Analyzing the Games: Wednesday’s highlights, Saturday’s previews

By Graham Hays | Special to fans.womensprosoccer.com

Opening thought

So what were the odds entering play Wednesday that New Zealand would produce twice the number of goals as the combined efforts of Germany, Brazil and the United States?

Looking back at Wednesday's top games

Norway 2, Untied States 0
Euro 2008 saw Russia's Andrei Arshavin compose a one-man breakthrough opus. The Olympics may have Leni Larsen Kaurin reprising the role. Kaurin's goal that opened the scoring against the United States actually might merit lower marks for artistic impression than teammate Melissa Wik's corner-seeking missile minutes later, but her header after getting the best of Lori Chalupny was only part of the story. Going up against first Chalupny, a player unfamiliar with being at a disadvantage of pace, and later Stephanie Cox, Larsen Kaurin was the most productive player on the field for most of the first half.

Like Arshavin, Larsen Kaurin isn't exactly a baby at 27 years old. And with only a handful of goals in nearly 50 international appearances, she may not be a goal scoring phenom. But for a new-look Norwegian side, she opened a lot of eyes with her effort against the United States.

For the United States, the clouds seem lined less with silver than some of the other heavy metals that might find their way into the atmosphere around China's industrial hubs, but it's at least nice to have Heather Mitts back in the lineup for a major tournament. As much as the Americans felt the absences of Abby Wambach, Cat Whitehill and Leslie Osborne, they also benefited from having Mitts hold down her flank of the back line. Whether thwarting a dangerous cross in the opening 20 minutes with a fearless (in that it wasn't whistled) physical challenge in front of the net or pushing the attack with strong runs instead of 50-yard punts, she set some measure of tempo during the first hour.

You know what you're going to get, and what you're not going to get, from Mitts every time she's out on the field, and right now, that's an uncommon trait for the Americans.

Germany 0, Brazil 0
At times, it looked like the two best teams in the world going at each other. At times, it looked like the two best teams in the world playing their first game of the tournament. But measured as a whole, it was an undeniably entertaining game even without any goals.

After a relatively easy go of it in first half, Nadine Angerer was Germany's best player in the second half. It's difficult to believe it was just a year ago when some felt Silke Rottenberg's unavailability portended doom for the Germans. The look on Marta's face when she pulled a shot wide of a momentarily open corner in the second half offered evidence as to the value of any chance against Angerer, who still hasn't conceded a goal in major international competition since taking over for Rottenberg.

Angerer needed to be perfect, because the offensive funk that marked Germany's disappointing Algarve Cup performance this spring hasn't quite dissipated. Birgit Prinz came up just wide on one terrific opportunity, but she didn't get much help – no player in the tournament will want to put the opener behind her more than Sandra Smisek, who squandered two open-net looks before coming off in the 73rd minute. The good news for Germany in the attack came from 22-year-old midfielder Melanie Behringer, who helped set up Prinz's best chance and put regular pressure on Brazil's typically hot-and-cold back line. The World Cup champs won't add Olympic gold without goals out of their set plays, but both Behringer and Kerstin Garefrekes also looked good in the run of play.

China 2, Sweden 1
There are Pac-10 football games that see teams air it out less often than China does on the pitch, but it worked out well for them on Wednesday. Sweden was on its heels even before it made a hash of things on Xu Yuan's goal in the opening 10 minutes, in large part because of its ability to feed long passes in to the front runners. Both strikers are adept at picking good lanes for their runs, but Duan is just as dangerous when the ball gets to her foot. China's back line was nothing special, but aside from one end-to-end surge on Lotta Schelin's goal that was aided by a botched touch in midfield by China, Sweden had neither the energy nor sufficient opportunity to break it down after spending large chunks of the game chasing down Duan and retrieving the ball from its own end.

Canada 2, Argentina 1
Perhaps because she made her debut for Canada at age 15 and played in the 2003 World Cup a year later, Kara Lang has long been the little sister of the international soccer world, frozen in our consciousness as a youthful phenomenon. Now an international veteran at the ripe old age of 20 with a mature game to match, Lang still has two seasons of eligibility remaining at UCLA. Whenever she hits WPS, she will be a prized commodity for all the reasons she displayed against Argentina in Wednesday's win. Lang not only scored what turned out to the winner in a closer-than-expected contest on a perfectly struck header, she had another goal disallowed on a foul call and forced Argentine keeper Vanina Correa to make a save on a free kick.

Looking ahead to Saturday's games

United States vs. Japan (5am EST / 2am PST on USA and on NBCOlympics.com)
Japan's not a pushover opponent, but it is an opponent against which the United States should be able to string together possession and generate some goals.

That could be a recipe for sticking with the same lineup in hopes of better results, and pending news on Lori Chalupny's availability, but it's also an opportunity for change.

As was the case throughout the World Cup, the United States needs to connect more through the midfield instead of gambling on long balls. And as was the case last fall, that means it's time to start querying the whereabouts of Aly Wagner. Healthier now than she was last fall, Wagner is the best playmaking option on a roster that looked short on them against Norway. Even in a best-case scenario, she won't fix all that ails the American attack, but working in conjunction with Heather O'Reilly and Lindsay Tarpley's tireless work on the flanks and Mitts' overlapping runs, she could help put Natasha Kai in a better position to make use of her finishing skills.

Norway vs. New Zealand (7:45am EST/4:45am PST on NBCOlympics.com)
How will Bjarne Berntsen's team handle the win against the United States and the role of heavy favorite in its second game? Pushed forward in what was labeled a 4-3-3 but looked as much like a 4-5-1 against the United States, Solveig Gulbrandsen didn't really assume a high profile in the attack until second half substitutions took Larsen Kaurin and Wik off the field. Unless New Zealand fares even better than in Wednesday's showing, the Norwegian attack should have plenty of opportunities to continue gelling beyond Wednesday's early good fortune.

Sweden vs. Argentina (5am EST/2am PST on NBCOlympics.com)
Keep an eye on Argentina's Mercedes Pereyra. The young striker had a number of good moments attacking Canada's back line, forcing Erin McLeod to come up with a save early and showing plenty of skill on the ball in open space. Pereyra scored Argentina's only goal in a 4-1 loss against the United States in the 2006 Under-20 World Cup.

China vs. Canada
China will likely seize the initiative in the attack, so the question becomes how well Canada's back line holds up and how well Evan Pellerud's team counterattacks. That latter effort has to extend beyond Lang and Christine Sinclair, just as Sweden's needed to extend beyond Schelin and Victoria Svensson. Canada is rarely averse to deploying its own aerial attack, but it needs crisper play from Diana Matheson and Rhian Wilkinson in the middle of the field to make China pay a price for quick possessions.

Nigeria vs. Germany (5am EST/2am PST on MSNBC)
Germany's back line wobbled but didn't hit the canvas when hit with a few well-placed uppercuts from Marta, Cristiane and Daniela against Brazil. Now they get to withstand the equivalent of 90 minutes of body shots from Nigeria’s physical pressure. In a game that has a very good chance of getting bogged down in physical, chippy play, Germany’s hopes of shifting its attack into gear could succumb to simply grinding out a victory. Such is life in the Group of Death.

Brazil vs. North Korea (7:45am EST/4:45am PST on MSNBC)
They didn't score, but Marta, Cristiane and Daniela didn't disappoint against Germany. All three Brazilian stars flashed the individual skills that make them collectively a treat to watch (Cristiane dancing around Kerstin Stegemann and Annike Krahn before pulling a shot just wide of goal might have been the highlight of the match). Facing another technical, possession-oriented side in North Korea midfielders Formiga and Maycon merit close scrutiny. Neither played particularly well against Germany, which left it to the big three to create their own opportunities. This match is also a rare opportunity, at least for those of us outside North Korea, to watch Ri Kum-Suk against top competition. She may be the best player who will likely never get a chance to play in the WPS, so enjoy her while it lasts.

Graham Hays is an ESPN columnist and a contributor to womensprosoccer.com. He can be reached at moonlighthays@gmail.com. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Women’s Professional Soccer or womensprosoccer.com.