The U.S. must slow Sweden's potent attack partners

As Nigeria saw, slowing Victoria Svensson (11) and Sweden's attackers isn't easy. Simon Bruty/SI

CHENGDU, China -- The United States' 2-2 draw with North Korea in its World Cup opener wasn't the end of the world -- especially since the other Group B game between Sweden and Nigeria also ended in a tie. The entire group is sitting with one point, and you can argue that the U.S. has an edge because it already has its toughest game out of the way.

On the other hand, Tuesday's results leave the U.S. with virtually no margin for error in Friday's game with Sweden. While it's true that a draw against the Swedes means that the U.S. would enter its final game in no worse than a tie for second in the group (the top two teams qualify for the knockout stage), that's bad for two reasons:

First, it's not going to do wonders for anyone's confidence to have a measly two points from two games. And second, the U.S. needs to win Group B. The team that finishes second in the group gets defending champion Germany -- which put 11 past Argentina on Monday -- in the first knockout game. The team that wins the group gets England or Japan, who between them have never advanced past the quarterfinals.

In a previous piece about North Korea, I compared the North Koreans to Ivan Drago -- foreign and mysterious. Sweden couldn't be more different. To run that Rocky analogy into the ground, the Swedes are like Apollo Creed: a familiar old foe (they've played nine times since 2000) that's strong, dangerous in possession and sports an impressive track record (they were runners-up in the '03 Cup).

"We match up very well with Sweden," says U.S. striker Abby Wambach. "We have very similar systems."

When you ask anyone around the U.S. team about Sweden, the answer invariably contains two names: Victoria Svensson and Hanna Ljungberg.

(You get the sense that U.S. coach Greg Ryan and his players have been hypnotized so that any time they hear the word "Sweden" in a question, they immediately respond, "Well, they've got Svensson and Ljungberg." "Greg, how's Sweden?" "Well, they've got Svensson and Ljungberg." "What makes Sweden so tough?" "Well, they've got Svensson and Ljungberg." "How's the weather in Sweden?" "Well, they've got Svensson and Ljungberg.")

The duo is the main talking point for a reason. They might be the best pair of strikers in the world. Ljungberg, who was once offered a contract by Italian club Perugia, has a knack for finding the net, while Svensson, the goal-scorer in Tuesday's draw with Nigeria, is great with the ball at her feet. Young winger Lotta Schelin is also a handful.

While the Swedes are, like North Korea, loaded with attacking options, they go about things differently. Sweden is not going to come out and try to run the U.S. into the ground like the Koreans did; they've got a more deliberate, free-flowing attacking style.

And they're not going to take the U.S. out of its game like the Koreans literally did. Against North Korea, Ryan abandoned his usual 4-3-3 in favor of a 3-4-3 he breaks out on occasion, with Stephanie Lopez pushing up into the midfield. It worked out OK; North Korea was able to control the center of the pitch, but most of their chances were from long range.

The move back to a 4-3-3 will likely be a good thing for Lopez, who should be more comfortable returning to left back, and for defensive midfielder Shannon Boxx, who had a very uncharacteristically rough night on Tuesday.

The Swedes have had a hard time keeping Ljungberg -- and to, a lesser extent, Svensson -- healthy. Now that they're finally both ready to go, the team has lost its star goalkeeper, Caroline Jonsson. Replacement Hedvig Lindahl looked decent against Nigeria in a strange game.

Sweden looked comfortable for the first 50 minutes, taking the lead on Svensson's goal. But then it seemed to take its foot off the pedal, which let Nigeria get a little confidence. By the end of the night, the Swedes looked downright ordinary, and they're going to have to be better than that to win on Friday.

The game should be tight and hard-fought -- just don't expect as many fireworks as we saw Tuesday. Says forward Heather O'Reilly, "That North Korea-U.S. game was, I hope, one of the best games that a lot of fans have ever seen -- the attacking and the chances. The Sweden game is going to be more about two teams tactically breaking each other down."

Best of the first round

Now that everyone has played one game, let's take a look at what we've seen so far...

Best Game: Even better than the U.S.-North Korea shootout was the China-Denmark game. China looked like it put it away when it scored its second goal to go up 2-0, but Denmark pulled one back a minute later. Then the Danes equalized in the 87th minute, only to see China snag the winner a minute later. A great see-saw affair that showed that momentum isn't always what it's cracked up to be.

Who's impressed: China. After getting trounced in the '07 Algarve Cup, China hired former Sweden coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors in March. The fact that she's a woman and a foreigner made it a controversial hire, but it's paid off.

China, which lost the plot after its runner-up finish in '99, has started developing players again and Domanski-Lyfors has taken the team she's inherited and molded it into a dangerous unit. The fact that they're playing at home makes them an intriguing dark horse. We'll know better after they play Brazil on Saturday.

Who hasn't: Argentina, we're looking at you. Eleven goals? Not good. Hard to believe they beat Brazil, but they did so in qualifying.

Jury's out on: Germany, which gave Argentina its thrashing, and Brazil, which gave New Zealand a good hiding. Neither game was a test.

Best goal: There have been plenty of stunners: Marta's long-range bomb against New Zealand, Aya Miyama's free kick on the final kick of the game that gave Japan a draw with England, O'Reilly's equalizer against North Korea (which, she admitted, didn't feel great coming off her foot: "I was surprised at how pretty it looked.")

But the best was Song Xiaoli's game-winner for China, which involved a great bit of skill to chest down a pass followed by an absolute belter of a shot.

Best celebration: England's Kelly Smith removed one shoe and kissed it after her first goal; both shoes got bussed after her second. Nice. Alas, Smith confessed her celebration was a ploy to sell shoes.

"Umbro have just named and numbered my boots," Smith said, "and I dreamt up this celebration when I was going through my visualization techniques last night. I don't think young girls back home can buy Kelly Smith boots just yet, but after this performance, maybe it's an idea."

Finally, a stat that may or may not mean anything: Of the 39 goals scored so far, 30 have come in the second half. And if you throw out the Argentina game, it's 24 of 28.