After its first two matches in this year’s World Cup, the U.S. Women’s National Team finds itself atop the Group of Death with 4 points thanks to a 0-0 draw with Sweden on Friday evening. The U.S. must win in order to clinch first place in the group, but a win or draw will be enough to secure a spot in the knockout round. The Lady Yanks’ final match of the group stage is against Nigeria this evening at 8 p.m. EST. What is there to know about the Nigerians?

If it is hard out here for a pimp, then it must be truly cruel to be a defender. It’s their job to stand between some of the most talented people in the world and their goal: the goal. Needless to say, it doesn’t always end well. Defenders get nutmegged, dragged out of position, yelled at by fans and teammates alike, and lambasted by the media on a weekly basis. When they are good, people hardly notice them. It’s a thankless job.

If you were left feeling hung out to dry as a soccer fan after watching the United States complete a nil-nil draw against Sweden, you were not alone. This game had almost everything going for it: the #2 ranked team in the world against the #5 ranked team in the world, legendary players on both sides, an absolute smattering of attacking talent across the U.S. team sheet, and a head coach dropping some cold hard truth about her former players in the lead up to the match. The logs were gathered, the kindling was flaming, and all we got was…smoke.  

"Not at all. I'm not that smart.”

That was ex-USWNT head coach Pia Sundhage’s response to whether or not she engages in mind games. It is hard to believe at first. 

Sundhage was just featured in a New York Times article that was supposed to be nothing more than a profile of her, a Swedish sporting legend. Instead, it turned into the talking point of the young 2015 World Cup. 

Andrew McCutchen (Center Field, Pittsburgh Pirates)

These are the full highlights from Mexico’s 1-1 draw with Colombia on Tuesday in Moncton, which you must watch on YouTube, because FIFA is a terrible organization. However, you can watch the equilizer below, which is good, because it's the goal of the World Cup so far.

To hear the Australian FA tell it, the Australian Women's National Team was defeated by only the slimmest of margins, with the mighty USA being outplayed by the plucky underdogs who nearly slipped away with the game in hand.

This is not what happened, of course, but this is the tone of the match recap on the Australian FA's website, which might be the funniest thing I've ever read. The article, titled "Australia v USA: 4 Things We Learnt" stretched even the boundaries of blatant homerism in the media.

In only their third world cup appearance ever, Mexico’s women’s national team will hope to build off of what they achieved in the last tournament. In their last appearance, at the 2011 Germany  World Cup, they failed to make it out of the group stages.

As the 2015 Women’s World Cup kicks off in Canada this weekend, The18 looks at some areas of concern for the U.S. Women's National Team in its bid to win its first title since 1999.

1. Fitness of Alex Morgan

While the USWNT has an abundance of firepower in its ranks, one cannot underestimate the importance of Alex Morgan being available for selection come the big dance.

Kosovare Asllani, a.k.a. "La Belle Zlatan," will face the United Statesin the group stage of the Women's World Cup. We cannot overstate how excited we are that there's a lady Zlatan. The world has needed one. Asllani, like Zlatan, is an outspoken native Eatern European whose parents immigrated to Sweden who now rips it up for PSG and the Swedish National Team. Followers of Zlatan's storied career, both on and off the field, might conclude that one Zlatan is all the world can handle. This is patently false. Two Zlatans are better than one.