COMMENTARY
USA heads to Beijing without Abby
Updated: 07/21/08 6:38 AM
Yes, the U. S. has revenge on its mind after finishing third in the 2007 Women’s World Cup amid goalkeeping controversies and waning faith in since-disposed coach Greg Ryan. The team is determined to show it’s capable of winning at the sport’s highest levels minus the nucleus of players that fueled the program’s ascent to Olympic and World Cup supremacy: Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly, Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett, Brandi Chastain and Brianna Scurry.
Trouble is, now the Americans have to make their case without Abby Wambach, the physically dominant striker from Rochester who suffered multiple leg fractures last week in the team’s final Olympic tuneup, a 1-0 victory over Brazil. It’s a major setback for the U. S. side. Wambach, with 99 career goals in international play, is the team’s most indispensable player when it comes to both talent and leadership. Lauren Cheney, the 20-year-old forward selected to fill the roster vacancy, herself called Wambach “irreplaceable.”
“I’ll do anything I can to help the team win the gold medal,” Cheney said. “In China, we’ll be playing for our country and ourselves, but also for Abby.”
Wambach’s absence heightens the challenges but by no means eliminates the U. S. from what’s considered a small group of gold-medal contenders. Brazil, runner-up in Athens and the 2007 World Cup, remains formidable and rested key players in a pair of recent 1-0 losses to the U. S., clouding the meaning of the results. Germany, the defending World Cup champion, has a way of imposing its will on the pitch and looms as the Olympic favorite.
China backtracked to 14th in the world rankings over the last decade, but it’ll have home-field advantage and the boisterous backing of a country reveling in its Olympic moment. Sweden and Norway, which was ripped, 4-1, by the U. S. in the Women’s World Cup third-place game, have suffered key loses through retirements and reside on the fringes.
The U. S. has won two of the last three Olympic golds, scoring in Atlanta in 1996 and Athens in 2004. The victory in Atlanta celebrated the program at its apex. The triumph in Athens, secured with an overtime conquest of Brazil, was sheer fortitude. The Americans were markedly outplayed in the final but persevered behind Scurry’s extraordinary netminding, Wambach’s goal in extra time and the intense desire to give Hamm & Co. the ultimate send-off.
This U. S. squad can’t match the experience of the 2004 squad although seven players have played in the Olympics. However, the team headed for Beijing is quicker and more agile defensively, which makes it a better matchup for Brazil. Whether it can muster the grit to overcome Germany without Wambach in uniform could be the determining factor in its quest for gold.
“True champions learn how to deal with adversity better than other teams,” Wambach told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle last week after undergoing surgery, “The team now has an opportunity to regroup and see what they’re made of without me. I think they’re going to surprise themselves.”
She might be right. The U. S. hasn’t lost a match all year. It had won 51 straight before falling to Brazil in the World Cup semifinals. Goaltender Hope Solo, pulled in favor of Scurry for that Brazil game, has a point of her own to prove after vehemently questioning that decision. Wambach or not, they’re not to be written off.
