COMMERCE CITY — The result — a 1-0 win over Brazil — was icing. The point for the U.S. women’s soccer team is to get Olympic-ready.
And to that end, with one exhibition game remaining before next month’s Beijing Olympics, players and coach Pia Sundhage say they are creeping ever-so-close.
“We’re almost there,” captain Christie Rampone said. “But we don’t want to peak until we get there.”
Sunday’s friendly at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park against a less-than-full-strength Brazilian team was another link in the chain. Amy Rodriguez’s goal, assisted by Abby Wambach in the 71st minute, provided the difference, but it is the American team’s progress in Sundhage’s system that has been most encouraging.
“The game is supposed to be beautiful,” goalkeeper Hope Solo said. “And here we are, we’re connecting 5-yard passes, we’re connecting stair passes, we’re playing through the midfield. . . . You didn’t see that last year. You saw us kicking it up long to Abby. The only goals we were getting last year were off Abby’s head and off set pieces.”
That system sputtered last year, and the team finished an unacceptable third at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Coach Greg Ryan was fired and Sundhage was appointed to the position, becoming the first foreign-born coach of the national team and just the second woman.
With just eight months of prep time before the Olympics, the Swede quickly instituted a system built on ball control and shook up the roster, naming seven players not part of the World Cup and three to their first national team.
“They’ve done great in a short amount of time,” Sundhage said. “It usually takes two years. I’m very impressed with how they try to play the kind of soccer, the philosophy that I have.”
Noting there are still a few wrinkles to iron out, Sundhage said, “I think we are ready to go.”
Winning in the Olympics is nothing new for the U.S. team, which has lost just one game since women’s soccer was added to the Games in 1996. The team is 12-1-3 since then, with two gold medals and one silver. They did not lose a match in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
So, as expected, they say nothing short of the gold will do.
“I feel fortunate to play in the Olympics,” Solo said. “But we’re all looking for the gold.”
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
