The re-emergence of the U.S. Women’s National Team was one of the soccer stories of the year and I took a closer look ahead of Saturday’s game again China at Home Depot Center in today’s column.

As usual, not all the material I collected made into the column for space reasons, so here’s some bonus quotes.

Here’s Shannon Boxx on the greater responsibility she had getting involved with attacks under Sundhage:

“I had a different role this year and it was really fun to learn. … I was more offensive than I’ve ever been on this team, so I think there’s lots of things I can improve on.

“It is fun to change your game. … You want to grow every year you play … Granted I’ve always come forward, but I’ve always been that last runner coming forward. … Sometimes I get in that position (in front of goal) and I say ‘what do I do?’ because I’m not used to it.”

Here’s Aly Wagner on this year’s Olympic experience compared to 2004:

“I was one of the last players picked so I was just so grateful to be there and be part of the team. And I knew my role was to be ready when called upon as opposed to before when I was involved heavily going into the Olympics. There was something very rewarding for me in the process (of) just getting back.”

And here’s Wagner on the prospect of playing with Marta for the Sol:

“I think Marta is the best player in the world and I’m really excited to see what she trains like. … I’m excited to play with her because she reads the game extremely well and serving balls into her runs is going to be fun. I love her flair and passion for the game. I’m excited to learn from her and, maybe, teach her a few things.”

Correction: And apologies to Kristine Lilly, whose name I managed to misspell in the column after writing her name, oh, three jillion times in the last few years.