Women’s World Cup 2011, USA Vs. North Korea: U.S. Grabs Opening Win With Two Second Half Goals

Kim claimed that at least five of his players were injured badly enough to be sent to the hospital following the incident, which took place during training on June 8th:

Nobody’s really sure whether this story is true or not, but if coach Kim isn’t telling porkies - and it’s hard to see why he’d invent the story of his players being hit by lightning during practice - it would clearly have a huge effect on the team if half the players were having to deal with recuperation from said strike as well as a classy second period performance from the USA.

Consistent with their play in the build-up to the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the United States women have looked respectable, but have started slow North Korea, as expected, have been no pushovers, holding strong in defense and forcing the U.S. defense and Hope Solo into some work. The game has been a back and forth affair with neither team keeping possession or creating clear cut chances so far, and the score is 0-0 at halftime as a result.

Pia Sundhage’s decision to start a true striker, Lauren Cheney on the left side of midfield instead of Megan Rapinoe has had its successes and drawbacks. Cheney has been able to get a couple of good shots off, but she’s not the tricky, technical winger that Rapinoe is. With Rapinoe in the lineup, there’s a good chance that the United States would be doing a better job of getting crosses into the box for Abby Wambach to get onto.

Sweden didn’t exactly look their best in their opening 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup game against Colombia, but getting three points is more important than how you look, and the Blågult managed exactly that, winning by a score of 1-0 in which the underdogs truly made them work. The so-called female Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lotta Schelin, was made to look fairly average as the Colombian defense held strong, but they couldn’t manage a shutout or get forward much at all, and they walk away from a decent performance with no points as a result.

Though it wasn’t Schelin’s best game, she was the one credited with the assist on the game winner, as she set up Jessica Lindstrom’s goal. Wait...Schlein didn’t look her best and is catching mild criticism for it, but she was involved in a goal that got her team a win? I guess she did live up to that female Zlatan moniker...

When the U.S. women take the field in Dresden against North Korea in their first 2011 Women’s World Cup game on Tuesday, someone is likely to be playing out of position.

USWNT head coach Pia Sundhage has admitted that she’s considering one change from her regular team, bringing in Lauren Cheney for Megan Rapinoe. Cheney probably deserves to play, based on her substitute appearances with the team, highlighted by her fantastic winner in the United States’ sendoff game against Mexico, but she is not the same player as Rapinoe.

It’s been a rough year for the United States women’s national soccer team. They enter the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup as the No. 1 ranked team in the world, but that certainly doesn’t tell the story of how they got here or where they currently lie in the world’s soccer hierarchy. The U.S. women had to qualify for the World Cup the hard way - through a playoff - and their play has looked less than spectacular. Add in the fact that hosts Germany have won the last two World Cups and it becomes apparent that the USWNT are not the favorites.

They start their campaign against a North Korea side about whom information is not bountiful, obviously, but their history and recent results indicate that they will be a difficult opponent for the United States. They qualified outside of a difficult Asian confederation for the fourth straight time, and they made the knockout stages of the 2007 tournament. The U.S. women will have to be prepared to face a team that is well drilled, well organized, and technically sound.