The USA continues their bid to win their first World Cup since 1999 on Saturday, when they take on Colombia at 11:30 am EST.
If the Americans win and North Korea fails to beat Sweden, team USA will clinch a spot in the knockout stage.
American goalie Hope Solo is looking to continue her rebirth from what happened in 2007. If she plays even reasonably well against Colombia, this should be a pretty easy win for the American team. The USA has the top ranked team in the world, while Colombia is at number 31.
In addition, Colombia has already lost a match, losing 1-0 to Sweden, while team USA was the only team to win their opener by more than one goal, beating North Korea 2-0
That can actually hurt the Americans. Ordinarily, it wouldn't be inconceivable that Colombia will play with more urgency to begin the match, thus making an early lead possible. In a sport where scoring is scarce, an early lead could make all the difference.
But this isn't the first time team USA has been down this road. Sure, they haven't won a World Cup since 1999, but they do traditionally make deep runs. Also, we shouldn't forget that they are the two-time reigning Olympic gold medalists.
Yeah, anything can always happen in sports, but this is not a match that should give the American team much trouble. They don’t have a history of early round complacency and are the far more talented team.
Still, the key to the American victory will be to get off to a good start. No, that’s not really saying that Colombia jumping out strong is a real fear, but the USA was flat for the first half in their 2-0 win against North Korea.
They can’t start slow against Colombia. I mean, how many times can you count on your opponents being struck by lightning? That’s just the kind of thing that only happens once.
In all seriousness, look for Abby Wambach to be more of a key on the offensive side. Solo should do a fine job of keeping shots out of the net; Wambach can have a similar impact in terms of getting shots in the other net.
The two of them are really the key, although the team should be fine even without a good game from Wambach.
Forward Lauren Cheney and defender Rachel Buehler scored the two goals in the first game win. That just really shows the kind of depth that the Americans have and spotlights why they’re the top team in the world.
If all goes to plan, this match shouldn’t be much more than a tune-up for next Wednesday’s match against No. 5 Sweden, and the following knockout stage.
The last thing that they want is to need to beat Sweden in the final game of the group stage.
Nothing can ever be taken for granted in sports, but the Americans should win easily against Colombia. Look for them to try to find an early lead and cruise afterwards.
Kerry Wood Francisco Cervelli Chad Moeller Jorge Posada Lance Berkman Reegie Corona
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