Funny how one set of penalty kicks — icy execution in eerie silence as early-rising fans back home watched in fright — turned not only the gold-medal outlook for the U.S. women’s national soccer team Friday but the feeling about the program.
Had the shootout with the Netherlands on Friday not gone the Americans’ way, had Alyssa Naeher not made two saves — on top of the one late in regulation — and her teammates not converted every attempt, Coach Vlatko Andonovski might have been out of a job upon his return stateside and several players perhaps would have started preparing retirement speeches.