Team USA Ready to Fine-tune Play With Three Exhibitions

By JOEDY McCREARY
AP Sports Writer

Posted: Apr. 22 8:43 p.m.

CARY, N.C. — Heather O'Reilly took one look at this town's intimate soccer stadium, and all those warm, fuzzy memories of college came washing back. The forward won two national titles here with North Carolina, starred as the national player of the year and always felt comfortably at home.

Now she's back, hoping to make even more memories while keeping the U.S. national team humming along on its way toward the Olympics.

The Americans are here to tune up for the Beijing Games, opening practice Tuesday night in the Raleigh suburb where they'll begin a three-city tour that includes a series of exhibition matches against international opponents. And O'Reilly is counting on a home-pitch advantage at the venue where she capped her college career in 2006 by leading the Tar Heels to the most recent of their 18 national championships.

"The stadium, I can just imagine how everything looked, especially my senior year because that was such a special season for me," O'Reilly said after working out at an adjacent practice field. "I look over at that stadium and it stirs up a lot of memories."

It's her teammates' first chance of the year to play on American soil and another opportunity to perfect the new style preferred by new coach Pia Sundhage, who replaced Greg Ryan and has implemented a deliberate, tactical approach to the sport while placing a premium on ball possession.

"On the most basic level, it's about feeling the game rather than doing X, Y and Z," forward Abby Wambach said. "Obviously, there's a time and a place for doing X, Y and Z, but (Sundhage) always felt that feeling the game and learning how to feel the game and seeing how that will play out, there's something to be said about going inside and seeing what goes on inside you on the pitch, and on the most basic level, that's the thing that she's brought to this team.

"She's brought new love and a fresh attitude, and more than anything else, the style itself - possession, rhythm and attacking, all things that people will enjoy watching and I sure as heck enjoy playing."

Nobody can argue with the results so far. Team USA is 10-0-1 under Sundhage this year, wrapping up its spot in the Olympics earlier this month in a semifinal of the CONCACAF qualifier in Mexico and going on to win the event for its third tournament of 2008. Next up are a pair of friendlies against Australia, one here Sunday and the other May 3 in Birmingham, Ala., before closing the tour one week later in Washington against Canada.

"For us, it's a new year, a new era for this team, every game, every minute is a growing experience for us," defender Heather Mitts said. "We have a new philosophy, which we're still learning, and so far it's been working well for us, but we have a long way to go. We want to peak at the Olympics, the finals, and this is just fine-tuning our skills until then."

Mitts and midfielder Aly Wagner, both members of the gold-medal-winning team at the 2004 games in Athens, are working their way back from injuries and are looking to regain their rhythm before this summer's Olympics. Wagner had double-hernia surgery in January while Mitts hasn't played this year after she tore a knee ligament last May.

"It's been a long process. It's been kind of frustrating, but I think that it's been great because I've been able to come in and be with the team and learn the new philosophy," Mitts said. "But I haven't had my first minutes of 2008 yet, so hopefully this will be it ... and hopefully I'll be in Beijing."

-The Associated Press.