e he passed for 3,025 yards and 28 touchdowns with 10 interceptions last year. He also rushed for 774 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Big Skys Bobcats,

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil -- Tobin Heath was going to be healthy by Aug. 3.Fortunately, when the calendar reached the aforementioned date, it just so happened that she was healthy.When it comes to the Olympics, those two sentences dont mean the same thing.Slowed by a hamstring injury in the build-up to the Rio Games, Heath knew she would be healthy enough to play on Aug. 3, no matter what her hamstring suggested, because the U.S. womens national team took the field for the first time on that date. But in this particular instance, it didnt have to be a case of mind over matter. Her hamstring actually healed.Fortunately for me, I do feel fully healthy, Heath said the day before the game. But I do think in terms of tournament modes, you always just want to feel good enough.She was as good as her word. She was very good. Not coincidentally, the United States was good enough for a 2-0 win over New Zealand and a clean start in Group G ahead of Saturdays high-stakes second game against fellow gold-medal hopeful France (4 p.m. ET).It was a night when the small crowd in Belo Horizonte took increasing delight heckling U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo, the consensus among local media and native Portuguese speakers being that what began as chants of a slur often directed at goalkeepers upon kicking the ball soon morphed into similar-sounding chants of Zika in response to Solos publicly expressed concerns about the virus.After the game, Solo played down the reception. If fans had fun at her expense, she suggested, so be it.Nor was it all that malicious in the scheme of things -- if the interpretation of the changing chants was correct, the first should be far more troublesome than the second that merely needled a well-known player for public comments and social media posts. But in some sense its a shame that the whole audible sideshow took any focus off a player whose style should endear her to Brazilian soccer fans -- a player for whom Brazil is practically a pilgrimage.I think its a very special place to play, as a football player, Heath said of an Olympic career that has also taken her to some of the great soccer temples of English football.Asked about the chants, U.S. coach Jill Ellis said she hoped her team played a style the Brazilian fans could embrace.They do that better with Heath on the field than not.Consider the goal that put the Americans ahead in the ninth minute. Heath started the game on the left side, familiar space to her but also the real estate in which teenager Mallory Pugh has so often dazzled this year. On this sequence, Heath could have made a run for the end line to set up a cross. Instead, she cut back, avoided defenders and served a perfect cross toward the head of Carli Lloyd (or to improve the odds still more, Allie Longs nearby head).Lloyd sent a header back to where the service came from and found an empty net.Its really my job to get in the box and get on the end of crosses, Lloyd said. There is really no excuse. Ive been working on it. I can outleap people. Its one of those things where, its kind of been the next step for me, just getting on the end of crosses. I knew she was going to whip in a good ball and had to somehow get up there, leap up there and find the back of the net.The opening goal came quickly enough, but only after Heath had already served notice of her presence on the field with a free kick that gave Alex Morgan a clean header in front of the goal.Inside of 10 minutes, Heath set up the two players this team most needs to feed.As often as not, as in this instance, at least one of them is going to score.I think that was the best way we could have started, Heath said of Lloyds goal. Obviously we came out with a lot of energy, with a lot of determination. I think in that regard, we kind of put our best foot forward and got that goal, and I think that helped propel us throughout the game.Morgan scored the insurance goal early in the second half.It was yet another goal in a major tournament for Lloyd, who has scored in five such games in a row. The co-captain became one of 15 American women to play in at least three Olympics. It is her team now, and it is increasingly clear it follows her lead. But the list of players with at least three Olympics also now includes the player who set her up for the goal. Always popular but never quite one of the faces of the team, Heath has amassed 120 caps well before her 30th birthday. She has taken the field in the U.S. uniform more times than anyone on the active Olympic roster save Lloyd and Solo.I think Tobin has grown so much as a player, Lloyd said. She has become such a two-way midfielder. Not to say that she didnt work hard when she was a younger player, but I think shes now got the discipline to track back and win balls, win second balls, tackle. Shes a phenomenal player. Shes soaring with confidence and a super, super important piece to this team.Ellis singled out many of those same traits -- Heaths value as an attacking player, the ability to take on opponents one-on-one and her ability to put the ball on the foot of teammates. She talked, too, about the work rate, the one that forced New Zealand player after New Zealand player to bring her to the ground, either in pursuit or after turning over the ball. Sure, Heath knows how to make the most of that contact, earning a sarcastic pat on the shoulder from Ria Percival after the latter received a yellow card for a tangling of feet. Great players do.But there is more that Heath offers, traits that Pugh, who left her Olympic debut with a minor right ankle issue, and Crystal Dunn dont have at such early stages of such astoundingly promising careers.The other thing we get with Tobin is a player thats been there and someone who can calm us in the storm, Ellis said. There were moments in that game when momentum was building for them. And having players like this that are very comfortable on the ball helps take the steam out of your opponent.If not the steam out of the crowd.Solo was the lightning rod this night, but as she so often does, Heath sparked a team to life. 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In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. The quarterback competition at Oregon will sort itself out sooner rather than later.Oregon coach Mark Helfrich says he hopes to have a decision about 10 days before the teams season opener against UC Davis at Autzen Stadium on Sept. 3.Although many have looked to graduate transfer Dakota Prukop to lead the way, Helfrich said the job is far from sewn up. Redshirt freshman Travis Jonsen and freshman Terry Wilson are also in the mix.You want it to be obvious and glaring and everybody kind of looks at each other and goes, `Yeah. Like last year was a unanimous vote, Helfrich said. No question about that.Prukop came to the Ducks from Montana State, where he passed for 3,025 yards and 28 touchdowns with 10 interceptions last year. He also rushed for 774 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Big Skys Bobcats, who finished 5-6.He looks to follow Vernon Adams, another graduate transfer who started for the Ducks last season but was hampered by injuries.Jonsen is a dual-threat quarterback from Anaheim, California, who injured his toe last fall and required surgery. Wilson enrolled early last spring at Oregon to get a head start.Taylor Alie and Jeff Lockie, who both saw playing time at quarterback last season when Adams was hurt, were moved to receiver in the spring game.Oregon went 9-4 last season, the first time the Ducks finished with fewer than 10 wins since 2007. The season was capped by a triple-overtime loss to TCU in the Alamo Bowl.Things to watch as the Ducks prepare for the season:GREAT EXPECTATIONS: Royce Freeman is understandably getting some preseason Heisman buzz. As a sophomore last season he broke LaMichael James single-season rushing record with 1,836 yards. Hes currently 1,881 yards away from James career record (5,082) at Oregon.I want to make bigger plays and go for longer rushes, he said at the Ducks annual media day to open fall camp. I want to be out there every down if I can.BEST EXCUSE EVER: Wide receiver Devon Allen will miss fall camp. But hes got a good exxcuse: Hes at the Rio Olympics where hes competing in the 110-meter hurdles.dddddddddddd Allen won a spot on the team in Brazil by winning the event at the U.S. track trials in Eugene.Helfrich said football is the furthest thing from his mind when it comes to the speedy junior. His focus and our focus is him winning the gold medal, and well figure it out from there, the coach said.Helfrich planned a team meeting -- aka a watch party -- when Allen runs in Rio.NEW COACHES: Oregon has several new coaches making their Duck debut this fall, including new defensive coordinator Brady Hoke, who was head coach at Michigan from 2011-14, and new offensive coordinator Matt Lubick, who was promoted from wide receivers coach after Scott Frost took the head coaching job at Central Florida.Also among the newcomers is quarterbacks coach David Yost, who coached receivers at Washington State under Mike Leach for the past three seasons.ADDRESSING THE D: Hoke is installing a new 4-3 scheme, hoping to improve a unit that gave up an average of 37.5 points, a school record, and 485.3 yards per game.Obviously, from a defensive standpoint -- just too many points, too many yards, too many explosive plays, Helfrich said. Our two big keys are explosive plays and taking care of the football on offense, and explosive plays and taking the football away on defense.SEASON OPENER: Hosting UC Davis on Sept. 3.PREDICTION: Oregon has too many question marks -- the competition at quarterback and the adjustment to a new defensive scheme -- to suggest that they might overcome Stanford in the Pac-12 North. But the very fact that the Ducks get both the Cardinal and Washington at Autzen Stadium goes in their favor, at least in terms of conference play. Oregon again plays a challenging non-conference schedule, including a visit to Nebraska. Look for the Ducks to finish 9-4 again. ' ' '