The U.S. Olympic women’s soccer team completed six months of training for the Athens Olympics with a spirited 3-1 victory over China before 15,000 fans at Rentschler Field. Nine yellow cards were issued in a physical tussle but there were some superb plays on both ends of the field for the Americans, who are looking to earn their first gold medal since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Veteran star Mia Hamm had a goal and two pretty assists while 5-foot-10 youngster Abby Wambach had a goal and one assist. Her 14th goal of the year was an outstanding head ball that sailed across the goal mouth into the far end of the Chinese net with 21 minutes left in the contest.
Hamm had a sharp back pass with her left foot in front of the Chinese net to a wide-open Aly Wagner, who drilled home the first goal of the day with 14 minutes gone in the game. The U.S. took a 2-0 lead when Wambach took a long pass from the U.S. midfield on a 2-on-1 breakaway. She passed it over to Hamm, who fired home her world-record 151st career score.
“We created some very good chances and we did some very good things out there,” Hamm said. “The defense played exceptionally well. The midfield made some great skip passes up front.”
Earlier in the first half, China’s Han Duan lofted a shot from the right over the head of U.S. goalie Brianna Scurry but American defender Cat Reddick was ready on the goal line and booted out the shot with one swift kick.
The U.S. outshot China, 20-6 and had a 10-5 advantage with shots on goal. Added Lilly, “It was a great sendoff for us.”
“It could not have gone better," said U.S. head coach April Heinrichs. "Everybody played well. I liked the way we attacked and went at China with courage and confidence. When you can play aggressively and with that kind of confidence against a team that is as strong as China, it's a really good sign moving forward."
Wambach, the American’s leading scorer this year with 14 goals and seven assists, wasn’t satisfied through. “We have a lot to prove,” she said of the pending Olympics. "We're ready and I think everybody on the team knows that we're ready."
In the last two major international tournaments, the Americans have come up short. They fell to Germany in the semifinals of last year’s World Cup championships before taking third against Canada. And in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, they lost in overtime to Norway in the gold medal final.
Lilly, Hamm, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain and Joy Fawcett are the only remaining members left from the 1991 World Cup championship team. Those five won gold in Atlanta in1996 along with goalie Briana Scurry and forward Cindy Parlow. The remainder of the squad is young and without a major championship.
“Once you experience winning the gold, it is amazing,” Lilly said. “I want some of the players who haven’t won the gold to get to experience what it is like. It is an amazing feeling.”
The players did have to contend with humid conditions at Rentschler Field. “I felt like I had lava flowing out of my head,” Foudy said to her teammates at halftime.
Ready to go for the gold
Hamm has goal, 2 assists as U.S. stops China in final Olympic tuneup
Notable
n Mia Hamm scored her 151st career goal to extend her own world record.
n The crowd of 15,073 was the second-largest of the 2004 season for the Americans, second to 17,805 in Albuquerque, New Mexico on May 9. It was the largest crowd to see the U.S. team play in Connecticut.
n Abby Wambach (14 goals, 7 assists) is the leading scorer for the U.S. this year while Mia Hamm (7 goals, 12 assists) leads the team in assists.
n It was a physical game with nine yellow cards – five for China and four for the U.S. There were 15 fouls called. "I think it was just two technical teams out there," said Hamm. "One of the things we respect so much about China is how clean they are technically and how athletic they are. You have to commit to tackle sometimes, and when they're as skilled as they are, they slip your tackles and that leads to contact. But at the same time, I don't think it was anything dirty. There was no malicious intent involved, just two teams playing hard."
n The U.S. team has four players with over 200 appearances (caps) that played Sunday – Kristine Lilly (276), Mia Hamm (260), Julie Foudy (256), Joy Fawcett (233).
n The U.S. is 3-2 in Connecticut, having gone 2-2 at New Britain’s Willow Brook Park. Before Sunday, the last time the U.S. team played in Connecticut was 1997 against Canada.
-- GERRY deSIMAS, JR.
USA vs. China
Rentschler Field; East Hartford, CT
Date: August 1, 2004; Kickoff - 3 p.m. ET
Attendance: 15,093
Weather: Hot, humid; 80 degrees
United States 2 1 -- 3
China 0 1 -- 1
USA - Aly Wagner (Mia Hamm) 14th minute. USA - Mia Hamm (Abby Wambach) 33rd CHN - Fan Yunjie (Han Duan) 49th USA - Abby Wambach (Mia Hamm) 69th
