WINNIPEG, Manitoba – It is just as well that they don't award style points in soccer because the United States' 0-0 draw with Sweden on Friday wasn't pretty, exciting or blessed with the kind of verve you would like to see from an aspiring World Cup champion.
And it didn't matter.
While the U.S. struggled to impress and had the leaping head of diminutive left-back Meghan Klingenberg to thank for avoiding defeat on Friday, their potential run at the title remained firmly on track.
Never mind that as a spectacle, for the first hour at least, this was about as much fun as Mayweather-Pacquiao, although at least it didn't set television viewers back nearly a hundred bucks or those in the arena thousands.