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SHED A LITTLE LIGHT EDITION

World Cup soccer is to a Friendly soccer as Coke is to Pepsi. There’s just no comparison. After a late night paying witness to the return of Gil Scott-Heron to the stage – holding back tears as he opened with one of my favorites, “95 South” – I was up at the crack of dawn, thanks to an angry alarm, to watch our ladies take on Sweden in their second match of the 2007 World Cup. The stadium looked filled if a bit subdued, and the action looked like I felt after getting little sleep and standing in shoulder-to-shoulder crowds for hours the past night. Tight.

Having read about the first game and now watching the second, my own mental light went off. I said a few weeks ago as I was highlighting up-and-comer Natasha Kai, that we’d likely get to see some of the bench players in the early games. Yikes – I couldn’t have been more wrong. The substitutions have been minimal through two games. As happens whenever the best team comes to town, the competition often steps up, raising their game to a higher level. The coming out party might have to wait.

Sweden looked better than the best team in the world early on this morning. They controlled possession, but it’s hard to stop a penalty kick. After two games, I’m wondering if poor goal keeping will continue to write the box scores as it has so far. World Cup soccer. Tight. Nobody knows that like a goal keeper. US keeper Hope Solo – best name ever? – learned that against North Korea with a wet ball through her hands. Sweden’s keeper found out she is not as tall as she would like to be this morning, or at least that she hates the new ball, because well, the aerodynamic missle of a soccer bal bounced right over her head, forcing a defender to trip an on-coming American Lori Chalupny, allowing for Wambach to leisurely complete the PK.

There was nothing else leisurely about the game, and while the US WNT squeezed out a victory, there is no doubt this is going to be harder than a lot of people – me – thought. I just wasn’t thinking, lulled by deliberate and mind blowing friendly performances. One thing I got right in my preview, as if anybody could miss it – is the superb Wambach. As if the opening game that found her getting stitches on the sideline while her team gave up two goals didn’t prove her worth to the US side, her two goals in the second game finalized what many already knew: this team will live or die with Abby…

Kristine Lilly sends in a vertical long ball out of the backline. Abby Wambach. Chest trap directly to half-volley. Goal from 15 yards! Have we ever seen an American man do that?

The scene in the 69th minute said it all for me. Abby went up for a difficult header in the box that she appeared to take directly off her stitches (toward the back of her head). The ball went wide of the goal; Abby jogged back towards midfield. The cameras zoomed in, catching her looking to the sideline, reaching back to ensure her stitching, and then grinning ear to ear. That’s the World Cup.

Your best player stepping up in big games. That’s how you win a World Cup.

I wanted to try and get the sense of place over there, so I fired off a few questions over e-mail to the Washington Post’s Steve Goff, who if I haven’t drilled it home enough is over in China with the team.

Here’s what he had to say before the Sweden game about the host nation, the crowds, how the event stage stacks up against a men’s world cup, and the forthcoming Olympic buzz:

“It’s been an adventure, that’s for sure. Not as exotic as I thought it would be — big, bustling city with all the modern conveniencies of the West — but still fascinating and exciting.

“I’ve only been to one doubleheader in one stadium, so hard to judge the crowds. North Korea seemed to bring in a lot of fans. China fans are enthusiastic, knowledgeable and passionate.

“Olympic reminders are everywhere, even here in Chengdu, which is a million miles from Beijing. Women’s World Cup is a nice event, but certainly has not gripped the city. Sort of like the Big East basketball tournament in NYC; it’s a big deal, but life goes on around it.”