No matter what the game or competition, there are always great expectations.
That's what you get when you are so successful. In the seven major FIFA championships since the inception of the Women's World Cup in 1991, the United States has never finished below third place, an amazing accomplishment even for the Brazilian men.
That tally includes two world championships (1991 and 1999) and two Olympic gold medals (1996 and 2004).
So, when the team doesn't play up to its potential even with winning, there are bound to be concerns and questions.
Despite advancing to the quarterfinals for the fifth consecutive Women's World Cup the USA haven't played anywhere near their promise.
They won Group B, nicknamed the Group of Death due to the quality of the opposition (North Korea is ranked third in the world, Sweden fifth and Nigeria 24th), with a 2-0-1 record.
But the U.S. hasn't looked as imposing as past teams and champions. The Americans outscored their opposition in the opening round 5-2, but they did not come close to the same side that dominated its warm-up games this past summer.
Yes, there was some great resistance in the first round and U.S. coach Greg Ryan hopes his team will be more relaxed playing outside of the group.
"It was a very, very tough group," he said. "Each game was very tight -- not only physically hard, but mentally difficult. Our group wasn't settled until the very end of the Nigeria game, because it was very tight in terms of who would go through. Hopefully, we'll be a little more relaxed and more composed, but again, in the World Cup, you have to wait and see on the day."
In the first round, the U.S. looked tight at times. They rushed their passes and appeared out of sync at times.
"We can keep the ball a lot better, possess it better," Ryan said. "We may be rushing it and not holding onto the ball long enough."
The U.S. certainly was rattled playing seven minutes without their star, Abby Wambach, when she needed stitches to close a head cut against Korea. That's when they surrendered their two goals.
"We definitely can play better in those upcoming games," said U.S. midfielder Lori Chalupny, the goal-scoring hero of the 1-0 win against Nigeria Tuesday. "We played some tough opponents. We want to improve on that."
The U.S. will have an opportunity to make improvements and amends against England in a quarterfinal confrontation in Tianjin on Saturday (ESPN, 7:55 a.m. ET). This is England's first quarterfinal since the 1995 WWC, where it was eliminated. The U.S. is 4-0 in four previous quarterfinals.
After surviving the never-say-stop Koreans' attack in a 2-2 tie, the U.S. has produced back-to-back shutouts against Sweden (2-0) and Nigeria (1-0). For the most part, the team defense has been solid.
But there has been something lacking on attack.
The U.S.'s biggest disappointment and concern has been its inability to finish. Wambach has done her part with three goals, but the rest of the team has combined for two goals.
"Finishing is just something that comes," Ryan said. "The main goal is that you have to create chances. You never put a lot of pressure on a goal-scorer or they'll miss more.
"We're playing so well defensively and on other set plays, it gives us a chance to win games. ... We're not getting the luck of the bounce. At some point they start falling. We just hope it's soon."
Ryan blamed some of the offensive fizzle on the waterlogged fields, although it didn't stop teams like Norway (seven goals against Ghana) from scoring at will.
Some players need to step up.
Midfielder Carli Lloyd, who enjoyed a break-out Algarve Cup in Portugal in March, hasn't come close to matching that production.
Forward Kristine Lilly, the seemingly bionic woman with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of international matches, has to find the back of the net to relieve some of the pressure off of Wambach.
There is a ton of pressure on this U.S. team. Playing in its first major international competition without the likes of Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Brandi Chastain and company, this younger generation will try to get out of the shadow of those past legendary sides and show they can reach the same lofty heights.
If the U.S. gets past England, Brazil (if it beats Australia in the quarterfinals) and defending world champion Germany loom over the horizon in the semifinals and final, respectively.
So it certainly doesn't get any easier from here.
Of course, if the U.S. manages to win its final three games and takes the final victory lap with the trophy around Shanghai Hongkou Football Stadium on Sept. 30, a lot will be forgotten and forgiven.
But if the U.S. doesn't, a bad taste will be left in the team's mouths with another big international competition in this country -- the Beijing Olympics -- less than 11 months away.
Perhaps after 16 years of excellence, we're expecting too much. You get spoiled after a while, expecting nothing but the best. After all, settling for anything less than a world championship is considered a failure for this team.
Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News and is editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
