USA 3 - 0 Ingerland

England really came out firing in this game, with the kind of fearless, physical attacking game going right into the teeth of the US defense, like Tyr reaching into the mouth of the Iron Wolf. Unfortunately, they didn't have much sophistication in front of goal, and couldn't finish... Hope Solo (left) isn't telling England how many times they scored. England on both the men's and women's side seems handicapped by strange personnel decisions, and in this game playing a game-changing attacker like Kelly Smith in midfield didn't do much for them. A common feature of teams that under perform in big tournaments is playing some coach's darling up front and pushing out their most talented players, in this case England's lack of midfield depth was supposedly the problem, but Smith was invisible. On the other hand, Karen Carney was all over the field filling holes in defense and taking the ball into the US end, but the current US team gives up a lot of possession and just doesn't allow an end product before whipping back long counterattacks, and Carney rarely got enough space to do anything. The teams that gave them the most trouble were the swarming Koreans who were so quick to get back and prevent counters, and the physical Nigerians.

I thought for a while England's strategy was to have Jill Scott hobble enough players to soften up the US and create some space for England, particularly on one infamous play where she and Alex Scott both went in for the same cross from Carney (for once allowed some breathing room). While Alex Scott was muscled out by Stephanie Lopez, Hope Solo came out of goal and Jill Scott attempted to beat her to the ball with some sort of mistimed Eric Cantona inspired flying kick... she missed the ball but did catch Lopez in the head with her cleat. It was a very physical game in which the refs swallowed their whistles, and despite the ostentatiousness of some of England's fouls (like that flying kick) both teams were about even on that front. The problem is that style of play really works a lot better for a pumped up, athletic American team than it does for the softer side of Europe. At one point when Kelly Smith wrapped up a US defender's arm and pulled her off balance forcing her to stumble, it looked like a subtle, well-executed foul... only before Smith could drag her down the US defender still took the ball away and blunted England's attack. The person who suffered the most was Karen Carney, a diminutive winger who created a lot of England's chances in the games I've seen, but protested loudly as she was pushed around today, while the nastiest aspect of the US game is Abby Wambach's persistent pounding on the opposition until she tears a hole, and she had to love this game.

It was anybody's game until the second half, when the US picked up the pace of the game and outran and out-muscled England, starting with Abby Wambach cracking them open on a set piece. Kristine Lilly floated a ball to the back post where Leslie Osborne made a dummy run, and Abby Wambach having ditched her marker came trailing in behind her, and with no regard for human life went up and over the back of Katie Chapman for the brutal header that put the US up 1-0. In the beginning of the second half, England looked physically and mentally beaten, and minutes later as England tried to start their own attack through Kelly Smith, she received the ball unaware of her surroundings and was dispossessed and taken down for style, and when Jill Scott recovered for England, Shannon Boxx ran right through Scott winning the ball back on the way and taking advantage of the chaos to put a shot just inside the post while Rachel Brown was both sexy in blue and screened by her defenders. The sluggish, confused play continued for England: a couple of minutes later Brown came way out for a ball over her head, misjudged it and ended up only knocking it down for an oncoming Kristine Lilly, who got behind Brown and walked the ball into goal to ice the game for the US. It was just a brutal stretch for England, but it was nice to see somebody other than the Scandinavians and Germans step up in Europe, and other than some brutal lapses England did look sharp.

USA 3 – 0 England
'48 Wambach
'57 Boxx
'60 Lilly

The US goes on to play the winner of the Brazil vs Australia game in the semi-finals, which somebody already told me is Brazil. (I was out of town, I'm a few games behind.)