TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

American Women Stunned In Soccer

ADVERTISEMENT

New York Times News Service

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 7, 2008

QINHUANGDAO, China - When Pia Sundhage became head coach of the U.S. women's soccer team late last year, she serenaded her discouraged players by singing "The Times They Are A Changin'."

Apparently they are not changing quickly enough.

The first appearance by the Americans in a major international tournament under Sundhage ended badly Wednesday with a 2-0 loss to Norway in an opening-round match of the Beijing Olympics.

This tournament was supposed to serve as a redemptive moment for the United States after a disappointing third-place finish at the 2007 Women's World Cup and the heavy-handed banishment of goalkeeper Hope Solo after she criticized her benching in a 4-0 semifinal loss to Brazil.

But the Americans entered the Olympics without their most forceful player and leading scorer, forward Abby Wambach, who fractured the tibia and fibula in her left leg last month. In Wambach's absence, her teammates seemed nervous and uncertain to open the match against Norway. Early on, they lacked energy, confidence and cohesion, and were stunned by two goals in the first four minutes after clumsy mistakes by Solo and Kate Markgraf, one of the team's most experienced defenders.

Winning a gold medal without former Gator Wambach seemed a long shot. Judging by Wednesday's awkward performance, it appears all but impossible now. The Americans asserted themselves in the second half, and outshot Norway overall, 20-12, but the resurgence produced no goals, only postgame talk of encouragement that seemed more forced than earned.

Even if the United States advances after facing Japan and New Zealand in the remainder of group play, without rapid improvement the Americans would seem to have little chance of getting through the knockout phase of the tournament against such potential opponents as Germany, Brazil and North Korea.

The Olympic opener began on a misty, foggy night in a sparsely populated stadium in this seaport of 2.3 million residents, located northeast of Beijing. Quickly the evening turned even gloomier for the United States.

In the second minute, Solo came off her line to punch away a pass that was chipped into the penalty area. There is no margin for error on such a play. If a goalkeeper goes for the ball, she must clear it. This time, though, the only thing Solo seemed to punch was teammate Lori Chalupny's head. Left free, Norway's Leni Larsen Kaurin headed the ball into an empty net.

Two minutes later, Markgraf made a soft back pass that was intercepted on the right flank by Norwegian forward Melissa Wiik, who outran Christie Rampone and blasted a superb shot inside the left goal post from 16 yards.

"You can't do that in this tournament," midfielder Heather O'Reilly said. "I think we came out a bit flat."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT