U.S. Women Earn Olympic Berth

Americans will defend their Olympic crown

Goalkeeper Hope Solo (in purple) celebrates her team's win against Costa Rica, which qualifies them for the 2012 Olympics. (Ben Nelms / Reuters Photo)

The U.S. women’s soccer team proved once again why they’re one of the best in the world last night. After a slow first half where the U.S found themselves up by only a goal over Costa Rica, team captain Christie Rampone told ESPN’s Julie Foudy that the biggest concern was trying to stay calm.

“We went into the locker room saying just breath, stop panicking, and don’t let our emotions get the best of us. Just play the U.S.A. way and start finding a rhythm,” Rampone said afterwards.

The U.S. came into the match with 15 first half goals in the past three matches. Last night’s game was a different story.

“It was obviously a different score for us, but I don’t think we came out with the same mentality we did the past couple of games. But we masked it. We weathered the storm,” Rampone said.

And the U.S. did just that. Tobin Heath scored in the 16^th minute to give the American offense an early edge, and they never looked back. Both Carli Lloyd (72^nd) and Alex Morgan (89^th) added goals of their own in the second half to clinch a ticket to the London Olympics this summer with a 3-0 win over Costa Rica.

“It’s exciting especially for some of these younger players who haven’t been to an Olympics,” forward Abby Wambach told Foudy. “The thing about this team that people don’t understand is that it’s not going to be one player scoring goals or one player saving goals. This is a full completebench. I’m just so proud and excited for us tonight.”

Without Krieger

The U.S. were without outside back Ali Krieger who tore her ACL and MCL late in the first half against the Dominican Republic on January 20^th. Krieger is expected to be out for 6-8 months and will most likely be watching the London Olympic games from the sideline. Wambach said the team understands what a big loss Krieger is.

“Ali Krieger’s a great player and she’s on some level irreplaceable. But we have to replace her. We can’t dwell on it. We have to move forward. I know she’s going to get surgery in a couple of weeks and who knows maybe she’ll be back for the Olympics. But this is a full team. We’re not just one player and one player won’t define us,” Wambach said.

Although Costa Rica is ranked No. 41 in the world, they played last night as if they belonged with the U.S.  Las Ticas, who have never qualified for an Olympics or a World Cup, had two great scoring opportunities in the first half that may have changed the game if they had capitalized.  But, once again, the Americans managed to hang on. The U.S. heads into the Olympics as two-time defending champions.

Friday’s win also seals a spot for the U.S. in tomorrow’s tournament final against Canada who beat Mexico 3-1 in the semi-finals. And this time around, the Americans already know their fate for the summer: London bound.