Soccer Notes: Near-misses plague U.S.

Neither the smile on the face of Amy Rodriguez nor the chants of “U-S-A” 20 minutes after the match gave any indication of the outcome Tuesday night.

Rodriguez, a speedy forward on the top-ranked American women’s national soccer team, netted a first-half goal on a good ball ahead from Abby Wambach before the U.S. gave up an equalizer off a counter attack, the only scores in the 1-1 draw in an exhibition with No. 4 Sweden in front of a Morrison Stadium record crowd of 6,493.

Rodriguez nearly gave the Americans a two-score lead on a diving header, but her attempt rang off the crossbar and started the Swedish counter that led to a goal.

“That was a little bit unfortunate,” Rodriguez said. “My specialty really isn’t heading.”

No, it’s her wheels.

The 5-foot-4 Rodriguez, a member of the Philadelphia Independence of Women’s Professional Soccer, showed off a bit of that quickness on her goal, getting to the ball just inside the box and putting on the brakes to shield the defender long enough to get a touch past Sweden keeper Sofia Lundgren.

“It was a great goal,” Rodriguez said. “I was happy to do that for my country.”

It was the eighth goal of her international career, all in the past three seasons. Only an unfriendly crossbar kept her away from another tally.

“She’s so dangerous with her threat of speed,” said Wambach, the Americans’ main scoring threat. “It’s so difficult to mark her.”

Rodriguez’s main issue has been finishing off opportunities, an issue for the U.S. team in general Tuesday night. Wambach had a pair of near-misses as the Americans outshot the Swedes 11-3 and 5-1 in shots on goal. She had a goal wiped away because of an offside call that, after replay, appeared to be wrong.

“We had a lot of chances in the first half,” Wambach said. “Now we’re kicking ourselves for not putting them away.”

The missed opportunities would come back to haunt the Americans when Linda Forsberg took a pass ahead on the break from Stina Segerstrom and beat U.S. keeper Nicole Barnhart for the tying score.

“It’s bittersweet,” said Wambach, who had her hands above her head in preparation for a celebration on Rodriguez’s near miss.

U.S. coach Pia Sundhage said she liked what she saw from Rodriguez more in the first half than the second — much as she did with the entire team.

“I think, especially in the first half, her runs (were) pretty good,” Sundhage said. “She has to take the initiative to do that.”

• NOTES: Veteran midfielder Kristine Lilly entered the game as a substitute in the 83rd minute. Lilly, the national team’s leader in both caps and goals, received a nice ovation from the crowd as she sprinted in to take a corner kick. ... Star keeper Hope Solo, the 2009 U.S. Soccer female athlete of the year, sat out Tuesday’s game. ... Sweden’s goal was the first allowed by the Americans at home since November 2008, against South Korea, ending a streak of nine straight shutouts. ... Kate Markgraf wore the captain’s band for the U.S. Tuesday. It was her 200th international appearance.

Contact the writer:

850-0781, nickrubek@hotmail.com

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