U.S. women’s soccer team advances to semis with another Abby Wambach goal and cartwheels

Fourth-Place Medal

3 August 2012 at 11:48 am

The U.S. women's soccer team continued its leisurely cruise past the competition with a 2-0 quarterfinal win against an outmatched New Zealand side. Abby Wambach scored in the 27th minute to give her a goal in all four of the U.S.'s wins at the Olympics, and her teammates celebrated by paying tribute to the gold-medal-winning U.S. women's gymnastics team with cartwheels and flips near the corner flag. In doing so, they also proved that playing soccer was probably the better life choice for them.

[ Video: Magical moment for America's newest stars ]

The second half brought the match's scariest moment when Alex Morgan caught New Zealand keeper Jenny Bindon in the head with her knee (gif here). Both Bindon and Morgan were down for some time and Bindon was checked out for concussion symptoms, but both played on. This was the second blow to the head Bindon took in the match after Abby Wambach kicked her instead of the ball on a first-half chance.

In the 87th minute, substitute Sydney Leroux sealed the win with her first goal of the Games.

The U.S. will now face the winner of Great Britain vs. Canada in the semifinals. As we mentioned before, Team GB seems to be the more formidable threat as it has made the most of its record-setting home support by rolling through the group stage without allowing a single goal. The U.S. might prefer to play Canada, especially since it has a 26-match unbeaten streak going against its neighbors to the north.

UPDATE: And the U.S. will play Canada, who reach the semifinals of this tournament for the first time. Canada scored twice within the first 25 minutes against Team GB and the hosts never looked capable of mounting a comeback. So its a very familiar opponent for the U.S. and one against which it has to like its chances.

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