Head wound

Match result below picture. You were warned.Abby Wambach doing her best impression of Brian McBride.

What is it with the US and World Cup head injuries, anyway? Yeesh.

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Scoreline – September 11, 2007
USA: 2
Wambach 50'; O’Reilly 69'
North Korea: 2
Kil 58'; Kim 62'

The North Koreans have yet again arrived from their training base on Mars to show us they can play soccer when they really want to.

This latest crop fields two fifteen-year olds and a number of veterans from the same team that won the U-20 World Cup by thumping China 5 to nothing.

They are bizarre and secretive to be sure, but they are plenty talented and the US was lucky to get out of there with a draw.

Wambach was her usual damn-the-torpedoes self, bashing in a goal using her injured foot and celebrating like a maniac - but her aggressive tactics also netted her the aforementioned head wound. Our coaches’ devotion to having her on the field for the duration cost us six minutes without her while they stitched her up. Playing ten on eleven is never good – and I’m sure I was not alone in wondering how long it takes to slap on an ugly bandage and get back on the field.

Wambach’s absence was a possible factor in the North Koreans banging in two goals, but I would put the blame squarely on Hope Solo for the first goal. She totally had blocked the shot – until she let it go through her hands.

Could happen to anyone, and she’s a solid player- but Foudy was right: at this level, a goalkeeper in wet conditions knows to take extra care to be behind the shot, instead of under it. Solo had the time to be either, and she let in a ball that should have been a routine save.

The second goal was a lot more troubling. Our defense is usually so organized at the back, but prior to Kim’s goal we were positively flailing. Scrambles in the box can be pretty cruel but watching the replay of Shannon Boxx’s abysmal non-clearance made me think I was watching Argentina again. Don’t think, flail – and she did. The ball landing nicely in front of DPK’s Kim, who smashed it past the hopeless Solo.

The real problem was that we didn’t own the midfield like we usually do. I’m not expert enough to know for certain – but it looks like we’ve been expecting our three midfielders to carry the day and they just weren’t. The historically vast gulf between our talent and the world’s talent has made this easy in the past – but North Korea’s four midfielders were more than able to smash through at will.

North Korea was all attack, all the time and there were times the US was simply getting shelled, flailing out a wild clearance, and then losing possession.

Not a disaster by any means, and the US hung in there to tie – but I’m really curious why you would have Lilly up front with the strikers, when (and all props to Lilly) she’s 36 years old. Attackers should be blindingly fast, physically imposing, or (like Abby) both.

Our combinations going into the box were wild and wasted too many times and with Sweden coming up this is no time to start missing crosses.

Sweden and Nigeria have managed to keep the group level, so the next match is pretty much it for us – go high or go home. The DPK will crush Nigeria, so they’re sure to have four points moving into the Sweden match.

The US has snagged the group of death – AGAIN. And the possibility that our team, the team with a holy terror like Abby Wambach, going home in the first round should be unthinkable.

It is, however, still not impossible.

Arrrgh.