USA vs. Canada: US Women Continue to Disappoint in Friendly

After a disappointing loss to underdog Japan in the 2011 World Cup, you would have thought the U.S. women's soccer team would explode out of the gate in their first friendly of the new season against Canada on Saturday.

But they didn't, the game ending in a 1-1 draw, and the U.S. women looked nothing like a squad trying to prove its doubters wrong.

We all remember the meltdown by Hope Solo and Co. last year, giving up two leads en route to a 3-1 loss in the penalty shootout. It was a huge letdown, the kind of letdown that can cripple a team's confidence and virtually erase everything it did up until that point.

Sure, this was just a friendly on Saturday, nothing to get too worked up about, but it was nonetheless surprising how closely it mirrored the women's loss to Japan in the World Cup.

This time, it was Abby Wambach giving the team an early 1-0 lead in the 10th minute off a penalty kick, and then Canadian Melissa Tancredi equalizing in the 42nd minute.

Not only did the U.S. women give up their lead yet again, they had multiple chances to clinch the game, including in the 45th minute when Lauren Cheney shot just over the bar.

It would have been no big deal if it wasn't for the World Cup, but, then again, it's a little difficult to forget about the World Cup.

Make no mistake about it, the U.S. women lost the 2011 World Cup based on their mentality, not their talent. If a match was based simply on talent, they would have won that game.

But Japan had something that the U.S. women didn't: it had the mentality required to capitalize on every opportunity.

The U.S. women skated by on Saturday, but they'll find themselves on a slippery slope if they don't start taking things more seriously.