After getting off to a sluggish start, the American women's soccer team is back on track after a big win over New Zealand today at Shenyang Olympic Stadium.
Team USA is the defending gold medal winner and entered the Olympics with expectations to contend for the gold again, but the combination of an injury to star Abby Wambach and a 2-0 opening loss to Norway led to questions of whether the rest of the world had not just caught up to American women's soccer but even surpassed the U.S.
But today's impressive performance, in which Heather O'Reilly scored 40 seconds into the game for the fastest goal in Olympic women's soccer history, will go a long way toward restoring the Americans' confidence. Thanks to Japan upsetting Norway in today's other Group G game, Team USA advances to the knockout stage as the winner of its group, and although the Americans aren't the gold medal favorites, a medal is definitely within their grasp.
