U.S. is not afraid to change
Lloyd will be back in the lineup against Colombia after coming off the bench in win over France.
LONDON — With the exception of last summer’s World Cup matches with Brazil and Japan, the U.S. women’s soccer team generally faces few challenges on the field. So Coach Pia Sundhage has tried to foster some of that off the pitch by rotating players through her starting lineup.
“It’s a good team and there is competition,” she said Friday while preparing for the U.S.’s second Olympic match, Saturday against Colombia at historic Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland (NBC Sports Network, 9 a.m. PDT). “I would rather put it like I want to give other players the chance to play. I believe that whoever is in the starting lineup, that will be our best starting lineup.”
In Wednesday’s Olympic opener, that meant starting Shannon Boxx in the midfield and leaving Carli Lloyd on the bench. But when Boxx sustained a leg injury in the 17th minute, Lloyd came on to score the goahead goal in a 4-2 victory over France.
“That’s a very good way to jump into the game and make a difference,” Sundhage said. “She is ready.”
Which is why the coach said Lloyd will be back in the lineup against Colombia, with the U.S. needing a win to clinch a berth in the tournament quarterfinals.
The London Games marks the Colombian women’s Olympic debut. When they made their first appearance in the World Cup last summer, they also played the U.S. in group play and were routed, 3-0.
Sundhage still fears Colombia’s emotional edge.
“Colombia is playing their second big event … and they are excited,” she said. “It’s very different from France.”
The U.S. is hoping the first 14 minutes are very different from its first 14 minutes against France, when the Americans fell behind 2-0 before rallying with a pair of goals from Alex Morgan.
“You can’t look at only the first minutes or the last minutes. It’s the whole game,” Sundhage said. “It was a little shaky beginning, but it was amazing the way we came back.”