U.S. women have time to regroup before facing Colombia

EDMONTON, Alberta - The U.S. women's soccer team's prizes for taking first place in the Group of Death go beyond being matched up with Colombia, the third-place team from Group F, in the Round of 16.

Had the Americans finished second in Group D, they would have been faced with a trip across five time zones to face powerhouse Brazil in Moncton, New Brunswick. Instead, they only have a short flight to Edmonton.

On top of that, there's an extra day of rest. Moncton's round of 16 game is set for Sunday; the Americans will take the field at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium on Monday.

After playing three tough group games in nine days, having some real time to recuperate is music to the ears of Carli Lloyd and her teammates.

"Our bodies probably do need it," Lloyd said. "You can kind of self-reflect, get in the zone and just try to figure things out."

The lack of scoring in the Americans' three group games showed that they still have some figuring out to do, but Lloyd, a Delran native, says improvement is coming.

"You can go off of momentum, and I think we're starting to find our way," she said. "Going into the knockout stage, we should feel more confident. We should feel better on the ball. We should hopefully score more goals."

Although Colombia finished third in Group F behind France and England, it is no lightweight. Just ask France, which Colombia beat, 2-0, in the World Cup's most stunning result so far.

The time off will be especially important for the Americans' top two forwards, Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach.

Morgan made her first start since April on Tuesday in a 1-0 victory over Nigeria and was a major catalyst in finally giving the U.S. attack some fluidity. By the time kickoff comes against Colombia, she should be able to give even more than the 66 minutes she offered at BC Place.

Wambach, meanwhile, will simply take the opportunity to slow down after playing 203 out of 270 possible minutes during the group stage.

That Wambach delivered the goal that sealed first place came as no surprise to fellow forward Sydney Leroux.

"You have people who show up big, like the Kobe Bryants or LeBrons," Leroux said. "When things are there to take, they take them. That's who Abby is."

The comparison with Bryant seems especially apt. He and Wambach are both aging veterans who know that time is running out on their careers. But when it matters, they've still got that innate ability to hit big shots.