USA women underwhelming in final World Cup tuneup with scoreless draw

HARRISON, N.J. -- This wasn't exactly the way the send-off was supposed to go.

With 26,467 screaming fans in red, white and blue packed into Red Bull Arena to wish Team USA farewell before this summer's World Cup in Canada, the U.S. gave an underwhelming performance.

The U.S. tied South Korea 0-0 in its final friendly. The Americans had few scoring opportunities, only three corner kicks, and didn't make Korean goalkeeper Kim Jungmi worry her net was in danger with just five shots on goal. And every one came right into her gloves.

There are nine days to go before the U.S. plays its first World Cup match against Australia. And the team still has work to do.

"We never step on a field thinking that a tie is good enough and I think for me, for sure we definitely could have played better," Abby Wambach said. "But this is not a time to panic. We've got a lot of minutes hopefully to be played in Canada.

"As long as we stay positive and confident, those are the two things important about winning any tournament. You can't let games or performances or lack of scoring affect world championship runs."

The most peculiar part about it all was the U.S. controlled what seemed like all 90 minutes. Coach Jill Ellis has gotten flack for not having a holding central midfielder who can see the field and direct, but the Americans don't have a possession problem. Do they have a scoring problem? Will it help to get Alex Morgan, who has been out for over a month with a bruised bone in her left knee, back in Canada?

"Alex is always going to be important because of what she can bring to the game," Ellis said. "But I do have confidence in our forwards. We had tons of chances in the last game and I think this is a game where players are, I wouldn't say in survival mode, but a lot of it is we want to go (into the World Cup) healthy and they have had a long week.

"It's been a long week here mentally and physically and I thought physically we were a little leggy. But you know it's now time to put all the circus behind us and get to Canada and recharge our batteries."

Not scoring will become a bigger issue when the U.S. gets into the thick of the summer facing stronger teams than South Korea, ranked 18th in the world.

Rather than play the long ball up to speedy Sydney Leroux or strong Wambach, the U.S. attempted to combine more and get passes through all three lines. But once they got into the final offensive third, they were completely ineffective. Jungmi never made a diving save. Hope Solo, on the other hand, had to in the final minutes.

"I don't think we moved the ball well enough and I don't think our mobility off the ball was conducive to having a really high tempo passing game, and that's what we talked about at halftime," Ellis said.

Ellis also said the U.S. didn't get enough penetration from midfielders Christen Press and Morgan Brian, which is something creative and veteran player Megan Rapinoe, who didn't play due to a "slight knock" in practice Friday, would provide.

The U.S. is one of the favorites to win the World Cup. But in order to be dominant, the goals must come.

And they usually do. In previous friendlies this spring, the U.S. had trouble finishing in the first half but always found its groove in the second. Two weeks ago against Mexico, the score at halftime was 1-1 and the Americans came back to win 5-1.

One of the Americans' greatest strengths throughout the World Cup will be their depth. When their opponents get tired, the U.S. can make substitutions and use its endurance to stay fresh. South Korea grew tired while the U.S. pressed on, except for the fact that they still couldn't capitalize.

"A tie is a loss in my book," Carli Lloyd said. "But at the end of the day, you gotta move on from this game. This game is just a tune-up game and our focus is now on Australia."

The U.S. heads to Winnipeg early next week and faces Australia on June 8.