The China Chronicles: The Smiles are Back

It was a tale of two halves on Saturday, but at the end of the night, after a dominant last 45 minutes, the U.S. WNT walked off the field with a 3-0 win over England and into a Semifinal date with Brazil. Whatever the players and coaching staff said or did in those 10 minutes of halftime—change socks, draw something creative on the dry-erase board, switch up the iTunes mix, eat the national team equivalent of sliced oranges—someone needs to take notes for the future. First touches went from hard to composed; chasing on defense turned into sustained possession. It was refreshing to see Abby, Boxxy, and the rest of the team back on its A-game.



It wasn’t necessarily that the first half was that bad—they didn’t go into the locker room down a goal—but there wasn’t the type of confidence and patience we expect to consistently see out of the #1 team in the world. That being said, England did well to dictate the early tempo of the game and showed great intensity. The collision between Stephanie Lopez’ head, Hope’s fist, and English striker Jill Scott’s foot was probably the most dangerous moment for the US backline. But after that, Cat Whitehill, a dazed-but-determined Lopez, Kate Markgraf, Christie Rampone and Hope proved unbreakable.

It’s a soccer truism that the first five minutes of a half and the last five minutes of a half are the most important of the game. That’s either when defenses haven’t solidified and assignments haven’t been realized OR when fatigue sets in and everything that once was, for a number of reasons, goes undone. Maybe Coach Ryan mentioned something about this - maybe not - but the US side went on the attack from the 45-50 minute mark and never looked back.

There was pressure applied all over the field, but especially up top. This won us a number of corners, and like using lay-ups to fix errant jump shots in hoops, there’s no better remedy for an overly excited offense than organized, collected set plays, especially when #20 Abby Wambach plays on your side. When she put that first goal in, her 81st in 100 caps, it felt like the WNT broke through a wall of doubt, one that had been building in the monsoon otherwise known as group play. And then when Boxxy won back possession outside the box and struck the second goal with a powerful left foot, those infamous WNT smiles returned for good. Lilly’s goal, off one of many Cat Whitehill bombs, was the cherry on top. In all, it took 13 minutes. Hey Samba Girls, don’t blink.
It took 13 minutes for the U.S. to score 3 goals...Hey Samba Girls, don’t blink.

Last time the US WNT and Brazil met up, the Americans got on the board early in what would prove to be a very physical match (good thing we have an extra day off). The rap on Brazil isn’t too dissimilar to what we heard about England: Marta, like Kelly Smith, is one of a kind, and as she goes, so goes the squad. Brazil might have a little more firepower up-front though (Cristiane’s GW goal in the quarterfinals was kind of unreal), but a little less size in the back. Could be another big day for the U.S.’s big striker.

Can’t make it to Dragon Stadium in Hangzhou China? Wake up at 7:55 am this Thursday to watch the US take on Brazil, live on ESPN2.