No offense but I remember in 2011's WWC she gave Brazil that PK and got sent off. In the final she didn't clear the ball in time and caused the first Japanese goal then lost Sawa in that corner.
Beat me to this. Even Rampone has begun to show her years a bit this time, but she is still far and away the standout on the US back line. I think the LePeilbet is the biggest weakness, but there's not much of a gap between Buehler and her. O'Hara has been serviceable, considering she isn't a real left back.
Buehler is not a technically strong defender but she is remarkably adept at sneaky fouls that disrupt the opposing attack or free up US attackers on set pieces and remain undetected by the officials.
I thought we "went away" from Linda Hamilton type defenders in the 90's. If you want to be able to play out of the back, why not give Bev or Becky a try? They're proving that they have the mental ability to play a very quick, team oriented style of play. Unfortunately, the mentality is that we won the gold medal, so why change something that isn't broken. Too bad for the INAC Leonessa girls, I guess.
