defender Heather Mitts and midfielders Lindsay Tarpley, Shannon Boxx, Angela Hucles, Heather O'Reilly and Aly Wagner.
Or perhaps it will fall on the shoulders of some of the younger players such as Hucles. who scored the game-winning goal to lift the U.S. to a 1-0 win against Canada and to the Peace Queen Cup crown Saturday in Suwon, South Korea. There are other candidates, including defender Rachel Buehler, midfielder Carli Lloyd and forward Natasha Kai, who all started in the final, and forward Amy Rodriguez, who will be a senior for Division I champion Southern California, and midfielder Tobin Heath, a University of North Carolina junior who at 20 is the youngest player on the roster.
"The strength of this team is that they are brave and they can play different systems," Sundhage said. "From the way they played last year and how they adapted to a new coach [in seven months], I'm impressed. ... The weakness is that we don't have enough time, a lot of time."
But Sundhage has a big question for her team, which has won every tournament in sight this year.
"Could you perform when it really matters?" she asked. "If I look at the games today, the players have a smile on their faces and they seem to be happy. If all of us have the same feeling going to the Olympics, we don't know."
Scurry, 37, has backstopped the U.S. to the 1999 WWC crown and to the 1996 and 2004 Olympic gold medals.
Scurry unwittingly became part of a goalkeeping controversy at the Women's World Cup in September when she replaced regular Hope Solo for the semifinal against Brazil. It turned into the biggest disaster in U.S. women's soccer history, a devastating and embarrassing 4-0 loss. Solo complained to the media and the story took on a life of its own, overshadowing anything with the team. The stunning decision eventually helped cost coach Greg Ryan his job.
Oh yes, the U.S. finished third, which might be good for most countries, but quite disappointing for the Red, White and Blue, who already have two world championship titles and two Olympic gold medals under their belts.
Sundhage, who selected Solo and Nicole Barnhart for another trip to China, said Scurry wasn't left off the 18-player roster because of the rivalry.
"No, not at all," she said. "The reason why I picked those two goalkeepers was because especially of the way we play. We want to keep the ball. I want them to do it in the back four, including the goalkeeper. Both Nicole and Hope are very good with their feet."
When Scurry was told she did not make the team, Sundhage said she "acted very professional. ... Now she's a third goalkeeper. She will be fit and ready to go if something happens to the other two goalkeepers."
Sundhage said she didn't know if Scurry's international career was over. "If she continues to play in the [new] league next year, she has a chance to come back," she said.
The three other alternates are defender Ali Krieger, midfielder Kacey White and forward Lauren Cheney.
The U.S. players who earned a roster spot were just happy they did, whether they were a regular, coming back from injury or a longshot.
Wambach, who is only two goals shy of reaching the coveted 100-international mark, was a lock, although she didn't necessary think so.
"There's probably a sense of relief on everybody's part," she said. "You are under constant evaluation and this is one of the few times on this team that you are actually set (on a roster) for more than a month. So, it's kind of a relief for everyone, from the veterans down to the players in their first world championship.
"When we went into the meeting room and saw the names on the board, that brought me back to all the sacrifices that go into being on this team on a daily basis. Missing family, birthdays, proms, a lot of things people get to experience in normal daily life. That affirmation of those sacrifices in that one moment that you do make a world championship roster."
For Mitts, making the team meant another important step on a comeback from a knee injury that kept her out of last year's Women's World Cup.
"I don't think it has quite sunk in yet," she said. "It's pretty amazing to think it was a year ago that I was sitting on the sideline watching the whole thing and not being able to be there. I think, if anything, I appreciate this opportunity even more. I still have a long way to go to be where I want to be, but I am going to give it my all and feel blessed to be in this position."
Then there's Cox, who admitted she was on "an emotional rollercoaster." She was told three weeks ago that she had not made the team. After defender Cat Whitehill suffered a torn ACL, Cox was brought in and then earned a roster spot.
Cox said that "when Pia told me I didn't make the roster, I was devastated, so disappointed, and crushed. It took me a few days for it sink in and grieve a bit. I was just starting to transition and figure out what was next, maybe looking forward to a relaxing summer and spending time with my husband and family and friends, just trying to find the positives.
"Just when I was starting to transition, I got called back in. Then I had to pick back up mentally because I had dropped that mental competitive edge. My motto of the last couple of weeks has been moment by moment so it's kind of surreal to think about the Olympics in month and a half because so much has been focused on the next practice and the next game."
The U.S. roster:
Goalkeepers (2): Nicole Barnhart (Gilbertsville, Pa.), Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.). Defenders (6): Rachel Buehler (Del Mar, Calif.), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), Stephanie Cox (Elk Grove, Calif.), Kate Markgraf (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Heather Mitts (Cincinnati, Ohio), Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant, N.J.). Midfielders (7): Shannon Boxx (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Angela Hucles (Virginia Beach, Va.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Heather O'Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Aly Wagner (San Jose, Calif.). Forwards (3): Natasha Kai (Kahuku, Hawaii), Amy Rodriguez (Lake Forest, Calif.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).
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.
