Argentina v. United States 0-1(half-time 0-1)

The women’s Olympic tournament had its first major upset today when the United States topped defending World Champion Argentina 1-0 in Pool B action. The win splits both teams’ records as each now have a win and a loss.

The meeting highly anticipated as billed as the grudge match after the Americans topped Argentina 4-2 in the final game of the Pan American games to earn their berth to London. That win was one of the biggest upsets that Argentina had ever suffered at the continental level and many expected the Argentines to extract their revenge today.

But America made it two in a row today and staked its claim in both this London tournament and back home in the Pan American continent.

The pace of the first half was quick with the teams evenly matched, but it was the Americans that always seemed to have the upper hand. With seven minutes left in the half, the U.S. was rewarded for its efforts when Michelle Vittese threaded a nice pass to Shannon Taylor who made a sprawling effort for the tip-in goal and the early 1-0 lead.

The Americans opened the second half with three straight unsuccessful penalty corners, and spent the rest of the half fending off an increasingly dangerous Argentine attack. But despite some fantastic opportunities, Argentina could not find a way to get on the board as Lauren Crandall earned her keep and helped the Americans hold on for the 1-0 victory.

(Eric Bailey)

Amy SWENSEN (USA)
On whether the team have caused an upset:
"I don't think we think about things in terms of upsets anymore, it's wins and losses and we're just trying to win as many as we can right now."

On the last 20 minutes of the match:
"They were stressful. Our team just fought and everybody put their body on the line, people were diving in to make tackles, it was a big team effort. Argentina kept coming at us, and coach (Lee BODIMEADE, AUS) thinks we need to be a little bit smarter and do a little bit towards the end of the game."

On going forward in the competition:
"I think any athlete needs to make sure they stay composed and steady, not get too low on the losses and too high on the wins. We're gonna regroup, get together and look at our next game."

Shannon TAYLOR (USA)
On scoring the only goal of the game:
"It was amazing to score the goal. We've been practising a lot being on the far post and being in the right position. I saw the ball going across the circle and just went for it to be honest."

Martina CAVALLERO (ARG)
On the difficulties and surprises Argentina faced in the game against USA:
"It was a very physical match and that was a big surprise. We found it difficult to progress in the game and score goals. We tried to increase the pressure on the USA in the second half and just go after what we wanted."

On the strength of the USA team:
"We knew that everyone would be going out on to the field to give it their all. We wanted to play better and towards the end of the second half we began to find our game. We didn't feel that we were under pressure in the second half, even though we were one goal under. Situations where we could have got goals presented themselves but we just didn't have the luck of getting them in behind us."