U.S. women's soccer team beats Japan, 1-0
OLYMPIC WOMEN'S SOCCER
The defending Olympic gold medalists need only to beat New Zealand on Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals.
The game against Japan on Saturday was 90 minutes long, but all it took was one minute for the U.S. women's Olympic soccer team to win it.
One minute and three exceptional moves.
The first came when defender Stephanie Cox sprinted down the left wing, running onto a perfectly measured pass from midfielder Lindsay Tarpley.
The second came when Cox, starting in the place of the injured Lori Chalupny, cut the ball back sharply into the center, wrong-footing the Japanese defense.
The third came when Carli Lloyd received the pass and struck a ferocious shot that was still rising when it slammed into the back of the Japanese net in the 27th minute. Goalkeeper Miho Fukumoto had no chance at making a save.
It was an excellent goal, and even though the U.S. was not able to add to it, it was enough to earn the defending gold medalists a 1-0 victory and three vital points in Qinhuangdao, China.
The result, combined with Norway's 1-0 victory over New Zealand later in the day, lifted the Americans from fourth place to second place in the group and left them needing only to defeat New Zealand on Tuesday in Shenyang to be assured of a place in the quarterfinals.
Afterward, Lloyd was still fired up by her 18th international goal and her first in Olympic competition.
"Scoring in a game like this was unbelievable," she said.
"It happened so quickly. It kind of came off a cross. Amy Rodriguez tried to go for it and it came over her head and my eyes lit up. I was at the top of the box and just made sure I hit a nice smooth stroke."
The victory evened the Americans' record at 1-1 after a 2-0 opening-game loss to Norway, and in the aftermath Coach Pia Sundhage had nothing but praise for her players.
"I am very happy about our performance today against a very technical, talented Japan team," she said. "Besides a great goal by Carli Lloyd, I am very happy about our tactics."
Sundhage's plan was to throw speed at the Japanese, so she started USC's Rodriguez as striker in place of Natasha Kai and also had the equally fast Heather O'Reilly running at Japan on the right wing.
"The reason for A-Rod [Rodriguez] instead of Kai was her speed," Sundhage said. "That was crucial when we looked at the way Japan plays. She had a specific role to get behind the Japanese defense and she played very well, so I thought it was a good move."
The speed helped pin the Japanese back, but only to an extent. They still managed to produce a handful of excellent scoring chances with some excellent dribbling and approach work, but lacked a proven goal scorer capable of finishing the opportunities created.
Japan, which had come from two goals down to tie New Zealand, 2-2, in its opener, now has to defeat Norway on Tuesday if it wants to avoid being eliminated.
With the victory, the U.S. improved to 18-0-3 all-time against Japan.
"The bottom line is that the team won today," Sundhage said. "I think the more minutes we get together in the Olympics, the better it is. We have 180 minutes now and get 90 more against New Zealand. So we will improve our game from one game to another."
grahame.jones@latimes.com
Jones reported from Los Angeles.
