Women's world cup
- Thread starter vkj91
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When does the USA play? I'd imagine the USA is the favorite, or no? I read RUs Carlie Lloyd scored the Championship winning goal in the last 2 Olympics, wow ! But Japan knocked off the USA in a bitter loss in the last WC. Also saw Abby Wamback in the news recently. Is she still the best player for the USA ? In the World ? Hope Solo at Goalie is always good for some interesting background stories, lol
My son and I watched the Juventus v Barcelona game earlier today, lots of arguing w the officials ! Good game, though.
PS- my son is the soccer fan, I just watched the big Tournys, but really enjoy what I see.
My son and I watched the Juventus v Barcelona game earlier today, lots of arguing w the officials ! Good game, though.
PS- my son is the soccer fan, I just watched the big Tournys, but really enjoy what I see.
Big soccer/sports day. Watched Barcelona put Juventus away in the UEFA Champions final - Juve made it more competitive than expected, but the best team won. Then I saw most of the Canada - China match and Canada had far more trouble winning than expected, having to rely on a last minute PK to win. Now watching the Dutch with a 1-0 lead on the Kiwis - waiting for the teen sensation Miedema to do something memorable, but not much yet. And, of course, there was the Triple Crown and Tampa won game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
I can answer pretty much none of those questions.....lol
We play Monday evening against Australia.
Based on the number of jersey's I saw at the game the other night Morgan is our best player.
I'm not a soccer fan(both daughters play) but it's the World Cup so I'm switching back and forth with the Mets.
Actually I am. Unlike most women's sports it's not hard to watch.
More than enough good looking ones to keep you interested as well.
Finally, we have posts about private schools, FIFA, dog groomers and everything else. At least it's sports. Not to mention, doesn't RU have one or two girls who play for Canada?
To answer Abro's questions:
USA first game is Monday night at 7:30 vs Australia.
US is the favorite although not a prohibitive favorite. The odds I saw had them at 9-4. Second favorite was Germany at 7-2.
Abby Wambach is no longer the world's best player - if she ever was. (She was the world's best goal scorer.) This is no longer Abby's team. In fact it is not a given that she will be in the starting lineup, although she probably will.
USA first game is Monday night at 7:30 vs Australia.
US is the favorite although not a prohibitive favorite. The odds I saw had them at 9-4. Second favorite was Germany at 7-2.
Abby Wambach is no longer the world's best player - if she ever was. (She was the world's best goal scorer.) This is no longer Abby's team. In fact it is not a given that she will be in the starting lineup, although she probably will.
I look at women's soccer the same way I do the LPGA. They may not be as fast or strong as their male counterparts but the top teams play with amazing precision. The passing is a thing of beauty. Just like the top LPGA players may be who the average golfer should try to emulate, I think young soccer players, male or female , can learn a lot from watching squads like the USWNT. I know I really enjoy watching them.
Vk - we have a girl playing for Canada. But one of the better players on the USWNT our own Carli Lloyd (sp?). She's #10. And very good.
I'll definitely watch as much as I can. I'm no soccer fan...at all. Nothing against it, but I'll only watch Team USA in the World Cup or Olympics. Actually prefer to watch the women's team, maybe because they've had more success.
Also, before I was hired as a teacher, I substituted back at East Brunswick HS. Heather O'Reilly was in a couple of classes I covered. I believe it was her senior year. She was dominating HS soccer and even being pulled up to the women's team for a couple of matches. She was a really nice and humble person. She comes from a great family as I graduated with her brother Mike who was a great person as well. The Carli Lloyd factor has some pull with me too.
Also, before I was hired as a teacher, I substituted back at East Brunswick HS. Heather O'Reilly was in a couple of classes I covered. I believe it was her senior year. She was dominating HS soccer and even being pulled up to the women's team for a couple of matches. She was a really nice and humble person. She comes from a great family as I graduated with her brother Mike who was a great person as well. The Carli Lloyd factor has some pull with me too.
I think FieldTurf the product is great, but I also think the FIFA ok'ing turf for the Women's World Cup is a disgrace and blatant discrimination. How can they say it's not 'right' for the Men's game but dismiss it as an issue for the Women?
Joe P.
So far the quality has actually been very poor. This tournament is showing very fit, fast players and a frantic pace - but sloppy, turnover-filled soccer.
Watching the last few usa games has shown me that we aren't playing an attractive style either and we aren't alone at the top anymore.
This will probably be the last World Cup where being the fastest/strongest team could still be enough to win. Teams like France , Japan and Germany have stepped up their technical ability and will surpass us if we don't fix our development methods. Soccer is great when the teams have high IQs and can slow the game down and play with their brain - we ain't there yet
Watching the last few usa games has shown me that we aren't playing an attractive style either and we aren't alone at the top anymore.
This will probably be the last World Cup where being the fastest/strongest team could still be enough to win. Teams like France , Japan and Germany have stepped up their technical ability and will surpass us if we don't fix our development methods. Soccer is great when the teams have high IQs and can slow the game down and play with their brain - we ain't there yet
Considering RU has players on the Canadian and US teams and with Lloyd being on the SI cover, this is actually pertinent. Women's soccer is a reliably solid sport at RU.
I didn't watch this game but I did watch Barca-Juve which was entertaining, even though I'm a Real Madrid fan.
I didn't watch this game but I did watch Barca-Juve which was entertaining, even though I'm a Real Madrid fan.
I think the quality is partially a Field Turf issue.
I am a Seattle Sounders Supporter, and watch alot of turf games. The game on turf is much faster but also sloopier as there is less friction then grass, and the muscle memory on kicks from grass to turf is different.
Plus the women's some is really just starting to develop. Had you watched the Germany drubbing of the 3rd place African team (CIV), you'd have seen a German team that was almost technically perfect, albeit vs a low level team. Basically it's the equivalent of watching Jordan and the Dream Team against Angola, except there are a half dozen teams that could win it all.
vkj - maybe you're confusing me with someone else, since my son isn't into soccer that much (he played rec league like a lot of kids and was a good goalie, but music and video games held much more appeal for him after 13-14). I agree with JoeRU - top level soccer isn't meant to be played on turf - they should've figured something else out. Maybe they could have spent all the FIFA bribe money on grass fields.
We play soccer every week with a bunch of 40-60 year olds and turf is fine there, since it has more give, which I think is good for knees/ankles, etc, but we generally aren't sliding at full speed (we don't allow sliding tackles, as we'd quickly have everyone in surgery, lol) - however, for much faster pros, the skin burns from sliding on turf just suck and you really don't get those on good grass fields (much less severe).
And demauroj makes a great point about the ball bouncing/rolling faster on turf, which can really screw with timing for people used to playing on grass - definitely has contributed to the sloppiness we've seen so far, IMO.
I think when comparing a normal grass field vs a field turf field, most would probably opt of the field turf. Note I said normal grass, not one like the better grade fields you might see on better high school fields, let alone those that you see at pro stadia. Most 'normal' fields are a bit uneven and usually aren't mown often enough for good soccer play, while field turf is relatively even and you can get some good passing achieve if you know what you are doing. Of course, there are the odd bounces, like when a ball goes way up high, then bounces backward due to backspin. You probably won't see that on grass fields, LOL.
Concerning the national team, there has been concern that the players are still in transition between athletic vs technical approach. A good portion still rely on being bigger & faster (see Wambach, Rapinoe, etc), but there have been a few added to the roster that try to be more technical & tactically astute (see Christen Press). This is probably the last hurrah for the majority of the bigger/faster set, as I think most of their attributes will have been nullified by the better nations sooner than later.
Concerning the national team, there has been concern that the players are still in transition between athletic vs technical approach. A good portion still rely on being bigger & faster (see Wambach, Rapinoe, etc), but there have been a few added to the roster that try to be more technical & tactically astute (see Christen Press). This is probably the last hurrah for the majority of the bigger/faster set, as I think most of their attributes will have been nullified by the better nations sooner than later.
The results of yesterday's 2 games was a combined score of 14-0.
With only 24 countries in the tournament (as compared with 32 in the men's WC), you would think there would be more competitive balance.
Maybe that's why no one is paying attention.
Also, games are on Fox (or FS1). Do you think that has something to do with ESPN running a story yesterday about Hope Solo's domestic abuse charge. Wonder how long they were sitting on that info.
With only 24 countries in the tournament (as compared with 32 in the men's WC), you would think there would be more competitive balance.
Maybe that's why no one is paying attention.
Also, games are on Fox (or FS1). Do you think that has something to do with ESPN running a story yesterday about Hope Solo's domestic abuse charge. Wonder how long they were sitting on that info.
This is Wambach's goal in extra time against Brazil in 2011. It's 3 minutes of your life. Just give it a shot.
I for one can't wait for tonight's game.
Ian Darke is a great soccer announcer!
I think the interest level in the tournament as a whole won't ramp up until you get to the knockout stage, and probably not until the quarterfinals. Just look at yesterday. Germany is going to win their group, Norway should be #2, and does it matter who finishes 3rd? Even with four 3rd place teams making the knockout stage this year, it is clear that Ivory Coast and whoever Norway beat (can't remember right now) have no shot of upsetting a real contender.
Go USA!
I think the interest level in the tournament as a whole won't ramp up until you get to the knockout stage, and probably not until the quarterfinals. Just look at yesterday. Germany is going to win their group, Norway should be #2, and does it matter who finishes 3rd? Even with four 3rd place teams making the knockout stage this year, it is clear that Ivory Coast and whoever Norway beat (can't remember right now) have no shot of upsetting a real contender.
Go USA!
Trumpet thanks for the link.
Ill probably get bashed for this but that goal is essentially why I don't really watch women's soccer. I definitely pull for the US women and for carli lloyd specifically but it just bothers me. It's a goal that i can just not see happening in men's soccer.
Why?
1) Correct me if I'm wrong but Wambach is for the US women basically what Klose was for Germany. In other words how in the world do you leave a player of that caliber/pedigree unmarked at the six yard box in the 122nd minute up a goal?
2) The Brazilian goalie missing that cross is inexcusable. If you can't get to it stay where you are. If you move you damn well better get a hand on it. She completely misjudges it and whiffs entirely. The real problem is how tall is she? Hope Solo is a "big keeper" at - what - 5 10? That's shorter than shay given who was great in his prime but always was critiqued for ... being too short. The fact that there are very few 6'3" women keepers (or people in general) that can move like Tim Howard means by definition goals will be scored in women's soccer that would not happen in men's.
It is still exciting, but women's soccer is played at vastly different levels from country to country. More specifically, the support is vastly different.
The USA should compete for the championship or win it every time. The whole program is supported, in most if not all cases, far more than the other teams.
It is all part of the process of growing the sport, but this isn't the men's side where numerous countries throw everything they have it. In most cases outside of America, women's soccer is a complete afterthought.
The USA should compete for the championship or win it every time. The whole program is supported, in most if not all cases, far more than the other teams.
It is all part of the process of growing the sport, but this isn't the men's side where numerous countries throw everything they have it. In most cases outside of America, women's soccer is a complete afterthought.
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