U.S. women try to keep World Cup momentum

WOLFSBURG, Germany -- Rest is nice, but winning is better.

The United States plays Sweden Wednesday in the group stage finale at the Women's World Cup, a game that would seem to have little importance with both teams already through to the quarterfinals. But there is plenty still at stake for the Americans.

"We go for a win," U.S. coach Pia Sundhage said yesterday. "Absolutely."

The two-time Cup champions need only a tie against Sweden to win Group C and likely avoid a quarterfinal matchup with Brazil. The Group C winner plays the second-place team in Group D, likely Australia or Norway, and the Group C runner-up gets the Group D winner.

"I can safely say that there's not going to be one player or staff member from the United States that's going to say, 'We want a tie,' " Abby Wambach said. "We want to win this game because we want to keep the momentum.

"Obviously, you have to be smart. We want to get some of those 90-minute players some rest if we can do that. But first and foremost, we want to make sure and secure first place out of this group."

Sundhage has the luxury of working a few more players into the mix or protecting starters with aches and pains. Wambach (Achilles) and Heather O'Reilly (groin) sat out practice Monday as a precaution.

"We don't have to force anything, which is good," Sundhage said. "It would be totally different if this was a game that would take us to the quarterfinals, but it's not.''

The United States is 18-4-7 against Sweden, including 3-0 in the World Cup. But Sweden beat Team USA, 2-1, in January, one of three losses in a five-month span after the Americans went more than two years without a loss.

Since arriving in Germany, however, the U.S. team has not resembled the team that struggled just to get there. Only Japan (six) has more than the five goals the Americans had in their first two games. (France also has five goals.) Although forwards Wambach and Amy Rodriguez haven't scored, five teammates have goals, including defender Rachel Buehler.

"We know that we're entertaining people," goalkeeper Hope Solo said. "We're not just winning games. You can see that swagger back in the U.S. team, whether it's the way we celebrate goals or the way you can see we're enjoying the game again."