VANCOUVER, B.C. (USA TODAY) -- Soccer coaches are masters of the art of psycho babble, snippets of verbal nonsense that amount to even less than the sum of their parts. There have been some beauties over the years, but one of the favorites is the overused cliché that the World Cup is "a brand new tournament" once it reaches the knockout stages.
Except that, this time around, it might just hold true for the United States. And the second, for a while at least, might be easier than the first.
The much-vaunted Group of Death wasn't deathly at all for the Americans, and while a final tally of seven points from a possible nine looks convincing, there were enough moments of uncertainty to cause U.S. fans some jitters over the week and change.
But only the fans. The players? Not so much.
"The fact we come out first we may face a team statistically ranked less than any team in our group right now that we have faced," said forward Alex Morgan. "So we knew from the get-go we had to come first."
A 1-0 victory against Nigeria at BC Place on Tuesday was enough to get the job done and no more, but no more was needed. The job, in this case, was not just to survive Group D but to win it; a must if the team was to avoid a nightmare of travel, scheduling and potential opponents that could have cut down its knockout stage challenge before it really got started.
VIDEO: U.S. women sitting pretty after winning 'Group of Death'
All sorts of ugliness awaited if things had faltered here. What is most scary? Facing Brazil in the round of 16? Or taking on an eight-hour cross-country flight to Monctonand its accompanying four-hour time difference?
A combination of both would have been the penalty for coming in second in Group D, a possibility that grew in likelihood when Australia took an early lead against Sweden and before Abby Wambach struck the only goal on the verge of halftime.
The way Wambach attacked the ball, a run from the edge of the box before throwing herself towards it, represents the mind-set of her team. Wambach had not been up to her usual standards in either this game or the World Cup so far, yet she advanced like a player flushed with confidence.
That is the overwhelming mentality inherent in this team, one that is utterly convinced in the twin beliefs that its own resiliency is unstoppable and that its unshakable destiny is to win this tournament.
It is a powerful philosophy to stack up against, and when employed by players with the athleticism and talent of this group it works and keeps working, even when the soccer isn't free-flowing, even when key players are rusty and doubts creep in from outside.
Are they overconfident? Maybe, probably, you could argue. Better teams and greater challenges await than four years ago, when the team couldn't get over the line, despite coming oh, so close.
But overconfidence is an odd creature, it always works and perpetuates itself until suddenly, in an instant, it doesn't anymore. The whole thing is a gamble that the mental momentum persists for long enough, in this case until the end of the night of July 5.
This clash marked a year to the day since American soccer had one of its shining moments, the wild ride of a 2-1 victory the men's team recorded against Ghana to kick off its own World Cup campaign.
That night in the Brazilian seaside city had more drama, with Clint Dempsey scoring seconds in and unheralded defender John Brooks snatching a thrilling late winner. But in some ways it was the beginning of the end of the road. There were tense and pot-boiling moments to come but the team didn't win another game and its tournament flamed out at the round of 16 stage, a fair reflection of its standing in the world.
The U.S. women's team is different. It isn't one of the outsiders looking in at the giants of the game, it is one of those giants itself, to be feared and a monster that must be conquered in the mind before it can be defeated on the field.
Australia, Sweden and Nigeria, fine teams all, never quite believed enough, even though the U.S. had periods of vulnerability against each of them.
This is how the big teams do it, they get through the group by whatever means necessary, but tear it all up and start over again thereafter.
There is time to do so. Ellis' crew will find out on Wednesday who their round of 16 opponent will be, most likely the third-place team from Group F, which may turn out to be Colombia or England, in Edmonton next Monday.
Both Colombia and England are decent sides. Neither is the kind of team that should instill fear in a potential World Cup champion. Looking further ahead, the U.S. should not be severely tested until the semifinal stage, when it could meet Germany or France. Yet the spread out nature of this tournament means such a clash would be two full weeks away, an eternity in soccer.
Momentum, that fickle creature, is building within the American camp and while the U.S. hasn't produced the most scintillating soccer that it is capable of, it is hard to name another team who you fancy to beat it.
The second World Cup, or the second half of it (if you don't buy all that coachspeak nonsense), is about to begin. The Americans are coming, not yet having hit top gear, but gathering speed in a way that spells danger for the rest.
