The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup started this week and Team USA secured its first win, a 2-0 defeat of North Korea that left the vanquished lightening struck. The American women enter the tournament as a top team but by no means are the favorite to win it all. That honor goes to the host country German national team. But one player, former ASU defender Amy LePeilbet will do her best to bring home the cup.
LePeilbet played three years in Tempe from 2000-03 and started every one of her 74 games as a Sun Devil. She was a Second-Team All-American as a senior and First-Team All-Pac-10 three times. Amy stayed in valley and played professional ball with the now-defunct Arizona Heatwave of the USL W-League from 2003 to 2005. She stayed around to coach junior varsity soccer and was an assistant for the varsity team at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix during the 2005-06 season.
The first game for the U.S. in the FIFA World Cup started shaky with an opening 45 minutes that saw far too much pressure on goalie Hope Solo. The team recovered well in the second half and grabbed control of the game with two goals and domination of the ball. LePielbet's rating for the match mirrored that of the team.
Women's World Cup -- Grading the U.S.'s performance against North Korea -- Jeff Carlisle - ESPN
D Amy LePeilbet, 4: For a player who is supposedly a lockdown defender, LePeilbet struggled mightily to contain Kim and Song, was beaten to the byline more than once and only contributed occasionally to the attack. Recovered to have a much more composed second half.
Sweden and Columbia are the other two teams in Group C with the U.S. and North Korea. Sweden beat Columbia in their match putting the United States and Sweden in early control of the group. Next up is Columbia on July 2 and then Sweden on July 6. The top-two teams will advance to the knockout phase which start on the 9th and 10th of July.
The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team won the FIFA World Cup in 1991 and 1999.