Tuesday, August 19, 2008

U.S. Women v. Brazil--Again--in Gold Medal Match

The U.S. Women's National Team rallied from 1-0 down to beat Japan in the Olympic Semi-finals 4-2. The U.S. will face Brazil, again, in the Olympic Final.

The U.S.-Brazil pairing has much history and the match is sure to be good.

What I like about this Wambach and Whitehill-less U.S. women's squad is that they have proven that they can come back from set-backs. The 2-0 defeat to Norway led to a 1-0 over Japan and a 4-0 dismantling of New Zealand in group play. The U.S. overcame a lengthy rain delay in teh quarterfinal match against Canada to win on a Natasha Kai goal.

In the Semi-finals, the Japanese women played very well (I see the emergence of a team that will regularly compete for Olympic and World Cup honors). But the U.S. came back. Angela Hucles got a brace and Heather O'Reilly and Lori Chalupny got one each.

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