It happens often to America's top scoring threat. Her answer always is the same, and it has to be.

"If you score, then you are getting the edge," Wambach said.

Wambach was victimized in all manners by Brazil during yesterday's 2-0 U.S. victory in the second match of a six-game warmup series heading toward September's World Cup opener in China. It's the kind of treatment all-time scoring leader Mia Hamm used to draw, and it's unlikely opponents will stop being physical with the most physical of American players.

To Wambach's credit, she doesn't lose her cool. Instead, she turns her inner rage into goals: 74 in 92 games for the U.S. team.

"It makes perfect sense, their game plan," Wambach said after Brazil committed 20 fouls to 11 by the Americans, and drew five yellow cards to two for the United States. "It's hard to build a rhythm and cohesion when every 15 seconds there's a foul. And, for me, it hurts.

"I knew I'd be well marked, sometimes on the border of it being dirty. It's nerve-racking because we're close to the World Cup and this is a time you might not be able to get back from an injury."

Not that the opposition is looking to hurt Wambach or the other American strikers — Kristine Lilly, Lindsay Tarpley, Heather O'Reilly, Natasha Kai and Christie Welsh. Throwing them off their game is the idea, although sidelining someone from the top-ranked team in the world wouldn't damage any nation that has to face the United States.

Kai is a Kahuku High and University of Hawai'i alum.

"We see a lot of that, especially Abby," O'Reilly said. "We just have to be better than that."

Under coach Greg Ryan they have been. The top-ranked Americans are unbeaten in regulation time (35-0-7) since Ryan became coach in 2005. There was a loss on penalty kicks to Germany in 2006, which FIFA counts as a tie in its statistics.

In many of those matches, the U.S. team needed to deal with overbearing opponents who sometimes went over the top _ and right through them. The women's game isn't nearly as physical as what the men play, but it's not a stroll through the park.

In a two-minute span Saturday, Wambach went to the ground three times, with only one foul called. A bit later in the game, with more frequent whistles for fouls and yellow cards, things calmed down.

"At one point, I had to remind myself not to lose it," Wambach said. "If I lose my focus, they win, and those tackles actually work. You need ice in your veins.

"It's even harder when a hard foul is given and there's no yellow card. Then they'll keep doing it. But when the ref started pulling out the yellow card, I felt more validated."

At 5-foot-11, Wambach is an inviting target for defenders. She has good speed, though nothing like most of her teammates.

But she's not the only one who deals with rugged tactics from the opposition. And the Americans have their share of physical players, particularly defenders Cat Whitehill and Christie Rampone, midfielder Shannon Boxx _ and Wambach.