It was a dark and rainy night

It had rained on and off throughout the day here in Chengdu and as game time approached it looked like the weather was about to clear. Just as the teams were being introduced, it began to mist. The mist turned to sprinkles and then sprinkles turned to rain. It rained and rain some more, and continued for the entire evening.


As expected the Korean team came out running and immediately began attacking, they were fast and intense and constantly on the US team. Every moment was intense. There were no breaks; both teams ran the entire field for the full game.

Without scoring in the first half, Abby Wambach scored on a pass from Kristine Lilly. Leading 1-0, minutes later, Abby was on her back at the far end of the field with a gash to her head. Unable to stop the bleeding quickly, the ref made them leave to field and the US continued for the next 9 minutes, a player short. While Abby was being stitched up in the locker room, the Koreans scored twice within 4 minutes.

Heather O’Reilly tied the game at 2-2 with her first World Cup goal.

Even in the rain, you could see Abby’s blood stained uniform and she continued to play. She like the others, never lost their composure, never let up for a minute. It was a great game.

The second game of the night, Sweden vs. Nigeria was also a great game but lacked the intensity of the US and Korea. Great plays, great technical skills, but far less physical. At the end it was also a tie 1-1.

The first round of play ended pretty much as it had begun, all teams on equal group with one point as we wait for Friday.