USA Women's Olympic Soccer Team: 5 Areas to Improve vs. Korea

The United States women's national team has secured a spot in the quarterfinals. Now, they are ready to face North Korea in hopes to win all of its group-stage matches for the first time since 1996.

To do so, the USWNT must improve some things to lock the win against the Asian squad. Even when they are one of three teams to have won all the matches so far—Great Britain and Brazil being the others—Pia Sundhage's players have a long way to go to aspire for the gold medal.

Let's find those five aspects the Stars and Stripes can adjust to succeed against North Korea.

Avoid Overconfidence

Hope Solo has received two goals, but that doesn't mean she hasn't had good appearances. The team is a clear contender for the gold medal, but if the players get overconfident, we can have a surprise.

Against France they were down by two goals after 14 minutes, but afterward they recovered.

With Colombia they didn't receive a goal, but they gave away free kicks in dangerous places. If the South American squad had a better technique, they would have put the States in distress.

Display a Better Organized Defense

It's true that Colombia's style of play is completely different from France's, however the USWNT showed some deficiencies on the back.

Although they managed to keep the Colombians in line, there's a lot of work to do. The defense has problems finding rhythm. It was clear in both games that they need to get on track fast.

Christie Rampone has made quite an effort to lead the back, but it's taking the four defenders too long to understand what they are supposed to do in order to unite into a single strategy.

North Korea is fighting to be one of the best third places of the tournament, so don't expect them to give an inch.

Have a More Effective Offensive

This doesn't have to do with lack of goals, which clearly is not happening. This is related to the time and way that the squad takes to wrap up a play.

They come and go, they have the ball possession and control the game on every line, but they haven't been very sharp and have taken more time to score than expected, which has happened even with clear opportunities.

Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach need to be more precise—which will give the team confidence—while Lauren Cheney and Heather O'Reilly find a more effective way to create goal chances and prevent childish errors.

Stay Patient

Teams like Colombia, with not as much skill as their rivals, will engage in a physical game and won't allow you to have a steady pace.

The USWNT should have known better and set the rhythm of the match; instead, they got into the South American strategy and started to lose focus.

The squad needs to understand that they have every advantage available, from skills to strategy—they just have to keep it easy and push their adversaries to play the way they want them to.

Think Creatively

The 4-4-2 is a traditional formation that Pia Sundhage has changed a bit to take it to a diamond-shaped lineup.

It's been very effective for the team, but sometimes the players seem too rigid and don't try new stuff.

Megan Rapinoe is a footballer who tends to try and take chances when everything seems lost. She scored her first Olympic goal against Colombia and did it in style. Rapinoe made a quick touch before shooting from outside the area to give the States the advantage.

The important thing here is that Rapinoe was brave enough to do something new and to give it a shot, and it paid off.

If players like Cheney dared to follow Rapinoe's steps, we would see a rejuvenated squad. This will also surprise their rivals, who are used to seeing the same strategy.