By TOM CANAVAN
AP Sports Writer
Associated Press Sports
updated 6:50 p.m. ET June 18, 2013
MONTCLAIR, N.J. (AP) - Hope Solo appears ready to return to the starting lineup for the United States women's soccer team.
While Tom Sermanni isn't ready to say whether Solo will start Thursday against South Korea at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., the U.S. coach said Tuesday that just having his goaltender - less than four months after having wrist surgery - back on the field is a plus for his team.
It showed last weekend, when Solo played for the first time since appearing in a game against Scotland in February.
Taking over in the second half of a 4-1 win over South Korea at Foxborough, Mass., on Saturday night, the 31-year-old and two-time Olympic gold medalist returned in style. With the U.S. leading 2-1, Solo dove to her right and pushed a shot by Ji Soyun.
"It's just her presence," Sermanni said of Solo. "She was barely on the field for a minute the other night and came up with a fantastic save. That's the kind of thing that sets her apart from a lot of other goalkeepers and makes her probably No. 1 in the world. She has done especially well with her rehab to get back this quick and just having her presence gives everybody a lift, and raises that level of confidence another step."
Solo believes she still has a long way to go to get her left wrist back to 100 percent. The good news is that she still has about two years to get ready for the 2015 World Cup.
"Everything is average or above average, but I want to be great, whether it's distribution, left foot, right foot, my technique catching, diving," Solo said after the team finished a two-plus hour workout at Montclair State University. "All across the board, I want my game to be the best it can be.
"Right now, I am OK."
Solo said 2012 has been somewhat of a slow year after winning the gold medal at the Olympics in London. Even the 10-game tour after winning gold, the team wasn't working on much.
"Maybe we were drinking too much. Maybe we were going on vacation," she said. "That's what people tend to do. You take yourself away and you come out driven and ready to work hard leading into the next event. I think everyone is getting back into things."
To some, the comments might sound controversial. That's Solo though. She has spoken her mind throughout her career, whether it was not playing in a World Cup game in 2007, or pondering the conduct of some fans. She is refreshingly blunt.
The United States has been impressive in this so-called off year. The team is 8-0-2 in 2013, and the game on Thursday will be the last until September. The women will bring a 33-game unbeaten streak into the contest and a 71-game home unbeaten streak.
Solo smiled when asked about her return, including the big save right off the bat.
"Yeah, goalkeepers want to make saves," she said. "At the same time, I have so much more respect for the game now. I feel like I am involved in the game when I am organizing our defense (or) when I am coming out for crosses. I don't need that big-time save to feel like I am a part of the game. My bread and butter is coming out for crosses in a pack of people and our one-vs.-ones.
"At the end of the day, what happens in the 89th minute or the first minute, I think - at this level - I have to stay focused for the entire 90-some minutes."
The wrist still gives Solo some problems, but it is nothing in comparison to the shoulder surgery and rehab she underwent in 2010 to get ready for the World Cup the following year.
"That was the worst agonizing thing I had ever had," Solo said of the eight-hour rehab sessions. "The wrist was a lot easier, so to speak. Now I am feeling pain a lot more and I am trying to figure out exactly how to tape it. My strength isn't where it should be, but I am overall pleased with the surgery."
Solo laughed when asked if she knew whether she would start Thursday since Sermanni deferred to goaltending coach Paul Rogers.
"Maybe," she said, "he'll tell us before the game."
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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