Julie Foudy, that’s ESPN’s Julie Foudy, came over to the hotel to today to interview current U.S. captain Kristine Lilly for an upcoming piece. They played some video bowling on camera, and let’s just say these are two competitive women. We can’t give away who won, but let’s just say Foudy was very good at picking up “spares” while Lilly was more of a “strike” striker.

Abby on Studio 90

With the team’s return to Shanghai, the Studio 90 set got a workout today, as Abby Wambach joined the crew for an interview and the infamous Back Four Quiz. Abby talks about the tournament so far, the challenge of Brazil in the semifinal and her very large family. She even pulled a fast one on host Neil Buethe, but you’ll have to log on to find out what it was.

Day Off

Tomorrow is a much deserved day off from training for the U.S. players. Many will spend some time with their friends and family, but the team will try to stay off its feet as much as possible to rest and recover after a tough game against England. There is, however, a brief shopping trip planned in the afternoon because you just can’t buy enough pearls and knock-off purses. Well, maybe you can.

Aussie Heart

And the USA will face Brazil in the semifinals. Brazil defeated Australia 3-2 tonight in what was an extremely gutsy effort for the Matlidas, coming from two goals down to tie the game, only to give up a brilliant score to Cristiane in the 75th minute as she smacked a shot into the upper right corner from the top of the box with five defenders around her. Yeah, Australia only took four shots, but they scored on two of them. Yeah, Brazil was not firing on all cylinders, but they are still Brazil. And yeah, after Australia tied the game, the possibility of holding on for 45 more minutes (through overtime) were slight, but it was a lot better performance than the pundits expected from Australia. And one of Brazil’s goals came after a dubious penalty kick call. This will be the second time the USA has faced Brazil in a Women’s World Cup semifinal, also playing in 1999 on July 4 at Stanford Stadium, a 2-0 U.S. win on goals from Cindy Parlow and Michelle Akers.

Leaving Tianjin

The U.S. team had a relaxing morning in Tianjin, holding a light training for the players who did not play the night before while the starters just jogged and stretched. The team had time for a leisurely lunch and then boarded the bus to the airport for its flight to back to Shanghai. Several players had time to play the ancient Chinese game of Mahjongg that Natasha Kai picked up while shopping. It looks pretty complicated, but apparently it’s some sort of combination of gin rummy and dominoes and the Chinese are always quite amused when they see the U.S. players break it out. During the game, the U.S. team was treated to a performance of a group of lounge singers that would have fit right into Las Vegas. While the singing certainly didn’t make the media interviews that were going on in the lobby too easy, the players playing Mahjongg did enjoy the rendition of Mariah Carey’s “A Hero Lies in You,” singing along during the chorus.

Back to Shanghai

The U.S. team returns to Shanghai tomorrow (today, actually). It’s sort of a home-away-from home now. The team will get a deserved day off on Monday before starting preparations for the semifinal on Thursday. No one is giving the plucky Australians much of a chance against Marta and the Brazilians, but we know Tom Sermmani’s ladies will leave it all on the field. After all, it’s Australia’s first trip to the knockout stage of a Women’s World Cup. They came into the tournament having never even won a Women’s World Cup match. A win over Brazil? It would be one of the great upsets in Women’s World Cup history, but if anyone has a “can-do” attitude, it’s the Matlidas.