The USA Women’s national team finished group play atop Group D at the FIFA Women's World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Nigeria’s Super Falcons on Tuesday night in front of an electric 52,000 fans at BC Stadium in Vancouver. In a physical competition, the lone goal of the night came from star forward, Abby Wambach in the 45th minute.

At the end of the day, the U.S survived the Group of Death and that was the first order of business. The most important match for the USWNT is the next one. While many U.S fans had predicted a stronger performance from the United States attack on Tuesday’s game against Nigeria, many were left underwhelmed by the performance. The game failed to match the pace and sense of urgency the U.S showed in their second game against No. 5 World ranked Sweden.

On multiple occasions, the USWNT struggled to put away easy chances. Perhaps the best chance of the match came in the 49th minute when forward Alex Morgan had a one-on-one just outside the 6-yard box with Nigerian goalkeeper Precious Dede. Morgan tried to lift the ball over the keeper with her right foot, but the attempt was easily snuffed out.

The U.S attack dominated in the air in what has become one of the teams biggest strengths. This was one area were the team struggled on this day, however. Wambach, who often towers over and out muscles defenders in the box, could not get a clear head on the ball off any of her team's corner kicks. Instead, she was able to get a foot on the end of a Megan Rapinoe corner kick at the very end of the first half. Consistency on future set plays will be critical as the U.S advances to the knock-out rounds.

Besides Wambach’s lone goal of the night, the U.S attack appears to be in a funk, scoring only four goals thus far, the lowest tally the team has ever scored in World Cup group play. With some of the most talented forwards and the deepest bench in the tournament, something is keeping the U.S from firing on all cylinders. We have not seen the best of the U.S attack and instead, the United State’s defense continues to steal the show.  

The back line came up big against a speedy and physical Nigerian squad who in a span of thirty minutes managed to pick up six yellow cards, eventually leading to a red card in the 69th minute when Sara Nnodim picked up her second yellow on the night. Becky Sauerbrunn, Meghan Klingenberg, Ali Krieger, and Julie Johnston have proved nearly unstoppable in the past few games and it is unlikely head coach Jillian Ellis will change this fantastic four combination in back.

U.S center back Johnston showed her world-class skills on both sides of the pitch. Even though her goal in the first few minutes of the game was called back for offside, her presence in the U.S defensive third kept the USWNT afloat on multiple breakaways. One of Johnston’s more impressive defensive efforts came around the 25th minute when she made an impressive recovery run to poke the ball out from underneath the Nigerian forward on an otherwise one-on-one with keeper Hope Solo.  Defense might win championships but first and foremost, the offense must win games. It’s time for the U.S attack to start generating some goals, otherwise it’s game over.

The United States will now advance to the Round of 16 in Edmonton, Canada where they will play the top 3rd place finisher from groups B, E, and F on June 22nd at 8 p.m ET. All Round of 16 opponents will be determined Wednesday after the conclusion of the final group stage matches.