Scholarship table
Considering our crappy performance, that's probably not a bad thing.
Does anyone follow the womens world cup? My youngest daughter was in club, and HS soccer when she followed the 1999 USA womens team, which was top, with China/Norway....but it seems like, over the last decade the rest of the world has caught up, and theres better womens soccer, now in other countries too--yes?
It's our best shot at winning a World Cup, even if because it isn't the men's team.
It's our best shot at winning a World Cup, even if it isn't the men's team because Bob Bradley isn't the coach.
My personal feelings about the USA women's national team... I really was a fan, and supported them. Up until the (i can't remember the year) world cup where they would sit on the ball in the opposition's corner to waste time once they had a lead. awful.
I know what you mean, but it's not that much different in the men's game. You see that kind of time wasting in every single World Cup. Ghana did it profusely last year once they had the lead in extra time. Brazil did it in the Confederations. Virtually every successful team will use some time-wasting tactics. Once they have a lead, no one is better at killing the clock than Spain simply because they can pass it around the back so well. Time-wasting is like diving, both may be an unfortunate part of the game, but they are still an important part of the game, so you're better off being as good at them as possible.If Americans had any skill at diving, we could immediately go from being a top-25 type team to a top 10-12 type team. Our staunch refusal in most instances to dive, and our awkward attempts when we do, certainly has us behind the likes of Brazil, Spain, Portugal, and Italy when it comes to level competition.
I taught my daughter to dive...and in one game a yellow was held up, only to have the opposing player scream, 'she never touched me."..the card was withdrawn, and I really admired the other girl's sportsmanship.
This doesn't make sense. Your daughter dove and drew a yellow, the other girl complained, the card was overturned and as a result you admired the other girl for "sportsmanship"? That just seems like whining to the refs. Unless I misread that.
I do for sure. I find women's soccer to be by far the most entertaining of any women's sports (well volleyball is close). Should be an interesting squad, some intriguing new talent to go with some old standbys like Wambach, Boxx, and the triumphant return of Hope Solo.Its interesting that Mitts is back on the WC squad. She missed the last couple of WCs with injuries and now gets her shot despite being old-ish by soccer standards. She can help Alex Morgan hold down the hottie quotient on the team.
I must say, the women's world cup has been more entertaining than MLS, so I will contiue to watch. I just wish the USMNT had a couple players that could self generate scoring abilities like the ladies.
The France game, I was saying all game that one goal wasn't going to be enough, and honestly, we were quite simply outplayed for about 75 minutes. That game reminded me almost exactly of the USA/Spain match in the Confederations. Playing against a team that could outpossess you to death, with perfect passing, and the US could barely get any meaningful possession in France's end. France finished with 55% possession and a 25-11 advantage in shots. Yet we refused to concede the 20 yard area surrounding our goal, which forced France to shoot from range at our world-class keeper. But we made the most of the few chances we got (we scored on more than half our on-target shots) and somehow found a way to get a 2-goal win. God, if that wasn't Spain all over again...
Have you seen the overnight ratings from the Brazil match?
Soccer America ran a piece entitled "Three Reasons Why the USA will Will the WC." The three reasons being Wambach, Solo, and bench strength. I must disagree with their forecast, as I think Japan is absolutely the finest technical TEAM I have ever seen in women's soccer, and I think their possession skills, precise one-touch passing, and quickness will absolutely make a meal out of the USA's lumbering long ball offense. I offer three reasons why the US will lose this game: our #7, our #10, and our shaky back line.