The Day After

While the first U-17 Women's World Cup certainly did not start how the U.S. wanted it to, give full credit to the Japanese who played a fantastic game. Actually, the World Cup did START how the U.S. wanted it to with a goal from Vicki DiMartino less than three minutes into the match, but Japan out-shot the USA 20-11 and scored three excellent goals to earn the win. Each team had seven shots in the second half, but Japan buried two of theirs to one for the USA and now the U.S. team has a hill to climb to make the quarterfinals, but with two group games left, anything can happen. A fact head coach Kazbek Tambi and his players were quick to cite, taking stock in the U.S. Olympic Women's Soccer Team's run to the gold medal after losing its first game of the 2008 Olympics. The team will not train today, but instead will watch some video and then go on a short jog and stretch before getting out of the hotel for a yet-to-be-confirmed excursion of some sort after lunch.