Chupa Loop (of Yarn)

During world championship events, the U.S. players have a lot of down time. In a foreign country where the priority, when not training, is rest, hydration and relaxation, the players have hours to kill. They are pretty good at filling that time, but sometimes they come up with creative ways to pass the days. Lori Chalupny has decided she's going to learn how to knit. Nothing complicated like socks or a sweater, she's starting with a blanket. You can see above the beginning of her masterpiece which she hopes to have done by the end of the Olympics. Heather O'Reilly has also brought knitting materials to China, but was hesitant to admit to her domestic streak. O'Reilly does admits that she perhaps lacks natural knitting talent. She's yet to start knitting anything, and says that the first step was putting the yarn into a ball. Mission: Not Accomplished. In fact, Christie Rampone walked into O'Reilly's room and saw yarn everywhere. "Was there a cat in here?," she asked, as strands of yarn were draped everywhere. "I'm off to a slow start," said O'Reilly. We'll check in with the pair (well, at least Lori) to see what progress they've made.

(Not so) Forbidden City

The U.S. team in the Imperial Garden. Think they attracted some attention?

While the U.S. team has played in China many times over the years, the team has never before been to Beijing, so the players will do a bit of sightseeing in the first few days while they begin to acclimate to the time difference. The U.S. team took a tour of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City this morning. The most impressive part about the excursion was the pure size of the square (they say it holds 1,000,000 people) and the ancient palace, which for almost five centuries served as the home of the Emperor and was the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government. It was built from 1406 to 1420 and consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 rooms. You think the emperor could host a few friends? It's now a museum (has been since 1924 in fact) and features the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. The tour, which was all outdoors, featured some very, very hot and muggy weather. Needless to say, the players were drenched as if they'd just trained for 90 minutes, but the walk was excellent in helping with the jet lag and certainly seeing something so ancient and revered was memorable.

Carli Lloyd, Shannon Boxx and Christie Rampone guard this lion which guards the palace

Linday Tarpley, Heather Mitts and Heather O'Reilly in front of the Gate of Supreme Harmony

This pot was used to collect rainwater in case the palace caught on fire. For some reason, big pots are funny

A nice view of the Palace of Heavenly Purity in the Forbidden City

Hello Beijing!

BEFORE in San Francisco

The U.S. team has arrived in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. The team landed at the amazing new terminal on the afternoon of July 24 at about 2:30 p.m. China time after a smooth 12-hour flight from San Francisco (the pilot maybe asked us to fasten our seat belts once due to turbulence). The team was greeted by a gaggle of volunteers, media and other folks who were bending over backwards to welcome the U.S. team to China. A+ to the USOC for organizing the departure from San Francisco and ditto to the Chinese for the arrival. The players then took a short bus ride to Beijing Normal University, where the USOC has set up its home base during the Olympics, and checked into their rooms before having THE BEST first meal in China EVER. Four stars to the USOC and the culinary American experts they have brought in because that was some good eating. Can you see sauteed veggies with penne, garlic and a red sauce? Yum. And that was just one offering. After dinner, the players had a brief meeting with the USOC staff describing the support here at BNU (it's extensive), which will serve as the HQ for athletes and staff who are not staying in the Olympic Village. The USOC has done a fantastic job setting the place up, even though the U.S. players are among the only athletes here so far (along with the boxers). After the meeting, the players went for a walk and several did some jogging or hit the weight room. The team will only be in Beijing for two and half days before heading to Qinhuangdao, the venue for the first two matches, but tomorrow and the next day will be partially filled with sightseeing. Friday will be the Forbidden City and Saturday it's a trip to the Great Wall of China. The U.S. team has been to China nine times since 1998, but never to Beijing, so the chance to see one of the greatest wonders of the world is unique even for this group of China veterans.

AFTER in Beijing

Abby's OK

She's got a titanium rod in her leg, but given the circumstances, U.S. forward Abby Wambach is doing just fine. Still in a bit of pain, yes...but she's feeling well enough to attend her first rehab session today as well as speak with the media via conference call. Click here to read some impressive quotes from Abby as talks about the injury, her confidence in her team and the immediate future. You can also go to the front page of ussoccer.com and click on a podcast of the call. Suffice it to say, Abby is a strong woman, of body and mind, and she has handled this setback with all the grace and professionalism that she has displayed while racking up 99 career goals and leading the USA in scoring in three straight world championships. Let us not forget that the U.S. lost two other important players to major injuries right before the Olympic Team was chosen in defender Cat Whitehill and midfielder Leslie Osborne, both of whom have also dealt extremely well with their injuries. Both Cat and Leslie are already well into their rehabilitation and comebacks. Feel free to post messages for Abby, Leslie and Cat, as well as good luck wishes to the U.S. team right here on the WNT Blog. We are sure they will read them. The team leaves for China on Wednesday, and once we get there and settled, we'll start up the Blog again to keep you up to date on the happenings of the U.S. team at the 2008 Olympics. For now, we're off to Beijing...

Tarp 100!

The starting lineups are in and Lindsay Tarpley is in it. That means that the 23-year-old midfielder will earn her 100th cap today as the USA takes on Brazil. Making it even more special is the fact that Tarpley will earn her 100th cap in the same venue in which she earned her first, debuting at Torero Stadium on Jan. 12, 2003, against Japan. A 23-year-old earning her 100th cap? Well, the U.S. plays a lot of matches and over the past six years Tarpley has played in almost all of them. As is the tradition on the U.S. team, Tarpley will captain the squad today. Tarpley has plenty of experience wearing captain's band, having captained the U.S. U-19s to the World Championship in 2002. Above is Lindsay with her BFF Heather O'Reilly who has 93 caps and will soon follow Tarp into the 100-cap club. Here are today's U.S. starters:

USA: 1-Hope Solo; 17-Lori Chalupny, 3-Christie Rampone – Capt, 15-Kate Markgraf, 2-Heather Mitts; 7-Shannon Boxx, 9-Heather O’Reilly, 5-Lindsay Tarpley, 11-Carli Lloyd; 8-Amy Rodriguez, 12-Abby Wambach.

Official Team Pic

The U.S. team posed for it's official 2008 U.S. Olympic Women's Soccer Team picture yesterday and we might be biased, but we think it looks pretty sweet. These are the 18 headed to China next week in search of Olympic gold. For some video of team pic day, click below.

SOLD OUT! (Almost...)

There will be a packed house at Torero Stadium tomorrow night for the USA-Brazil game as the match will be a sell-out. That means about 7,000 fans will pack into the picturesque venue for the largest crowed ever to watch a women's soccer match in San Diego. There are a few hundred standing room only tickets left and U.S. Soccer has made a few hundred more seats available (sometimes tickets get put back into the system), so a few hundred walk-up fans arriving early should be able to get into the match, but don't be mad if they are all gone. You know what they say, the early bird gets the USA-Brazil ticket. Of course, you can also go to ussoccer.com to try to grab a few through Ticketmaster while they last. Click here. Oh yeah, if you are coming to match PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY. Torero is a small stadium and is not used to holding so many fans so it would appreciate if you got their early to avoid congestion getting into the stadium.