The first sport that will kick-off for the US is Women’s Soccer. Women’s Soccer will actually get going BEFORE the Opening Ceremonies. The first game for the US will be on the 25th of July against France.
The Team:
The US Team is made up of 18 women, many of whom will be familiar to US fans from Beijing.
Ten of the 18 members were on the team in Beijing and five of the members of the team were on the team in Athens.
Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.
US Women’s Soccer Team
GK – Nicole Barnhart*
GK – Hope Solo*
DF – Heather Mitts**
DF – Christie Rampone**
DF – Rachel Buehler*
DF – Becky Sauerbrunn
DF – Amy LePeilbet
DF – Kelley O’Hara
MF – Shannon Boxx**
MF – Heather O’Reilly**
MF – Amy Rodriguez
MF – Carli Lloyd*
MF – Tobin Heath*
MF – Megan Rapinoe
MF – Abby Wambach&
MF – Alex Morgan
FW – Lauren Cheney*
FW – Sydney Leroux
Coach – Pia Sundhage*
* – Was on team in 2008 – Beijing
& – Was on team in 2004 – Athens
** – Was on team in 2004 & 2008
Schedule:
In the Olympics the Women’s Soccer Tournament is made up of 12 teams divided into three groups. After round-robin play in each group all the teams that finish in 1st and 2nd and two of the 3rd place teams qualify for the Quarterfinals. At that point it is a regular knockout tournament.
The US’s group consists of France, Colombia and North Korea. They will likely win the group and face a 3rd place team from Group E or F in the quarterfinals, followed by likely Brazil in a Semifinal. The most likely team to meet in the Final would be Japan.
The US is ranked 1st in the world, Japan 3rd, Sweden 4th, and Brazil 5th. France is ranked 6th, North Korea 8th, and Colombia 28th.
Wednesday July 25th – Noon ET – France
Saturday July 28th – Noon ET – Colombia
Tuesday July 31st – 12:15 PM ET – North Korea
Friday August 3rd – Quarterfinals
Monday August 6th – Semifinals
Thursday August 9th – Medal Matches
Past Results:
The US Women are the two-time defending champs, along with winning a silver in 2000 and a gold in the Inaugural tournament in 1996. The only other team to win a gold medal is Norway. The US has beaten Brazil in each of the last 2 Olympic Finals, but unless one of the teams finishes as runner-up in its group they would meet before the final this year. A new country will win a medal this year as the only other countries than the US and Brazil to have won medals before (China, Germany, and Norway) are all absent from the games.
The best finishes from teams in the tournament are:
Brazil – Silver (2004 & 2008)
Cameroon – 1st Olympics
Canada – 8th (2008)
Colombia – 1st Olympics
France – 1st Olympics
Great Britain – 1st Olympics
Japan – 4th (2008)
New Zealand – 10th (2008)
North Korea – 9th (2008)
South Africa – 1st Olympics
Sweeden – 4th (2004)
USA – 1st (1996, 2004, & 2008)
At the Women’s World Cup last year Japan beat the US in the final with Sweeden topping France in the 3rd place game. England (who have many of the players on the Great Britain squad) and Brazil were knocked out in the Quarterfinals. The US was actually in a group with North Korea and Colombia, winning 2-0 and 3-0 respectively. The Americans also defeated the French 3-1 in the semifinals.
