The U.S. plays France in tomorrow’s Women’s World Cup semifinal (11:30 a.m., ESPN), just two wins away from finally stepping out of the huge shadow cast by Mia Hamm and the groundbreaking 1999 squad. But their biggest challenge to overcome isn’t the French they’ll face, but all the fame they’ve earned.
This isn’t to say Les Bleues aren’t a threat; with in-form striker Marie-Laure Delie, they clearly are. But the more insidious threat could well the distraction of their sudden acclaim. Despite being ranked No. 1 in the world, their farewell tour barely drew and they departed for Germany in near-obscurity. It took one 5-3 PK comeback win over Brazil to make them overnight media darlings.
“It was amazing and the best game I’ve ever been a part of. But we had a team meeting, told all our great stories, and now it’s on to France,’’ said Christie Rampone. “You let everybody know to enjoy that victory, feel that emotion and you have to make sure you’re prepared…and sure the emotions stay in check.
“We have to go after France. They’re a great team. We have to go after this game and finish this whole tournament off.”
Rochester’s Abby Wambach’s dramatic 122nd minute equalizer Sunday knocked Yankee captain Derek Jeter from SportsCenter’s Top Ten the day after his milestone 3,000th hit. Ali Krieger hit the clinching PK, and keeper Hope Solo _ who’ll get her 100th cap tomorrow, and be in line for endorsement deals upon her return _ made the huge saves at the end.
After the third-most viewed Women’s World Cup game ever stateside, that trio did the morning talk show circuit, blowing up Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. The last time the U.S. women grabbed these headlines was after Brandi Chastain’s black bra celebration. But they’d already clinched their title over China; this group still has work to do to reach their expected title.
“I’ve gotten a lot of Twitter and facebook requests, emails and text messages…I feel like the entire country is supporting us. You can see that throughout the media, the newspapers,’’ said forward Alex Morgan. “We want to keep the confidence we had in the last game but move forward and start thinking about just France.’’
The last time any U.S. soccer team got attention like this was Landon Donovan’s last-ditch goal vs. Algeria in last summer’s World Cup, staving off elimination and drawing a locker room visit from Bill Clinton. They came out flat three days later in a 2-1 loss to Ghana. This women’s team _ which was the pre-World Cup favorite and must win to meet those expectations _ can ill afford such a letdown.
“That was the craziest game any of us have ever been a part of. We have to be proud of what we did, but then put that behind us for the France game, and not get too high or too low,’’ said midfielder Lauren Cheney. “The most important thing is mental preparation, and emotionally getting off our high. We’re excited about what we did, but it was only the quarterfinals and we still have two games to go.’’
