US women's soccer team fights the heat, plays to a draw against Costa Rica in final Olympic tune-up

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. women's soccer team played to a 0-0 draw with Costa Rica in sweltering temperatures on Tuesday night in its final exhibition tune-up game before the Paris Olympics.

It was 98 degrees Fahrenheit (37 Celsius) at kickoff after Washington tied the hottest day on record in the nation’s capital at 104 (40C) hours earlier.

Coach Emma Hayes figured it would be a nice test for her players, given the forecast for nearly this level of heat during upcoming games in Marseilles later this month.

“That’s added value,” Hayes said Monday. “It’s perfect preparation. It’s pretty hot down there, so this is a great opportunity for us to experience what we’re going to face.”

It played a role in Rose Lavelle being a late scratch because of leg tightness in warmups, with team staff deciding it was not worth the risk given the circumstances. A team spokesperson said Lavelle was fine.

Korbin Albert replaced Lavelle in the starting lineup in the game taking place on a worn down field torn up by recent football, soccer and rugby matches and attended by 18,972 fans.

The U.S. generated plenty of chances throughout and was repeatedly denied by Costa Rica goaltender Noelia Bermúdez, who at one point in the first half collided with Trinity Rodman. Each player went down and received medical attention but remained on the field.

Costa Rica, which did not qualify for the Olympics, sat back often and had no shots on goal with just two attempts while the U.S. was consistently on the attack.

After a ceremony following the Americans' “Send-Off Match,” they are set to fly to Paris on Wednesday and play their Olympic opener on July 25 against Zambia in Nice. Games in Marseille on July 28 against Germany and July 31 in Australia wrap up group play as the Americans look to improve on their bronze medal result in Tokyo three years ago.

Hayes, who has only been coaching the U.S. since late May, was proud of the possession domination in a 1-0 victory Sunday against Mexico in New Jersey, but said Monday it was about “doing more with it.” Much of the same followed Tuesday versus Costa Rica, including a couple of would-be goals called off for offside and a few missed opportunities on corners and off the rush.

With a mostly young, inexperienced roster, Hayes also wanted to get as many players into the game as possible. She made four substitutions at the 67-minute mark and one other late to help those efforts.

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United States forward Trinity Rodman (5) battles for the ball against Costa Rica forward Priscila Chinchilla (14) during the first half of an international friendly soccer match, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

United States forward Mallory Swanson (9) chases the ball during the first half of an international friendly soccer match against Costa Rica, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

United States forward Mallory Swanson (9) and Costa Rica defender María Paula Coto (3) battle for the ball during the first half of an international friendly soccer match, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

United States forward Trinity Rodman dribbles the ball against Costa Rica forward Priscila Chinchilla (14) during the first half of an international friendly soccer match, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

United States defender Emily Fox dribbles the ball against Costa Rica forward Priscila Chinchilla (14) during the first half of an international friendly soccer match, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

The United States poses for a team picture before an international friendly soccer match against Costa Rica, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

United States midfielder Sam Coffey (17) kicks the ball against Costa Rica midfielder Emilie Valenciano (13) during the first half of an international friendly soccer match, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

United States forward Trinity Rodman (5) and Costa Rica forward Priscila Chinchilla (14) chase after the ball during the first half of an international friendly soccer match, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's newest panda twin s are thriving at the Berlin Zoo. The cubs spent their first five days of life taking turns cuddling and drinking milk from their mother every hour.

Born Thursday to mother Meng Meng, 11, the zoo said Tuesday that it's cautiously optimistic during this critical period — panda cub mortality is at its highest within the first two weeks of birth and through the first month because they don't yet have a functioning immune system.

Without human help, one of the cubs likely would not have survived because giant pandas usually only raise one cub when they give birth to twins. So the zoo has stepped in with a team that includes experts from China's Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, who are on a visit to Berlin.

When one of the twins is with their mother, the other is spending time in an incubator donated by a Berlin hospital.

“Without protective measures, the giant panda would most likely already be extinct,” zoo director Andreas Knieriem said in Tuesday’s news release, adding "every cub that grows up healthy counts.”

China gifted friendly nations with its unofficial mascot for decades as part of a “panda diplomacy″ policy. The country now loans pandas to zoos on commercial terms. There are about 1,800 pandas living in the wild in China and a few hundred in captivity worldwide.

Currently deaf, blind and pink — their black-and-white panda markings will develop later — the firstborn twin now weighs 180 grams, while the second is roughly 145 grams (6.35 and 5.11 ounces). Both have regained their birth weights and added more grams, which the zoo considers a promising sign. The cubs' sex has not yet been determined “with certainty.”

Meng Meng was artificially inseminated on March 26. Female pandas are fertile only for a few days per year at the most. The twins' father, 14-year-old Jiao Qing, is not involved in rearing the cubs.

Meng Meng and Jiao Qing arrived in Berlin in 2017. In August 2019, Meng Meng gave birth to male twins Pit and Paule, also known by the Chinese names Meng Xiang and Meng Yuan, the first giant pandas born in Germany.

Those twins flew to China in December on a journey that was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic but had been contractually agreed to from the beginning.

FILE -An embryo of a panda bear of pregnant panda Meng Meng is marked on the screen of an ultrasound machine at the panda enclosure at Berlin Zoo, Aug. 13, 2024. (Sebastian Gollnow/dpa via AP, File)

FILE -An embryo of a panda bear of pregnant panda Meng Meng is marked on the screen of an ultrasound machine at the panda enclosure at Berlin Zoo, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (Sebastian Gollnow/dpa via AP, File)

This photo released by the Zoo Berlin shows employee measuring newborn giant panda twins at the Zoo in Berlin on Thursday, Aug. 22, 20024. (© 2024 Zoo Berlin via AP)

This photo released by the Zoo Berlin shows employee measuring two new born giant pandas at the Zoo in Berlin on Thursday, Aug. 22, 20024. (© 2024 Zoo Berlin via AP)