Abby WambachÆs hat trick gave the USA a 3-1 win over Japan Sunday in a womenÆs friendly played at KumamotoÆs KK Wing Stadium.

Japan shocked the Americans early as 19-year-old Azusa Iwashimizu scored on a header in the third minute. The goal marked the first time the U.S. team had fallen behind under Coach Greg Ryan, who has an all-time record of 13-0-4.

It took the USA until the 40th minute to get the equalizer, and that came on an extremely generous penalty kick decision from referee Pannipar Kamnueng of Thailand. Wambach converted the penalty kick and added two goals in the second half. The goals upped WambachÆs international total to 54 in 71 games. It was also her fourth career hat track, which includes one five-goal game against Ireland in 2004.

The two teams will meet again in the second leg of the two-game tour on Tuesday in Osaka as part of a doubleheader that also features the Japan MenÆs National Team against Bulgaria.

GAME REPORT

May 7 in Kumamoto

Japan 1 USA 3. Goals: Iwashimizu 3; Wambach pen. 40, 72, 89.

Japan — Fukumoto, Isozaki, Ando, Yano, Iwashimizu, Sakai, Sawa, Ohno (Utsugi 75), Miyama, Otani (Arakawa, 63), Nagasato (Maruyama, 78).

USA — Solo, Mitts, Whitehill, LePeilbet (Frimpong, 46), Rampone (Lopez, 59), Boxx, Lloyd (Osborne, 83), Tarpley (Wagner, 71), OÆReilly (Kai, 70), Wambach, Lilly.

Referee: Pannipar Kamnueng (Thailand).

Att.: 6,681.

QUOTABLE

GREG RYAN, U.S. Coach

ôI was very happy with our team. This is the first game since IÆve been coaching that weÆve been behind by a goal, so it was important for us that when we went down, to keep playing our game, to keep feeling good about ourselves and not change the way we play.ö

On stopping Japan:

ôWe knew it was going to be a very difficult game, because we have tremendous respect for Japan. They scored a goal after two minutes, and it was a great goal on a header. Japan plays with great skill and composure so it was very important for us to defend as a team with high pressure to prevent Japan from creating opportunities to score.ö

ôWe had to continue to play strong defensively, because at the end of the first half, Japan was becoming stronger than us. We felt we could play balls behind JapanÆs defense and thatÆs how the second goal was created, but it was important that we continued to play hard because of JapanÆs ability to counter-attack quickly.ö

On the Japanese players:

ôThere are many very, very good players for Japan. I have known (Homare) Sawa for a long time from her playing in the United States and she is a wonderful soccer player. It was very important for us today to keep her under pressure because she can win the game by herself. I like (Yuki) Nagasato, I think she is a very good young player and a very important player for Japan as a strong striker that can hold the ball and score goals, but also play with the other players, (Mio) Otani, (Eriko) Arakawa and Sawa. I think she is a very important player for this team.ö

On going down a goal:

ôYou never want to be behind a goal, but it was very important because with a young team, you donÆt know how they are going to react. Are they going to get shaky or are they going to raise their level? It was only two minutes in, but I thought the team definitely performed very well, they raised their level, and we didnÆt get the tying goal for a long time, but they never got rattled. It was an important game for us.ö

On the USAÆs defense:

ôThe main thing weÆve been able to do to every opponent we play is that we have a very organized, pressing team defense. The way we organized that today was to keep a lot of pressure Sawa, whoÆs their playmaker, and Boxxy took care of that. I thought our midfield did a great job with Carli (Lloyd) and (Lindsay) Tarpley pressing up on the two holding midfielders, the backs were rotating, and we just didnÆt give them any time and space. Occasionally, they still played through it, but it wasnÆt as often as in the past.ö

On Abby WambachÆs hat trick:

ôItÆs fantastic for her, because a finisher just has to get in a positive flow, a positive rhythm, where they just feel like anything they touch is going to go in. We didnÆt play a lot of games last year, and you donÆt get (that felling) without playing games all the time. So for AbbyÆs, that huge, because itÆs confidence, and now when she steps on the field, sheÆs going to start feeling like everythingÆs going, and it will.ö

On Hope Solo and getting a third goal:

ôItÆs always tough when you are only up one and they were counter-attacking very effectively. I think Hope Solo came up with a huge play because that game could have gone 2-2 very easily. She came out and snuffed a through ball at the feet of one of the Japanese players. I thought the back line did very, very well containing them, and you are always happy when you see that next one go in, because then itÆs over. It was great to see Lilly create it and Abby finish it.ö

ABBY WAMBACH, U.S. Forward

On her three goals:

ôI think you could go back to all the goals IÆve scored and theyÆve mostly been with my head, so IÆve been (working on) different ways (to score). The PK was a confidence builder after the Algarve miss. The header, Lil just did that whole thing herself, she just put in on my head, that part was easy. Cat just cleared the ball and I got a really good jump on the ball and put it away. Having three goals as a forward is a great accomplishment, period, but to have three different goals like today, itÆs a good thing to build from.ö

On going down a goal:

ôSome teams can get real frustrated in those scenarios, but being a goal down, this team kind of comes alive and we figure it out, no matter what. WeÆve had a couple of ties in the last few years, and for me, that leaves a bit more of a sour taste in my mouth than a lossàWe went down, we didnÆt lose confidence, we didnÆt lose our focus, we stayed together and moved forward as a team. In the second half, we really came out and really dominated, had the run of the play and once we got the goal to go ahead, they were just sending numbers forward and that was leaving us with chance after chance and we got that last goal which just broke their back.ö

HOPE SOLO, U.S. Goalkeeper

ôThere werenÆt too many direct shots on goal, I didnÆt have to make too many diving saves, but I had to stay so mentally focused to decide when to come off my line. I had to be ready for through balls and crosses, and they had a lot of dangerous crosses that were kind of in-between my range. Did I want to come or stay back on my line? But I think I made good decisions when to come.ö

On giving up an early goal after moving the player covering the back post to the near post:

ôFirst off, I hate giving up a goal, who doesnÆt? But for me, it was hard because I never want to give up a post player, I like my two post players, but we gave up a post player to defend that near post ball. You give up something somewhere, and itÆs risky. We made a good assessment in watching them and knowing they send people to the near post, so we thought we could clear (the back post), but unfortunately, thatÆs where the ball went.ö