The Games Are In Full Swing

The pageantry of the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games symbolizes the start of this festive round of competition in sports we generally care little about. That will happen in Rio De Janeiro on Friday night. Perhaps for the moment we will forget about security issues, the Zika virus, a turgid ocean unfit for the water sports, substandard housing for the athletes and the Russian doping scandal.

Let’s focus on something more positive. On Wednesday night, the United States women’s Olympic soccer team opens play against New Zealand at 6 p.m. ET. The game is being televised by NBC Sports Network.

The Americans are seeking a fourth consecutive gold medal to add to their World Cup triumph, but it is with a vastly different roster than in the past. Abby Wambach and Lauren Holiday have retired, and Meghan Rapinoe, returning from a knee injury, probably won’t be available for the first few matches.

It’s a younger team, with 11 new Olympians. And yet the U.S. remains the favorite and the players know it.

“We as a team acknowledge the pressure,” goalkeeper Hope Solo told the Associated Press. “We know that the target is on our backs. We are ranked No. 1 for quite some time, we won last year’s World Cup, we won the last Olympics. It doesn’t make it easy. We don’t come into any tournament with an extreme amount of confidence or arrogance. We know that the job is going to be extremely difficult to repeat winning a gold medal.”
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman