USWNT:On Final Stretch Towards London

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     The US Women's National team's soccer coach Pia Sundhage has never been one to hide her emotions from the sideline. Monday's game against Japan in Halmstad, Sweden as part of the Volvo Winners Cup gave Sundhage plenty of opportunities to show her enthusiasm. The US handily beat the FIFA World Cup Champion team that has proved to be their strongest opponent over the past year with a 4-1 victory.

     The route against Japan came two days after a 3-1 win over the Swedish National team. The teams were taking part in a pre-Olympic tournament, which featured the top three teams from the FIFA Women’s World Cup last summer. 

     For Sundhage this tournament was a bit of a homecoming for the former Swedish player who spent twenty-one years as a member of the Swedish National team. The US Women did all that they could to ensure that Sundhage only had good memories in one of their final warm-ups before the London Olympics next month.

     After spending several days training in Gothenburg, Sweden the team moved to the southern city of Halmstad for the inaugural tournament. Both games featured a sharp US team that never really struggled to control the flow of the game. 

     Against Sweden forwards Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach had a goal along with midfielder Tobin Heath. Facing Japan a team that the US has struggled to score against, Morgan and Wambach both had two goals apiece. Morgan is continuing to score at a blistering pace in her young career. She now has 17 goals on the year and has had six multiple-goal games this year as well. Wambach simply keeps adding onto her illustrious career as she now has 138 goals, only 20 behind the all-time leader Mia Hamm. 

     Perhaps the most important element from this tournament was the confidence that a win over Japan is sure to bring the players. Since last summer the US has either lost or been held to a draw against their Asian counterparts. However Wambach interviewed after the game tried to keep the win in perspective. 

“Anytime you can beat one of the best teams in the world, it feels good. But this is only the beginning. We know we can play even better. We know there were spells in that game where Japan had a little bit of the run of play and we have to OK with that. The game is evolving, the rest of the teams in the world, they are not only getting better, but getting more confident and more capable on the field. So there are going to be times when they are going to get chances. We had to keep telling ourselves that, especially against a team like Japan, even if that does happen, we are OK. We need to stay patient, wait for your opportunities and when you get them, you have to finish them.”

     The national team now holds a 13-1-1 record for 2012 and is now on the final homestretch towards London. The team has one more warm-up, as they will play Canada on June 30 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. The match will be broadcast on NBC at 12pm MT. 

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