Abandon Hope and Banish Your Demons

With the US team under full blown media assault over Hope Solo's comments and her exclusion from the team - this was ample time for us to live down to the level of the world's esteem.

Coming off the worst defeat in our history, we were supposed to be overwhelmed by our former arch enemy. The stage set, the editorials had been written and were just idling in the print queue - waiting for the scoreline to loose them into the world.

Memo to the world: Shut. The Hell. Up.

Wambach and crew celebrating her second goal of the match.

Scoreline - September 30, 2007
Norway: 1
Gulbrandsen 63'
USA: 4
Wambach 30', 46'; Chalupny 58'; O'Reilly 59'

The US started looking like the US is supposed to look for a change. The midfield held, the back was solid - and yes, Brianna Scurry was herself again. Lilly spent the first half like a crazy woman, charging in and firing off wild shots like it was personal.

Wambach was her predatory self, netting a clean winner off Chalupny's header and poaching a goal that (by all rights) belonged to Cat Whitehill. Chalupny managed to be in the way and score a third, and O'Reilly's mimicked Wambach's second by similarly nabbing a goal that Tarpley had gift wrapped for herself.

Bashing in four wasn't the big deal, neither was maintaining our too-hyped record of never having finished lower than third - the big deal was that the US showed up as a team and were clearly the best team on the field.

This was not a 'sitting on a lucky deflection goal win' - We sent the Norge home in a bucket - and proved that headlines and controversy are not going to mess this team up.

End of the day, its about playing the game and Rob Stone's crying over Solo's home life has no bearing on what the starting eleven are thinking and feeling. To hell with drama. US soccer fans demand victory and lots of it. It's for damn sure we're not getting a World Cup from the men's team any time soon - so the women have got to defend the national honor.

They did it, and they did it well. Hat's off to them.

As for Solo, she proved herself as a keeper, she just lost it when she was asked to be a team member. If she learns from this experience, you know she'll be a starter again when this teams goes after the gold medal that is rightfully theirs.