U.S. women put aside Colombia distraction
EDMONTON, Alberta — Never mind the infamous punch and the trash talk: The U.S. women’s team says the only motivation it needs for defeating Colombia is the opportunity to move on at the Women’s World Cup.
When the teams met nearly three years ago in the London Olympics, Colombia striker Lady Andrade sucker-punched U.S. star Abby Wambach, drawing a two-match suspension.
Then in advance of Monday’s game against the U.S. in the round of 16 at the World Cup, Andrade made provocative statements about the Americans.
U.S. striker Alex Morgan wasn’t taking the bait.
“Yes, we’ve seen what
Lady said,” Morgan said. “We’ve always respected them. We want to let our actions speak on the field.”
At a pregame news conference Sunday, midfielder Megan Rapinoe said: “We don’t need any extra motivation. This is the knockout round. It’s do or die. We’re ready.”
Coach Jill Ellis said she understands Andrade’s posturing but that it has no impact on the U.S. approach to the match.
Controversial talk
“She should say she’s going to win,” Ellis said. “Every athlete here is an elite athlete. At that level, you should have self-belief in what you can do. Does it derail us? Do we focus on it? No. I just want to win the game.”
Colombia midfielder Yoreli Rincon said her team’s defensiveness about the United States stemmed from things the players had heard following that match at the London Games.
“I believe that they’ve not been able to forget this (the punch),” Rincon said through a translator. “We have.”
The second-ranked Americans finished on top of the so-called Group of Death and drew No. 28 Colombia in the round of 16. A victory over Colombia would move the U.S. to the quarterfinals against No. 16 China, which defeated Cameroon 1-0 on Saturday.
Colombia was the thirdplace finisher in Group F behind France and England. But Colombia pulled off one of the tournament’s biggest upsets with a 2-0 group-stage victory over No. 3 France.
Colombia is making its second World Cup appearance; it finished 14th in 2011 in Germany. But Colombia had never won a match in the sport’s premier tournament until the upset of France.
Wambach has said this is likely her final World Cup. Wambach, 35, told the Associated Press in April that she might put off retirement until the 2016 Olympics but would not decide until after Canada.
She talked Sunday about enjoying the moment.
“This being my last World Cup, I do want to stop and smell the roses at certain moments, and I think that was the last group-stage game I’ll ever play,” she said. “For me, what makes these tournaments so awesome is that every continual game, stakes get higher, the pressure gets steeper.”
Colombia will be without goalkeeper Sandra Sepulveda because of a pair of yellow cards, one against France and the second against England. Sepulveda was key to the team’s victory over France with six saves.
It was unclear going into Monday’s match whether Colombia would use Catalina Perez, 20, or Stafany Castano, 21, in goal. Castano started Colombia’s group-stage opener, a 1-1 draw with Mexico.
U.S. offense a question
How much work the Colombia keeper will have to do is uncertain.
There have been questions about the U.S. offense, especially after just four goals in the group stage. The United States had 14 shots on goal in the group stage, good for No. 11 among the field.
“I think it’s going to come, and we’re building,” Morgan said. “We used those group-stage games as building blocks, and we’re just going to keep getting better.”