Sunday, May 09, 2004

U.S. 3, Mexico 0 (Women's Soccer)

Christie Rampone had another great performance on defense for the U.S. today. She also pushed forward into the attack quite a few times, and served up some great crosses into the penalty area. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite players.

Mexico played a good scoreless first half. They conceded space in the midfield in order to double-team in their defensive end and shut down the U.S. attack. But Mexico could not keep this up for 90 minutes. Eventually, the U.S. created more movement in the offense and scored some goals.

Brianna Scurry was injured on a play where she leaped high in the air to grab the ball, then landed hard on her lower back. No contact with other players was involved.

Heather O'Reilley came in as a substitute in the second half. It was good to see her playing again after the incident last year where she broke her leg in a game against Ireland.

When Lori Chalupny came on in the second half, my initial reaction was, "Who is that?" I don't think I've ever seen her play before. But she scored a spectacular goal from outside the penalty area to put the U.S. up 3-0.

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