- Admin
- #1
In its second group match of the Olympic soccer tournament, the U.S. women's team opened the scoring against Colombia with an excellent goal from midfielder Megan Rapinoe in the 32nd minute. Rapinoe launched a shot from outside of the box over Colombia keeper Sandra Sepulveda and into the net to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead and a much better start than they had against France on Wednesday, when they had to come back from 2-0 down to win 4-2.
After scoring, Rapinoe pulled a piece of paper out of her shoe and held it up for the cameras as her teammates gathered around to celebrate with her. The message on the paper read "Happy B-Day Kreigy, we love you." July 28 happens to be U.S. defender Ali Krieger's birthday (and this happens to be her 28th), who was not selected for the Olympic team after working her way back from a torn ACL and MCL she suffered as the result of a harsh tackle in the team's first Olympic qualifying match against the Dominican Republic earlier this year.
Krieger was an important part of the 2011 Women's World Cup team and scored the winning penalty in its improbable late comeback win against Brazil in the quarterfinals. Even though she's not with the team now, Rapinoe's message (with its mixed up "i" and "e" placement and all) shows just how tight this group is, whether they're all together in London or not.