U.S. women's soccer faces a final hurdle before London Olympics
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The U.S. women's soccer team could provide a riveting story line at the 2012 Olympics, given the household names of players like Hope Solo and Abby Wambach and the galvanizing performance the Americans displayed last year at the World Cup.
But first comes the urgent matter of actually qualifying for the Olympics.
Tonight in Vancouver, British Columbia, the U.S. will face Costa Rica in the semifinals of the regional qualifying tournament, and Canada will face Mexico in the other semifinal. Both regional finalists will qualify for the 12-team field at the Summer Games, while the semifinal losers will stay home.
The U.S. has won three of the four Olympic soccer tournaments for women (1996, 2004, '08) and has taken the silver medal once ('00). It seems highly unlikely the Americans will fail to reach London, especially since they have never lost an Olympic qualifying match, winning 11 games and tying one. Their overall record against Costa Rica is 7-0-0, with a yawning goal differential of 34-0.
Employing an attacking 4-2-3-1 formation in this tournament, the U.S. team has buzzsawed through three group opponents by a combined margin of 31-0, defeating the Dominican Republic, 14-0; Guatemala, 13-0; and Mexico, 4-0.
The first two victories came against severely overmatched opponents. But Tuesday's win against Mexico -- provided by a hat trick from midfielder Carli Lloyd -- carried a special significance and a reminder that tonight's match against Costa Rica cannot be taken for granted.
"It's definitely something that's been talked about," said defender Christie Rampone. "There's a lot of emotion still running from the World Cup and past qualification."
Germany, a two-time World Cup champion, has already failed to qualify for London. The further absence of the United States would severely devalue the Olympic tournament.
First Published January 27, 2012 12:00 am
