It is great to know that we will have some gold medalists on our Sky Blue pro team. We would have been happy without the gold medal, but obviously, it is much nicer with it! Overall, I think the tournament showed that women's soccer is not dominated by one nation. You can't single out one person; there are so many great players.

I still feel emotionally connected to Formiga, who played for Sky Blue. I think no one plays like her. She plays like a man, and I mean that in a positive way! She played soccer tennis with my kids in the backyard; how can I not feel connected to her? I sincerely hope we will see her in WPS.

While I am happy the US won the gold, I am also happy that Germany won a medal, because they deserved it. They could have equally made it to the final. The US had the easier draw, and Germany had to play Brazil twice.

The fact that I am German makes me root for two teams. My kids are very connected as well; one even cheers more for Germany than the US. I would have been very torn if the two teams played each other. For the WPS, I wanted a USA victory, but as a German, I would hope they would win.

I believe that Pia and her staff put together an exceptional tactical game plan for this Olympic final. Even though the Brazilian's had the majority of the possession, the US did a very good job of taking away the space where the Brazilians would be dangerous.

The US was very patient and smart when to send numbers forward into the attack. They always seemed to have at least four players behind the ball, making it difficult for the Brazilians to go 1 v 1.

I personally think that today's match was one of the more exciting finals that I've seen in a long while. This victory will not only make a stronger case for the quality of the WPS, but with the prospect of five internationals per team, I hope it will bring to all levels-from top to the youth ranks - some of what we in the US lack in certain aspects of the game.

First, an admission. I belong to a family of Brazilian men’s and women’s soccer devotees. My household has long revered and respected the incredibly technical skill and dazzling art of the “Jogo Bonita” style of play.

Before the Olympic final, the sentiment in my household was: Hey, if the USA can beat them, they deserve to win the gold. And thus, with their winning record, their intelligence and fitness, and tremendous goalkeeping, the Americans persevered. Bravo!

Understandably, the mood at Sky Blue today is celebratory. Yes, victory does that. But victory for us comes in many forms. Staffer Natalie Smith said that the energy of the Olympic final staff viewing party (complete with bagels and homebaked cookies) made her feel the joy of working here.

Those of us who labor for the success of Sky Blue and the WPS feel that Olympic victory is inherent on so many levels—from the attention that is showered on the winners, to the excitement and anticipation of the fabulous international players who will bring so much extra to the game played on American fields.

The ingredients are in place for our success. It is our audience though that is the key. If you like what you saw in the Olympics, don’t hesitate. Make us your mission; spread the word; share your passion. Commit to Sky Blue, and to WPS, and give us your support.

So that every golden Olympic moment will translate to a golden WPS moment.

SBS Blogger

Congratulations goes out to the United States Women's National Team for winning the Gold Medal game. The US did what no one really thought would be possible - shut down the Brazil attack. Even the most optimistic US fans had to think that Brazil would score at least once especially after taking apart Germany in the semifinals but that wasn't the case as excellent team defense and a great game from Hope Solo kept Brazil scoreless.

Speaking of Solo, I'm sure that she learned her lesson last year so you won't hear it from her but I would love to hear a couple "I told you so"s slip out. Looks like she was right - maybe she would have made those saves last year. Her reflex save on Marta was tremendous and she was strong in the air too. Carli Lloyd scored the goal but I would give Solo the MVP for the final.

And for Carli, what a great strike for the Jersey girl. We won't know about USWNT allocations for about a month more but how great would it be to have the Gold Medal hero in a Sky Blue WPS professional uniform. Sky Blue will be playing on the same field that she starred on in college so that would be a great story.

On the other side of the field, for Brazil it's more heartbreak finishing second three tournaments in a row including one World Cup and two Olympics. You have to think that they're really wondering what they need to do to win one of these things. Losses in overtime to the US in 2004 and 2008 and then the loss to Germany with Marta missing the tying PK - so close but yet so far. If it's any satisfaction, they're still the most fun team to watch.

Let's hope that the great Olympics tournament can help WPS as it heads towards its first season. The entire US team will definitely be playing in the league next year while you have to think that most of the Brazil players will be here as well with no suitable alternative in their native country. On top of that Brazil coach Jorge Barcellos has been rumored to be linked to a coaching position with a WPS team so everything you saw on the field today could be a part of WPS in a slightly altered form in 2009.

United Soccer Leagues put out a nice note today about former Sky Blue players Tobin Heath and Formiga battling it out in the Gold Medal match tomorrow at the Beijing Olympics - Heath for the United States and Formiga for Brazil. Because of the Pan Am Games, which both Tobin and Formiga participated in, the two didn't spend as much time out on the field as Sky Blue had hoped, but it will still be interesting to see the former teammates battle it out.

In all, there are 10 former W-League players taking the field tomorrow in the final including Heather O'Reilly, Lindsay Tarpley, and Carli Lloyd - players I had the pleasure of dealing with during my time working with the New Jersey Wildcats - a team that Formiga and Tobin Heath also played for as well prior to joining Sky Blue.

Read the entire USL story here.

Tomorrow's game should be a great matchup and the US is going to have to play a strong game to beat Brazil, which was on fire against Germany. The US is definitely in a much better place than a year ago when Brazil rolled to victory in the semifinal of the World Cup. The team is playing much better soccer and Hope Solo will finally get her chance to prove that she was right in what she said last year. Even if she apologized for her outburst last year, I still think she meant every word of it so she needs to make some big saves.

The US has faster backs than Germany so that should give it some hope but it's going to take some great defending to shut down Brazil or it's going to take a bunch of goals to counter Brazil's attacking efforts. Either way, there are some great story lines in the final - Brazil searching for its first championship, the US looking to make up for last year's loss, and of course, Tobin vs. Formiga.

Personally, since I was born in Brazil to American parents and can claim citizenship for both countries, I can get away with routing for either team - no matter who wins, I'll still come out on top. Go United States! Go Brazil! Go Sky Blue!

Despite putting in the third and fourth goals by accident, the United States fully deserved its 4-2 victory over Japan in the semifinals. The game obviously didn't start off that well with Japan scoring first, but two goals in three minutes at the end of the first half put the US in good shape to take the game over in the second half.

Of course the final two goals were accidents - bad crosses that turned into great shots. Unless Heather O'Reilly meant to volley the ball inside the far post from out on the wing, and unless Ang Hucles meant to chip the keeper with side spin from the endline, then the US was definitely the beneficiary of a couple of lucky plays. Those two goals became meaningful when Japan willed the ball into the goal in the closing seconds, but you would have to think that the US would have been playing differently if they were sitting on a one-goal lead.

O'Reilly was solid as always and Hucles has gone from non-existent in the opening games to a solid contributor which makes sense when you consider that she's more accustomed to playing as central midfielder and not a front-runner. Chalupny's shot was perfect - the textbook example of a flank player cutting inside and ripping a shot. She has to be the best left back in all of women's soccer.

While making the final is a great accomplishment for a US team that was written off after the opening-game loss to Norway, the Americans will have to gear up a few more notches in the final against Brazil or risk getting stomped on like last year in the World Cup. Except for the opening 15 minutes or so, the Brazilians were on fire against Germany. They made one of the best teams in the world look foolish and at times it looked as if there was nothing Germany could do to stop Brazil.

The former Sky Blue player Formiga's goal was total class - Cristiane megging the defender in the corner, Marta keeping the ball moving across the box, and Formiga with the finish. The other goals were just as nice - Marta setting up Christiane perfectly off the quick counter attack, Marta single-handedly making the German defense look foolish capped by a perfect toe poke, and Cristiane blowing through and over the entire German defense with one quick run. Germany hadn't allowed a goal in a major tournament since the 2004 Olympics and, like I said, it looked like there was nothing Germany could do to stop Brazil.

The USA women’s defeat of Canada under rainy skies, and in a game that included a rare prolonged weather break, showed a team that is steadily improving. Their possession (and confidence) seem stronger, especially the further they progress from their opening upset loss to Norway. An opening goal by Angela Hucles (most goals for the team with 2), was matched by the overtime game winner, a stunning header by Natasha Kai.

The semi-final match-up with Japan on Monday should prove as competitive as most games in the tournament thus far. The Japanese defeated a young Chinese team (featuring 8 players under age 22), 2-0. The talented veteran Hamare Sawa of Japan’s textbook header for goal number one proves she intends to give it her all before her post-Olympic retirement.

It was no cake-walk for Brazil, who fortunately created a padding for themselves with a 2-0 lead over Norway by late in the game (another one coming from Marta). Young keeper Barbara created a PK by taking down a Norwegian player in the box, and at 2-1, the Scandinavians kept attacking until the final whistle. What impresses about the Brazilians is how much they smile. Commentator Lori Walker mentioned the Brazilian expression, "Play Joyfully." I love that. It should be a motto for everyone. And the Brazilians clearly live by it.

In another overtime nail-biter, it took the German team until the 103rd minute to break a 0-0 deadlock against great play by Sweden. When the corner was set up, as my fellow viewer is my witness, I predicted: This is it; on a header by Kerstin Garefrekas. (I had to throw in I called this one, which I based on her phenomenal success on heading in crosses in big tournaments). After a second goal by Simone Laudehr on a very tough angle, the nail-biting let up.

Germany, which has not conceded a goal in not only this tournament, but in all of World Cup 2007, faces Brazil on Monday in a rematch of the 2007 Women’s World Cup final.

Nothing seems predictable. No player in the tournament has scored more than three goals. All games have had some fantastic play, with abundant talent in evidence. The contrast in styles (a broadcast that switches straight from the physical Canadians to the technical Japanese) has made these soccer games incredibly entertaining. The US has done well to incorporate a bit of everything into their game, and couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to reach the final.

SBS Blogger

Caught the second half of the Brazil-Germany game. I was half-asleep but I thought that Brazil had the better of the chances after halftime. Renata Costa's header off a corner kick hit right where the post and crossbar meet and bounced out.

Marta did very well everywhere except finishing - her 50-yard run late in the half was pretty remarkable considering it was about 83 minutes into the game. Angerer did well to come off her line and make the save.

Watching the game without commentary was kind of strange - a dream come true for all the people who complain about the announcers during the games and proclaim that they would rather have no commentary at all.

Oh, and Ronaldinho was at the game.

Next up: US vs. Norway