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

While it was a lot more suspenseful then the United States team would have liked, we did a nice job knocking off a competitive Canada side 2-1 in overtime this morning. Considering that the US held a 17-7 advantage in shots, better finishing could have made it an easier game but who's complaining when one more win in the tournament guarantees us a medal. Truth is, the United States had much better of the play and except for the bad giveaway that led to the brilliant strike by Christine Sinclair, Canada really didn't threaten too often.

The weather delay definitely helped the Canadians. The US took control of the momentum early with the early goal by Hucles, but it couldn't press Canada for long because of the break in play - essentially an extended timeout for Canada. In addition, any time a team has to suddenly insert its backup goalkeeper into the game, the other team has the chance to take advantage of the unexpected lineup change. With the break, Karina LeBlanc was better able to get into the proper frame of mind psychologically and her teammates were able to better prepare to play in front of a different keeper.

On that note, congratulations to Karina - an adopted New Jersey resident by way of her position as assistant coach for the women's team at Rutgers University and also a guest blogger here on SkyBlueSoccer.com. She stepped into an incredibly tough situation and did a great job. She made a number of strong saves to keep Canada in the game and there really wasn't much she could have done on the winning goal by Kai except wonder what the heck her backs were doing when the ball was whipped toward the far bar by Boxx. Here's my vote to have Karina on our team next season when WPS kicks off.

While the good news for the United States team is that it advanced to the semifinals, the bad news is that this was the last game for Canada coach Even Pellerud, whose prehistoric long-ball tactics have kept that team down for too long. Canada has some talented players in its lineup and a world-class striker in Sinclair - if they get a capable coach to replace Pellerud, then the United States will have a very hard time keeping up its unbeaten run against the neighbors from the north.

Now on to Japan - a team that the US beat 1-0 in the opening round of the tournament. While the US has to be extremely happy that it has no part in the Brazil or Germany until the final, it can't be too happy about having to face Japan for a second time. The Nadeshiko bounced back from its loss to the US by hammering Norway 5-1 in the final game of the group stage and then followed that up with a strong effort against China. Now Japan gets a second chance to make adjustments and have another try at the US. The US should still prevail and earn a shot at the gold medal against the winner of that big-time battle on the other side of the bracket.

I am sitting in our hotel room in rainy Shanghai quite relaxed at the view from my room.

Although I have been to China several times this is my first time to Shanghai and I cannot think of a better time to be here. It will hopefully be a place for a lot of firsts for us once again.

In our first outing to the Olympics for women’s soccer for our country, we have qualified for the quarter-finals. Although we lost to Sweden 2-1 in our last match two days ago, because of our tie to China and our win against Argentina, fate would have it where we play the US, our North American rivals.

The mood on our team is great as we know that this will be by far the greatest battle between both teams and all past records count for just that, the past. It is do or die time where one of our hopes for an Olympic medal will continue and the other will end.

I am off to bed and tomorrow cannot come sooner. It will be a day of rivalries as Sweden will play Germany, Japan will be China and Norway will play Brazil.

A lot will be determined in the next 24hours and for those who are women’s soccer fans, whether you choose to watch it live or taped, I know it will be several memorable games where dreams will be both made and taken.

Karina LeBlanc
www.KarinaLeBlanc.com

August 2nd, 2008

So we are on the bus heading away from the village to Tianjin. I have to say that everything has already been so much better than I could have ever imagined it.

I remember when I was young watching the different Olympic games being mesmerized by the athletes and how proud they seemed playing their sport and representing their country. They really enjoyed what they were doing and they were at the top of their sport. I wanted to be like them. I would watch whatever sport was being shown on the television and I only left when I had to. I wanted to do it all….from track, to basketball, to soccer…at that point it did not matter, I just wanted to be like them. I remember telling my parents that one day I wanted to be in the Olympics and them telling me that I could do it. The fact that I am here and that my parents will be here in within 24 hours is proof that if you dream big and are willing to really go after your dreams, it can really happen.

Leading up to this trip so many people asked me what I was feeling. It was hard to explain because there was so much anticipation leading into it and having been to China several times prior I felt I knew what I was going to be seeing, but I had no idea of the feelings that would follow. Walking around the athletes village for the past two days has been unbelievable because it feels like no other China experience I’ve had. It is a completely different atmosphere than at the World Cup last year because you see and recognize other athletes from other sports which is incredible. I have to admit that many of the athletes look much different in person but nevertheless you can tell who they are from the moment you see them. Just walking around in the village you feel special. The volunteers are always smiling and willing to help you out in whatever way they can. There is a mutual respect amongst everyone. I’ve had conversations with other athletes where there is an obvious language barrier yet we still continue the conversation and I still can take something away from it. Politeness is a universal language that everyone here seems to understand which has also been very enjoyable. We’ve had the last two days just to absorb it all in and I think that has been great so now we can focus on what we are here for. It can be overwhelming if it is your first time because you want to enjoy the experience and not miss out so getting these days to just be athletes and not necessarily soccer players has been nice. I’ve spent some time at the Olympian store where I spent several hundred dollars. I also went to the hairdresser to see if they could put my hair in braids…no luck. I think they were willing to try it but at this point, I wasn’t really up for having things ‘tried’ on my hair. I’ve also gotten lost on the bus system around the village. My thought was that just get on the bus because they all seem to be going in the same direction…well I was wrong. What would have taken me 20 minutes to walk to, took me 45 minutes by bus. It was pouring rain on our first day so it wasn’t just about me being lazy but the good thing was that I got a good tour of the village and got to see the beach volleyball courts, the beach soccer, the outdoor pool which is huge and the fitness room which were all for the leisure of the athletes in their down time. We were in the CANADA house but now that we’ve left, when we do return we will stay in the soccer precinct which is the building for the soccer teams that come and go throughout the tournament. We play our first two games in Tianjin, the first against Argentina and the second against home team China. The third game we come back to Beijing and play Sweden at the Workers stadium

We have been told as a team that we will not be attending the Opening Ceremonies which we were all upset about until we found out the details. Because our first game is in Tianjin which is not in Beijing (couple hours drive away actually), if we were to attend we would arrive back to our hotel until possibly 4am. Seeing that we play that day, it simply did not make sense. As an athlete you are disappointed because you have heard so much about the moment you walk out into the stadium with the world watching and the goose bumps that you once felt once as a spectator watching on the television, pales in comparison to the ones you feel as an athlete. The feeling is something that you will experience once in your lifetime. So many athletes here talk about that moment, but what is interesting enough is that so of them also say that although this is their second or third Olympics, they too have never been to the Opening Ceremony because of scheduling/timing issues involving their events. I guess athletes are there hours before it starts and sit and wait for their time to enter the stadium for the remarkable experience but once it is done and you deal with all the traffic, you may be there up to 8 hours. With the Chinese traditionally being big on 8’s, 8:08 pm on August 8th, 2008 the timing of everything is very important and this ceremony will start at a later time, so ending much later. With the process and considering once again we are playing on the 9th, it was a smart decision by our staff to keep us away. One great thing is that my parents will get to enjoy the ceremony and I am so excited for them. It will be a proud moment for me that they will get to experience it and I am sure for them as well, it will be a event they will never forget.

I do hope you enjoy the pictures that I have put up. We are very limited in what we can put on the internet because of Olympic regulations. Please do keep checking in as I will try to share with you as much of this experience as I can because for me, this is a life changing moment. I am living out my dream to the fullest and it is all because I choose to dream big, work hard towards it and believed that I could do it. If you are reading this hoping that one day you too will walk these steps, dream about it today and start working towards it because it truly is all that I could have imagined and much more.

Thanks for checking in,

Karina LeBlanc
www.karinaleblanc.com

Sky Blue is going to the Olympics!!!

Okay, not exactly, but 2007 Sky Blue player, Melissa Tancredi sealed the deal for Canada's first Olympic appearance last night with her game-winning goal against Mexico. Canada beat Mexico in the semi-finals of Olympic qualifiers in a tight 1-0 game. Here at the office, we were all following the Olympic qualifiers closely, cheering on our Sky Blue representatives, Tobin Heath for the US and Melissa for Canada.

Sky Blue players aren't done yet! Formiga, who also played for the 2007 Sky Blue team, and the Brazilian National team will be playing a playoff game for the last Olympic spot against Ghana. Vá o Brasil!