U.S. Soccer Team Fights Past Japan 2-1

THESSALONIKI, Greece – Abby Wambach will never score an easier goal. From one foot away, she tapped the ball into the net and put the United States into the Olympic semifinals. Wambach finished a four-on-zero breakaway in the 59th minute, her 17th goal in her last 18 games, giving the U.S. women’s soccer team a 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Japan on Friday.

The Americans will play in the semifinals on Monday in Iraklion, site of their opening first-round victory over Greece.

All three goals were unusual, but Wambach’s certainly required the least effort. With Mia Hamm taking a long free kick, the Japanese mistimed the offside trap, moving their defenders forward a split-second too late.

That left four American players alone to chase down Hamm’s kick – and goalkeeper Nozomi Yamago helplessly surrounded. Shannon Boxx controlled the ball easily and slid a pass to Wambach, who literally trotted the ball into the net.

Kristine Lilly scored her second goal in as many games in the 43rd minute for the Americans, who improved to 14-0-3 all-time against Japan. Emi Yamamoto scored for Japan in the 48th.

The U.S. team played more aggressively throughout, responding to coach April Heinrichs’ urge to play with “less caution” after tepid efforts in the three first-round games.

Heinrichs moved Lilly to forward and opened with three attackers for the first time in the tournament, and Wambach returned after serving a one-game suspension for rough play. The Americans controlled much of the first half, surviving a momentary scare when Mia Hamm went down on a tackle by Aya Shimokozuru. Hamm returned to the game in less than a minute.

Lilly’s goal came when the longtime veteran shook two defenders for a run into the penalty area, where she lost the ball on Hiromi Isozaki’s tackle. Homare Sawa booted the bounding ball high into the air, and Lindsay Tarpley charged in and whiffed on a header that distracted goalkeeper Yamago just enough for Lilly to drive in an 8-yard shot just inside the left post.

Japan tied the game three minutes into the second half on Yamamoto’s long free kick that bounced slowly inside the far post as Scurry and the U.S. defenders stood flat-footed.

After Wambach made it 2-1, Julie Foudy nearly added a third goal in the 78th minute, but her header was headed off the line by midfielder Miyuki Yanagita.

The U.S. survived a wild scramble in second-half injury time, when a Japanese corner kick bounced freely for several seconds before it was headed away.

Japan entered the game with five days’ rest in an unusual Olympic format that had teams playing different numbers of first-round games. The U.S. team had just two days’ rest and played its fourth game in 10 days.

Heinrichs gave two players their first starts of the tournament. Tarpley replaced Aly Wagner in midfield, and defender Brandi Chastain played her first minutes of these Olympics in place of Cat Reddick.

As with most games not involving Greece, the game attracted only a few thousand fans to the 26,200-seat Kaftanzoglio Stadium.