Saturday, July 2, 2011

United States aims for another World Cup

With two impressive wins over North Korea and Colombia, the United States women's national team is peaking at the right moment as it sets itself up for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinals.

The two wins have secured the team a spot in the next round but the United States has one more match against Sweden on July 6.

The team was questionable heading into the World Cup because it did not qualify for the world's soccer tournament until the last minute with a victory over Italy.

The United States fell to Mexico in its first chance to qualify.

Abby Wambach, who has dealt with injuries in the past and is the team's best striker, did not score in the United States two World Cup matches and only has one goal in the past year.

The worries dangling over the United States have been cleared away as other players like Heather O'Reilly, Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, Lauren Cheney and Rachel Buehler has been scoring and winning matches for the team.

Following the team's 2-0 win over North Korea, the United States continued to shut out its opponents with a 3-0 win over Colombia.

The team has been impressive in the two matches as the offense has been a team effort and the defense has been a collective effort by the U.S. defenders and the team's goalkeeper Hope Solo.

Solo is coming off a shoulder injury and many believed she was going to be unable to block and dive for shots but she has made it clear multiple times that she is fully healthy and ready to play.

The United States women's soccer team is nearly on all cylinders and on the right path to reaching the finals, where they hope to win its third World Cup in Germany.

The challenge remains for the United States because Germany is the country who has won the past two World Cups and beating a champion on its home field can have its problems.

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