The motto for the US Women's National Team is "win the group." The United States presumably got the group of death in the World Cup as they were paired with Sweden, Australia and Nigeria. The United States won the match against Australia while earning a draw against Sweden. Beating Nigeria means they win the group, avoid excessive traveling and avoid a match against Brazil. The Nigeria women's team has no plans of going down easy.
The US National Team might be sitting at the top of their group, but they have yet to look like the dominating force they are expected to be. Defense has been strong, but scoring is an issue. Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd lead the team in international goals and yet have combined for just one shot on goal during the tournament so far. While that might get the team past Nigeria, it will not result in success in later games. This has been the storyline for the team over the past year. They simply have lacked creativity and consistent progression on offense.
Nigeria has a shot at advancing if they can pull the upset over the United States. A loss knocks the team out of the tournament; a win gives them a fighting chance if either Australia or Sweden win to knock the US down to second. The USWNT needs to focus on winning as well because it makes the rest of the World Cup fall into their favor. A tie means Australia has a chance to move up into first place while a loss drops them into third.
All eyes will be on the starting lineup for the United States. Against Sweden Wambach was not a starter and did not sub in until midway through the second half. The leading scorer in women's soccer was likely not pleased to be coming off the bench, but that has been a debate leading into the tournament as Wambach is four years older than she was in the last Olympics and it is beginning to take its toll. There are also questions around whether or not Alex Morgan will get the nod as she continues to nurse a knee injury. Morgan has not seen much playing time so far in the tournament and that will need to change if the US is going to truly contend.
