if her teammates can ever put away one of her passes -- and of course, a goal-scorer.
Smith's dangerous moves and scoring ability are not lost on the U.S. team as two American players are former teammates of Smith, who has 25 goals in 64 international appearances.
"Kelly Smith is one of the best players in the world," said U.S. forward Heather O'Reilly, a former teammate of Smith on the 2004 Wildcats (W-League). "I've seen glimpses of brilliance from her."
"I know a lot of her tricks," said U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo, who played with Smith on the Philadelphia Charge in the Women's United Soccer Association. "She is one of my favorite players to watch, one of the classiest players I've ever played with and I have the utmost respect for her."
During England's 2-2 opening-round draw with Japan, Smith took off her soccer boots and kissed them for her goal celebration. She didn't do that celebrate for her two goals against Argentina.
"She's a vital member of this team and a great player," England coach Hope Powell told www.FIFA.com before the Women's World Cup kicked off. "For us, it's important that Kelly plays well, but she needs to be supported by the players around her. Kelly cannot win a game on her own. In China, I thought that Kelly did OK, but I've seen her play much better. However, she was given a greater exposure during the Four Nations tournament and that attention will no doubt give her a lot of confidence, which I believe will help her prove that she is one of the world's greatest players during this World Cup."
Smith, who also is the assistant Arsenal women's academy director, told FIFA.com that playing in "the U.S. helped me a lot. I became used to playing regularly with and against the best players in the world. When I went over there I was taken aback with the level of intensity that they showed in training every day, their enthusiasm and appetite for the game -- it rubbed off on me and it developed my game. Now, I'm using what I learned to help the English game develop."
Smith, who turns 29 on Oct. 29, is a self-admitted soccer junkie. She loves to play the game, which hasn't always made life easy for the 27-year-old talent.
It may be difficult to believe this in the land of Title IX, but Smith had to resort to unorthodox ways to play in her native England.
Because there were no girls teams across the pond, the nine-year-old Smith had to cut her hair short to play with a boys side until the parents of the other teams figured out she was a girl.
"I was angry," Smith was quoted by The Times of London earlier this month. "I was always being told I shouldn't be playing. I'd even hear it from friends. They didn't say I personally wasn't any good, but they'd just say girls are rubbish, and it hurt. Football was a part of me."
Don't worry. Smith finally found a girls team, signed with the Arsenal Ladies and made her England debut when she was 17 years, three days old.
Smith was one of the WUSA's leading players, but suffered a pair of knee injuries and a broken leg during her three-year tenure with the league. She told The Times of London earlier this month that she started to suffer from depression.
"I got into a very bad patch," she said. "I get my happiness from playing, but I couldn't play. I didn't talk to anybody about it. Perhaps that's where the problems stemmed from. I wasn't in contact with my family and it got very lonely. I always gave a smile, everybody thought I was OK, but deep down I was really hurting."
Known as an introvert, Smith surprisingly wound up on the sidelines earlier this year watching Arsenal play for the women's European Cup as she was suspended for both legs after she was given her marching orders in the semifinals.
"I just lost it," Smith told The Times. "Something angry went in my head. I could hear their fans jeering at me and I stuck a finger up at them. ... Watching the final from the stands was the most nerve-racking time of my life."
On Saturday, Smith hopes to shake some nerves on the U.S. team.
THE LAST TIME: Sometimes you have to look beyond the score to understand what a result really means.
Take, for instance, the U.S.'s 1-1 draw with England in the Four Nations Cup in Guangzhou, China on Jan. 28. It was an evenly played match, but with one big difference -- the U.S. used many young players in the encounter, giving veterans such as the dangerous Abby Wambach and team captain Kristine Lilly a much-deserved rest.
O'Reilly scored the USA's lone goal. The U.S. went on to win the competition.
"We know that England is a very strong team," U.S. coach Greg Ryan said. "It was a very good game. They've come a long, long way. It's not surprising that England is in the second round. I expected them to make it out of their group, and I think their performance against Germany showed how strong they are. I think there was only one chance in the game between the two teams."
Added Lilly: "I think that if we play better soccer we have a chance of winning. But both teams are going to be fighting to go on. It's going to be a great match."
England, which has reached the WWC quarterfinals for the first time since 1995, has one fan in U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo.
"England is one of my most favorite teams to watch," she said. "I think they are classy on the ball, and they know how to break down a team by knowing when to go forward, when to go back. They are just organized team, it's just fun to watch."
LAST KICK, LAST LICKS: Canada was only seconds away from reaching the quarterfinals Thursday, but it allowed the equalizing goal by Australia captain Cheryl Salisbury on the very last kick of the match two minutes into stoppage time as the Matildas secured a 2-2 tie and a place in the quarterfinals.
The Australians needed only a tie to advance, the Canadians a win.
Christine Sinclair's 85th-minute header had given Canada a 2-1 advantage.
It was a heart-breaking elimination for the Canadians.
"We hesitated on the ball deep into stoppage time and allowed them one last chance and they took full advantage of it," said Canada coach Even Pellerud, who directed his native Norway to the 1995 world championship.
"When they scored late I thought the game was all over," said Australia coach Tom Sermanni, who directed the New York Power in the WUSA in 2003.
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.
