The US Women's National Soccer Team spent about 95 minutes trying to block every single attempt of Cristiane and Marta to get close to their goal and they did it with solid defense by Christie Rampone, Heather Mitts, Kate Markgraf and Lori Chalupny and great saves by Hope Solo.

The biggest merit of the USA Women's Team was to stick to their plan. Pia Sundhage knows that she has on her hands a team without superstars. No more Mia Hamm, no more Julie Foudy, no more Michelle Akers, but a lot of team work doing a lot of hard work.

Being Brazilian my heart was obviously hoping for Marta or Cristiane to score the goals that would lead my country to the Gold but it didn't happen. Brazil played well but one could clearly see the lack of a well-structured program that could provide those athletes with better conditioning and more than that a much better emotional balance.

The USA Team had the necessary patience and fitness to wait until Brazil made a mistake and right before Carli Lloyd prepared that shot from the left top side of the box I knew what the outcome of that match would be. GREAT GOAL!!! INCREDIBLE VICTORY!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE USA WNT!!!

I'm sure Leslie Osborne, Cat Whitehill and Abby Wambach can't wait to hug and thank every single one of their team mates when they return here to the U.S.

The US Women played Japan in the semifinals, defeating them 4-2. Japan was the first to score in the 15th minute. They took a corner kick that bounced around in the area, and eventually was put into the net by Shinobu Ohno.

Then late in the first half, Hope Solo helped set up the equalizer. Her long goal kick bounced to O'Reilly on the right. She got around her defender and slipped the ball into the area, past Rodriguez, and Tarpley, until Hucles finally got her foot on it.

Right before halftime, Kate Markgraf played a long pass to Lloyd. She found Rodriguez, who  played the ball to Chalupny in the left corner. She got into the box past a defender and shot a rocket into the roof of the net.

In the 70th minute, O'Reilly received a throw-in form Mitts on the right. She noticed the 'keeper off her line and shot a dipping ball from the right flank.

{Image removed as requested by ISI Photos}

In the 80th minute, Hucles scored her second goal of the game and fourth of the tournament. O'Reilly played a short corner kick to her on the right. She dribbled the ball into the area and shot the ball from the end line. The ball took a weird spin and ended up in the goal.

{Image removed as requested by ISI Photos}

Japan wasn't giving up as they scored in stoppage time.  A cross from the left was shot by Nagasato into the near post, and Eriko Arakawa got the rebound from 3 yards out.

The US advanced to the Gold Medal match to play against Brazil, while Japan faced Germany in the Bronze Medal match, which Germany won 2-0.

This final was a rematch of the 2004 Athens Olympics. The US defeated Brazil 2-1 in overtime with the game-winning goal from Abby Wambach. This time Abby wasn't around to score the goals for the US, and they still came out on top. This game also went into over time. This game was back and forth for 90 minutes and the Brazilians had great scoring chances that just wouldn't go in, as well as the USA. Hope Solo came ip big for the US in the 72nd minute. Marta got around 2 defenders and  took a shot from inside the box, but Solo got her arm on it and knocked the ball away for the US to clear it out. This was probably the biggest save Solo has ever made in her career. Amy Rodriguez also had a pair of great chances, but they didn't get past Brazil's 'keeper. 

Finally in the 6th minute of extra time, Carli Lloyd scored the game winner. She received a pass from Cheney at the top of the box. Lloyd then passed it to Rodriguez who passed it back to her on an overlapping run. She took one touch and shot the ball from outside the box into the side netting.

{Image removed as requested by ISI Photos}

The US played an outstanding defensive game against the highly-skilled Brazilians. They defended in pairs and did whatever they could to stop them from scoring.

The US now comes back to the States with their Gold medals after a very exciting journey through the Olympics, coming back from a loss in the first game of the tournament.

 A few weeks after they come back from China, the US will take on Ireland in a 3-game Tour with games in Philadelphia,New York, and Chicago.

What a crazy tournament it has been for the US Women, and even for all of Group G. While the USA got off to a bad start losing to Norway 1-0 in their first match, they have managed to come out on top of their group after Japan defeated Norway 5-1, putting Norway in 2nd place in the group. The US finished group play with 6 points as well as Noway, but the US had a better goal differential.

The US advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating New Zealand 4-0. Heather O'Reilly got the scoring started just 40 seconds into the game, making it the fastest goal in Women's Olympic History. New Zealand's keeper cleared the ball into the midfield and Carli Lloyd won the header. The ball bounced towards O'Reilly who noticed the keeper was off her line and took a shot form 23 yards out. The ball sailed into the right corner.

The next goal came late in the 2nd half. US defender Rachel Buehler played a long pass to Amy Rodriguez. Using her speed she got in behind the defense and took a left-footed strike that skipped past Jenny Bindon, (New Zealand's keeper) into the lower right corner.

The third goal was scored in the 57th minute. Rodriguez faced the keeper one-on-one in the area, but Bindon came off her line and reacted quickly to save the ball. The rebound bounced into the middle of the area where O'Reilly got a toe on it but the Kiwi defense deflected it. Lindsay Tarpley reacted quick to it and volleyed into the right corner for her 11th goal this year.

Angela Hucles closed the scoring just four minutes later. Lori Chalupny ran down the left flank and got around a defender and blasted a shot that hit the crossbar. The ball fell right to Hucles who was able to shoot the ball through Bindon's hands.

This win put the USA at the top of their group. They advanced to the quarterfinals along with Canada and Japan.

{Image removed as requested by ISI Photos}

The US then played Canada in the quarterfinals. An early goal in the 12th minute gave the US the lead. The goal started off from a long pass from Christie Rampone to Hucles. The ball was played to O'Reilly, Tarpley, and Carli Lloyd, who switched the ball to Rodriguez on the right who crossed a perfect ball to O'Reilly. She headed the ball down to Canada's Erin McLeod who got her fingertips on the ball. Hucles was at the back post to put the ball into the the goal. 10 minutes after the goal, the game was stopped at the 21st minute and delayed for 1 hour and 39 minutes thanks to all the lightning, thunder, and rain. Both teams came back out and had 15 minutes to warm up. The match was started where it left off with a throw in by Canada.

The equalizer came in the 30th minute as the US failed to control a throw-in in their own third. Clare Rustad tackled the ball away from Lloyd, which went into Cristine Sinclair's path. She shot a rocket into the top right corner that just got past US keeper Hope Solo.

Canada went into a defending style of play, while the US played the possession style that head coach Pia Sundhage has been asking for. Their patience got them a lot of scoring chances, but none were finished off. The game went into extra time. Natasha Kai was subbed in for O'Reilly to play for 30 minutes. The US kept pressing and pressing the Canadian defense. In the 101st minute, Rodriguez played the ball back to Shannon Boxx who took a left-footed cross into area. Kai scored the game-winning goal on a diving header. It was the perfect ending for the US, and a heart-breaking one for the Canadians who were trying to go for a medal in their first-ever Olympic appearance.

This match marked the 200th cap for US captain, Christie Rampone. Forward Lauren Cheney made her Olympic debut in the 109th minute when she subbed in for Amy Rodriguez. In 11 minutes, she managed to take 2 dangerous shots, get a yellow card, and help the US keep possession. Shannon Boxx earned her 100th cap, becoming just the 22nd female player in US history to do so. This match also marked the final game for Canadian head coach Even Pellerud.

In the other quarterfinal action, Japan defeated host China 2-0, Germany defeated Sweden 2-0 with 2 goals in extra time, and Brazil defeated Norway 2-1. The US now looks to move on to the Gold Medal match and defend their gold medal when they face Japan next in the semifinals, while Germany faces Brazil.

The US match will be aired on Monday morning at 9 pm local time, 9 am ET on MSNBC. Brazil faces Germany at 6 pm local time, 6 am ET.

The US Women got off to a bad start in the Olympics as they were defeated by Norway on their first Olympic match. They made up for it by defeating Japan, and they are still in the running towards becoming Gold Medalists.

The first game was on August 6, at 7:45 pm at the Qinhuangdao Olympic Stadium. The USA was quickly put on their heels as Norway scored a goal in the 2nd minute. Norway's captain, Ane Stangeland Horpestad, crossed the ball into the area. Hope Solo came charging off her line to punch the ball away, but instead hit defender Lori Chalupny and collided. The ball hit Leni Larsen Kaurin on her shoulder and the ball bounced into the empty net.

Two minutes later, defender Kate Markgraf played a short back pass to Solo into the middle of the field, which was intercepted by Melissa Wiik. She dribbled into the penalty area and curved a shot to the far post around Solo.

{Image removed as requested by ISI Photos}

The US came away with a disappointing loss, but they left it in the past, and started to focus on their next match.

On August 9, the US played Japan at 5:00 pm at the same venue. They played this game with less nerves, and looked more confident going into the game. They won this game 1-0 on a great shot by Carli Lloyd from outside the box. Lindsay Tarpley played a through ball to Stephanie Cox, who raced to the end line and crossed the ball to the top of the box. The ball bounced past a Norwegian defender and Lloyd launched a half volley that flew above Fukumoto and hit the back of the net.

The USA out-shot Japan 18-9. Forward Amy Rodriguez had 3 great chances of scoring but didn't finish them off. Heather O'Reilly played a great game, creating many chances, as well as Heather Mitts who almost scored twice, impressive for a right back defender. Hope Solo also had a great game. She made a great save half way through the first half when Homare Sawa shot the ball to the upper corner, and calmly tipped the ball over the cross bar.

{Image removed as requested by ISI Photos}

The US now has 3 points and are in second place in Group G behind Norway, who has 6 points after defeating New Zealand 1-0. 

The next match for the US Women is against New Zealand at 7:45 PM local time in Shenyang. Coverage on this game will start at 4:30 am PT, 7:30 ET on MSNBC and the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel.

First of all, I have to say that the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy was amazing. I had a great time there, and I have to say this: Julie Foudy is hilarious. She really is.

Now on to the Olympics. The soccer tournament for women is made up of 3 groups of 4 teams. The two best teams in each group along with the two best third-place teams will move on to the quarter finals, and from there it's the semi finals, and then the Bronze and Gold Medal Match.

Here are the groups:

Group E

• China
• Sweden
• Argentina
• Canada

Group F

• Korea DPR
• Nigeria
• Germany
• Brazil

Group G

• Norway
• USA
• Japan
• New Zealand

For a schedule of the tournament click here.

The USA will play Norway on August 6 at 5 AM PT, 8 AM ET, and coverage will start at 4:30 AM on MSNBC and Univversal HD, for those in the US. They will then play Japan on August 9 at 2 AM PT, 5 AM ET and will air on USA and USA HD. They play New Zealand last in their group on August 12 at 5 AM PT and will air on MSNBC.

Note: Lauren Cheney has replaced Abby Wambach for the Olympics.

US head coach Pia Sundhage has named the 18 players that will compete in this year's Olympics, plus four alternates. She chose the final roster after the USA defeated Canada at the Peace Queen Cup.

Nine of the players on the roster were part of the team that won the gold in Athens, Greece four years ago. Two of them are playing in their third Olympics, team captains Christie Rampone and Kate Markgraf. The other seven players who played n Athens are Heather Mitts, Shannon Boxx, Angela Hucles, Aly Wagner, Heather O'Reilly, Lindsay Tarpley, and Abby Wambach.

Six players are playing in their second world championshi with the first being the 2007 World Cup in China. They are Nicole Barnhart, Hope Solo, Lori Chalupny, Stephanie Cox, Carli Lloyd, and Natasha Kai, who is also the first Hawaiian to make an Olympic women's soccer team.

The last three players on the roster are the younger players who are still in college, and are playing in their first-ever world championship. They are defender Rachel Buehler, midfielder Tobin Heath, and forward Amy Rodriguez.

Two players made late runs to earn their spot on the roster. Aly Wagner came back after recovering from a in double-hernia surgery January. She has only played in four games, all at the Peace Queen Cup. Stephanie Cox was released at the end of the team's training camp in June, but after Cat Whitehill tore her ACL in South Korea, she was called up again to join the team, and played well at the Peace Queen Cup.

Heather Mitts also came back from a torn ACL. She was injured in May 2007 in a game against Canada. She came back in late April for the three-game domestic tour.

All 22 players will travel to Europe for two games, against Norway on July 2, and Sweden on July 5. Only the 18 players on the roster will play in the two Olympic send-off matches against Brazil, July 13 at Dick's Sporting Goods Stadium in Commerce City, CO and July 16 at Torero Stadium in San Diego, CA, before heading over to China.

US Women's Olympic Soccer Team:

Goalkeepers (2): Nicole Barnhart, Hope Solo

Defenders (6): Rachel Buehler, Lori Chalupny, Stephanie Cox, Kate Markgraf, Heather Mitts, Christie Rampone

Midfielders (7): Shannon Boxx, Tobin Heath, Angela Hucles, Carli Lloyd, Heather O'Reilly, Lindsay Tarpley, Aly Wagner

Forwards (3): Natasha Kai, Amy Rodriguez, Abby Wambach

The US Women are back to training camp to prepare for the Peace Queen Cup in South Korea. This is the last tournament they will participate in before heading to China for the 2008 Olympics.

The Women's Olympic Football Tournament Draw was held on April 20. The twelve teams that will compete in the Olympics were placed in their groups: Group E consists of China (host), Sweden, Argentina, and Canada; Group F is made up of Korea DPR, Nigeria, two-time world champion Germany, and Brazil who placed second at the 2007 Women's World Cup; and the finally Group G which includes Norway, USA, Japan, and New Zealand.

The USA will face Norway first on group play, on August 6. Then they will play against Japan on August 9, and finally New Zealand on August 12.

The team that finishes first on their group will then move on to the quarter finals, along with the two best third-place teams.

In order for the US WNT to win a medal, they will have to advance to the final four.

The US has won two Olympic Gold Medals since the first Women's Soccer Olympic tournament in 1996. They defeated Norway in sudden death overtime at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, GA. They also won at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, defeating Brazil. The US also won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney Australia after losing to Norway on the championship game in overtime with a score of 2-3 .