Bring on China

"Underwhelmed but not surprising," was how Alexi Lalas described the U.S. 2-0 Round of 16 win over Columbia in Edmonton last night.  A bit harsh, I think.  Team USA did what it took to win and that's always the sign of a good team.

There was an apparent goal by Abby Wambach in the 4th minute that was called back by an offsides.  (Good call.)  Colombian keeper Catalina Perez, who plays for the University of Miami, made three tough saves.  But there were times when it looked as though Colombia might score first.

Never happened and the half ended scoreless.  The toughest moments of the opening half for the U.S. were not injuries (thankfully there were none) or missed opportunities.  Rather they were the yellow cards shown to Lauren Holiday in the 17th minute and to Megan Rapinoe in the 41st,  Because of prior yellow cards each player will have to sit out the China game.  Both plays were fouls but neither deserved a card.

The U.S. got a huge break just two minutes into the second half when Perez came out to challenge Alex Morgan, missed the ball and clipped Morgan's feet, bringing her down.  It was an "obvious goal scoring opportunity" within the meaning of Law 12, so Perez was justifiably sent off, forcing Colombia to play 43 minutes a player short.  To make matters worse, the foul was just inside the penalty area, giving the U.S. a penalty kick.

Surprisingly, Abby Wambach went wide left on the PK, a miss that good have energized Colombia.  It did not and Alex Morgan finally broke the ice with a goal in the 53rd minute.  When Rapinoe was taken down in the box in the 66th minute, Coach Jill Ellis went with Carli Lloyd over Wambach.  Lloyd went right and the keeper went the wrong way to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead.  According to Wambach, as quoted in this morning's Inquirer, "I could have taken it, but that's my punishment. Carli gave me the opportunity to take it and I said, 'No, you get it. Bury it.' " 

So the U.S. is open of eight teams still playing but no one seems overly impressed.  "At times, the best team in the world didn't look that good as a result of the way we performed," Colombia coach Fabian Taborda was quoted as saying said through an interpreter.


Lloyd was a bit more positive:  "I know the goals will come," she was quoted as saying in the Inquirer.  . "We've just got to keep moving forward, keep plugging away, and have the confidence to know that chances will fall."


They may have scored only six goals in four games, but then they've allowed just one, the last one being by Australia 27 minutes into the opening match.  That's 333 minutes of scoreless soccer.

I like the chances against China.