Nike
Mercurial Vapor Superfly III is faster than a
rocket (just a little exaggerating). “Have a little faith in me,” sang Pia Sundhage, channeling John Hiatt
in perfect pitch — complete with a soulful flourish at the end.
The competitive portion of the London Games
begins today, two days before the Opening Ceremony and far removed from the
nonstop Olympic freneticism of the British capital. Soccer is one of two sports
that starts early — archery is the other — because the extra days are needed to
play a sufficient slate of games that doesn’t wear out the players.
The U.S.
starts group play against France
at historic Hampden
Park , the only Scottish
venue for the Summer Games. New
soccer cleats offer you some shoes with lower price. One can barely
walk 20 feet in London without noticing
something that has to do with the Olympics, but the buzz in Glasgow just isn’t the same. Some 37,000 fans
are expected for the U.S.-France, Colombia-North Korea doubleheader in the
52,000-seat stadium, but organizers say about 80% of the tickets were freebies
given to schools and local clubs because women’s soccer isn’t much of a draw in
the area.
Sundhage gave her news conference in a
nearly empty auditorium — there were far more volunteers than journalists — and
the players are staying in a regular downtown hotel instead of an Olympic
village. Cheap
soccer cleats have a unique design that people are comfortable to wear
them. The two-time defending champs will have to make the gold-medal game to be
assured of playing in London , and they won’t be
attending Friday’s Opening Ceremony because they have an afternoon game against
Colombia in Glasgow the next day.
Starting early means a quicker end to the
agonizing wait, which is a good thing for the U.S. players. They’ve been training
in Glasgow for a week after spending the
previous week in Darlington ,
England , and
they’ve become a bit antsy.
“You can feel
the tension start to rise,” goalkeeper Hope Solo said. “It’s a good, positive
energy, and people are going into tackles harder. It’s like ‘unleash the
beast.’ Soccer
cleats on sale give you more choice to have it now. We’re waiting for
somebody to unleash us.”
? Anthony leads U.S.
men: Carmelo Anthony came off the bench to score 23 of his 27 points in the
first half and LeBron James scored 25 points as the U.S.
took care of Spain , 100-78,
in Barcelona on
Tuesday. It was the final exhibition for the U.S.
before the Olympic basketball competition begins Sunday in London .