usa 2 north korea 0

the first half was an excellent contest, with usa controlling the ball, but north korea just as dangerous on the counter. amy rodriguez was a livewire in the first half, constantly popping up everywhere.

the americans started the second half stronger, using their athleticism to cause problems for the north koreans. the breakthrough eventually arrived and the americans never looked back. north korea did have a late rally, but the result was already beyond doubt.

the americans look like they are back in business. as i said, you can never write them off. amy rodriguez and abby wambach form a formidable strike partnership.

while north korea are the secret favourites for some, this game, just like the friendly against germany showed why, while they are a good team, a good opponent, they lack that mentality to go all the way. their game plan is based on defence. that's great if it's 0-0. your next counter could be that 1-0.

but once they are 1-0 down, they don't have that mentality to dictate play, whereas the opponents will sense that the wall has crumbled and they can plunder more.

defensive football, like greece in 2004 and mourinho's inter milan could pull it off sometimes, but attacking football will always triumph in the end... because to win, you need to score, and to score, you need to attack.