Yes!! our American girls remained amazing and outstanding despite the distraction created by Greg Ryan in using Scurry at the cage in lieu of Solo...Perhaps, that move might not have changed the outcome vs Brazil but doing so at the last minute would certainly raised a lot of eyebrows...However, our Ladies stay put..sliding away this noise and outplaying Norway this morning winning the bronze medal for the 3rd time (1995, 2003 and 2007)..

What strucked me was the audacity of Ryan not putting Solo at the cage in the second half..Again, our Ladies ignored that arrogance by beating Norway 4-1..Ambach, O'Reilly and Chalupny were the authors of that victory...I have been up since 5:00am ET to witness greatness of which I was not disappointed for two reasons: 1) America was ranked by FIFA as the #1 seed thus they have to fight to be among the three bests in the World (and the team proved it vs. Norway) 2) America has to prove its resourcefulness, that the team has enough back ups to win....to finish third despite Shannon Boxx's absence..

This is the image the team is striving to convey to its fans and foes..unity, friendship and loyalty or:

This one but preferably with Solo who was the talk of the town despite her alleged absence on the bench/in the stadium.......I am not discounting or minimizing Scurry skills but Ryan's attitude vs Solo was questionable at best..He should have used Solo in the second half in both vs.Brazil and Norway..It remains to be seen how that animosity between the two is going to unfold in years to come as Germany is thinking to a hat trick in 2011 as the host of the WWC...Similarly, the US team is dreaming of becoming the first to win the title 3 times..In the meantime, Brazil is not going anywhere as the team missed this golden opportunity to get the trophy for the very First Time...I am sure they will be back as Marta will be only 25...

The Americans have nothing to be ashamed of....In order to be the best, they have to beat the best...that saga among the soccer powerhouses, the triumvirate( Germany, Brazil and USA) is there to stay and we cannot wait to see them again in Germany  which will be the defending champ for the second time....

There you have it Folks!! What say YOU???

Papipoul

The US women soccer players have increasingly becoming a contender to be taken very seriously in this 2007 WWC in China..Debuting the tournament on a timid note vs the Koreans, they announced to those who  were second-guessing their ambition that they are a group to be reckoned with...They warned Sweden, then Nigeria of their intention to finally outscore the Brits by 3-0 this morning catapulting them to the semifinal joining the soccer power house Germany, and Brazil.  Wambach, Boxx and Lilly made Donovan, Mia Ham, Julie Foudy proud of the mighty American women soccer...By defeating the Beckham's colleagues, the American Girls have increasingly showing to the World they too can master the ball, the passes, assists, possessions and countless trickeries of the Beautiful Game.

The On Song Wambach seems to be also in a mission here as her counterparts Marta and Cristiane of the menacing Brazil.

#20 is the 2007 WWC revelation along with Marta and Daniella..Wambach seeing here after scoring the first goal vs. England.

Here Shannon Boxx US midfielder outwitting Jill Scott from England before scoring the second goal..What an athlete!!! One can see the determination, the conviction on that US#7.

Advancing to the semi-final targetting the big prize, the American girls are going to face either the relentless Germany that has defeated North Korea earlier today or  Norway depending on who wins between the two or the super contender Brazil in final which sent to vacation Denmark this Thursday.or Australia but everybody knows the Aussies are facing the worst nightmare in their soccerlifetime....

#4 Tania of Brazil in a reverse course vs. Julie Bukh #8 from Denmark in a match that ended 1-0 allowing the Samba girls to move to quarterfinal vs Australia tomorrow and....

the famous #10 Marta, Brazil forward sambaing after the 1-0 victory over Denmark will face-to-face  Australia tomorrow in quarterfinal..This WWC is utterly becoming very interesting with the US posing as a threat for the favorites..As the old saying " Hard work can beat talent anyday should talent minimizes hard work" This is a lifetime opportunity for the American girls to show the SOCCER WORLD of what type of white/gray matter they are made of...

GO WAMBACH!!! GO SHANNON!! GO LILLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To be continued.........................................
...........................................

Papipoul