Current time in Tokyo: July 24, 10:46 p.m.
SAITAMA, Japan — The first game just wasn’t good enough, Kelley O’Hara told her United States teammates in no uncertain terms.
The loss of a single match, even the opening game of the Olympic tournament, was one thing. The lack of energy. The absence of purpose. The surrender of control — those were things a world champion like the United States women’s soccer team could never accept. That was what had to change.
“We don’t have a choice,” O’Hara made clear to her United States soccer teammates ahead of Saturday’s game against New Zealand. “We have to come out the next game and we have to be absolutely ruthless.”
Ruthless was a good description for the effort the United States turned in against New Zealand, a 6-1 thrashing that was the polar opposite of the Americans’…
