Armour: Time is now for U.S. women at World Cup
VANCOUVER — Time is running out on the U.S. women.
Not at this tournament. The Americans are assured of playing at least one more game, winning Group D with a 1-0 victory over Nigeria on Tuesday night. With 10 players 30 or older by the July 5 final, however, nothing is assured after this World Cup ends.
"Every tournament we have pressure, whether it's the Olympics or the World Cup," Carli Lloyd, who turns 33 on July 16, said before the tournament began. "We saw it the last World Cup, we're seeing it again this World Cup."
While the U.S. has won gold at the last three Olympics, it's been 16 years since the Americans won their second World Cup title. In fact, the U.S. hadn't reached the final since 1999 until four years ago, when it lost to Japan on penalties.
Unless the U.S. wins here, there's a very real possibility that 30-somethings Abby Wambach, the career scoring leader in both the men's and women's game, Hope Solo, Heather O'Reilly, Shannon Boxx and Lloyd all could end their careers without ever winning a World Cup title.
Think about that. Some of the most illustrious names to ever play the game, and they'd leave without winning the biggest prize of all. Christie Rampone was part of the 1999 team, but played just 17 minutes.
"Can you imagine these players having gone through their whole international career not winning?" Tony DiCicco, the coach of the U.S. team in 1999 who is now an analyst for FOX Sports. "Because I don't know if they're going to be around for the next World Cup. Certainly many of those won't be."
That's the cruel thing about events like the Olympics and the World Cup: they only come around every four years. While that's interminable enough for regular folks, it's an eternity for athletes. You can be at the peak of your game at one tournament and be on the decline by the time the next one rolls around. Or out of the game completely.
That's especially true for soccer players. Their game requires them to run for the better part of 90 minutes and possess cat-quick reflexes. As the eyes go and the legs tire, so, too, does their value to the team.
Already Rampone, Boxx and O'Reilly have been reduced to substitute roles, and there's been much debate about whether Wambach, having just turned 35, is still starting material. Former U.S. coach Pia Sundhage caused a stir when she said she wouldn't have Wambach in the starting lineup, though she later clarified that to say she'd do that in hopes of extending Wambach's career.
A substitute in a World Cup game for the first time since 2003 on Friday, Wambach was back in the starting lineup Monday night.
"How bad do I want it?" Wambach said of winning a World Cup title. "I want it as bad as my body needs air."
There are other stars whose resumes are sparkling except for one very large hole. Lionel Messi might very well be the best to ever play the game, but he will always come up just short of Pele until he wins a World Cup. Those Dutch teams of the 1970s were brilliant, but they never quite fulfilled their dynasty.
The same is true in other sports. Jim Kelly. Ernie Banks. Dan Marino. Don Mattingly. Patrick Ewing. All are remembered as much for what they didn't do as for what they did.
The Americans can keep themselves from joining that infamous group. But time is running out.
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