BEIJING -- The "clutch player" has always held a special place in the hearts of sports fans: Reggie Jackson, Jerry West, Tiger Woods. Then there is "A-Rod" -- no, not Alex Rodriguez. This one is USC's Amy Rodriguez, newly minted member of the U.S. women's soccer team.
She is called clutch because of her knack for game-winning goals, but you wouldn't know it by talking to her.
"I've never really heard the clutch player thing until just recently," Rodriguez said. "When you are playing with a college, you are just trying to make the team better."
Rodriguez, a 21-year-old soccer sensation from Santa Margarita High, has already staked her claim as one of the United States' best goal scorers, whether for the NCAA champion Trojans or for the national team.
"She's one of the fastest players on our team, and I think as long as we can keep putting her in positions to score goals for us she'll continue to do so," Team USA forward Abby Wambach said. "What I've found with Amy is when she gets those opportunities and chances, she capitalizes on them."
Of course, Rodriguez will have those chances after Wambach -- the player whose presence dominated the U.S. women's team, in sheer size at 5 feet 11 and in outsized personality -- broke a leg three weeks ago in the final tuneup game before the Olympics.
The loss of the team's leading scorer in the last two World Cups and the 2004 Olympics means considerable attention will focus on whether Rodriguez can score some of the goals Wambach regularly produced.
The U.S. squad already was without all of its retired legends, including Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Kristine Lilly, who had played on every team since women's soccer made its Olympic debut in 1996.
"You have to be prepared to step up at any time," Rodriguez said after a practice last week at Beijing Normal University, "and I'm ready to do that. Abby is irreplaceable, but I know and my teammates know I have something to bring to the game, and I plan on doing that in my own way."
Rodriguez, a reserve most of this year, could start when the U.S., the defending gold medalist, opens Olympic play against Norway on Wednesday in Qinhuangdao, where the women have been based since leaving Beijing on Sunday.
Speed is what she is all about. And Rodriguez gives U.S. Coach Pia Sundhage a different dimension.
"A-Rod has speed, and she is unpredictable," Sundhage said. "But she is a young player, so she has her ups and downs. Sometimes she plays tremendously well, and sometimes she doesn't have a good day."
