US Women Take Bronze In World Cup
The US Women finished 3rd in the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup after defeating Norway 4-1 yesterday. The US finished behind runners up Brazil, and champions Germany, who beat the Samba Queens 2-0 after the US won. It was a solid game for the US that saw Brianna Scurry back in goal for the Red, White, and Blue. Hope Solo was left off the roster completely for the US, and after the game, nobody was sure if Solo would even fly back to the States with the team. As for the game, Abby Wambach scored twice, bringing her World Cup tally to 6. Her 6 goals earned her the Silver Shoe as she was the second leading scorer. Her 2 goals also valuted her into second place on the US all-time list. She is now behind only Michelle Akers, and ahead of Mia Hamm. Even with everything that went wrong in the game against Brazil, Wambach showed that she is indeed a world class talent.
The other 2 US goals were scored by Lori Chalupny and Heather O’Reilly , both of whom had excellent tournaments. In all honesty, it wasn’t that bad of a tournament. I might even venture to say that that the US may have beaten Germany had they gotten the opportunity to play them. Brazil looked flat for most of the game, which isn’t a shock after their emotional celebrations after beating the US. In the end, the US Women go home with Bronze Medals, and some regrets, I’m sure. Who knows what would have happened had Hope Solo played against Brazil? Would we be congratulating the US women for their championship win today? Nobody will ever know. What we do know is that while this team is good, it can be better. The US will play Mexico 3 times to end the year, and next year will look to the Beijing Olympics to regain their spot as the best team in the world.
US Women Downed By Brazil 4-0
The US Women were defeated by Brazil 4-0 this morning, ending what was supposed to be a dominant run by the US women. In a way, it was the end of domination for the US as Brazil proved that it was a much better side than the US. What lessons can we take from this defeat? Well lets see what we can come up with………
1. Hope Solo Should Have Started This Game. I see Brianna Scurry’s record against the Sabmba Queens, but if we are honest with ourselves, Hope Solo should have started the game for the US. While she gave up 2 goals in the first game of the tournament, she had not allowed a goal in 3 straight games. She was the hot goalie, and she should have played. So Why did coach Greg Ryan make this move? He based his decision on Scurry’s previous games against Brazil, and while she was undefeated against Brazil, those games occurred while Scurry was in her prime, something that she is not in right now. The fact is, at 25, Solo should have not only been the keeper for this game, but the keeper next year in the Olympics. I’ll be curious to see how Coach Ryan goes about fixing this volatile situation in the future, as Solo is very important to this team. Speaking of Coach Ryan….
2. Coach Greg Ryan Made Too Many Mistakes In This Tournament. His mistake of playing Scurry over Solo is well documented already, but he severely hindered his team’s chances by completely neglecting his bench when it came to his team. Even in blowouts by the US, Ryan did not sub out his star players, and it showed against Brazil. The Americans looked tired and just plain out of it, especially in the second half when the game was out of reach.
3. The US Is No Longer The Dominant Team In Women’s Soccer. Every year, more and more teams get closer to the US in terms of quality and skill, and we should not expect this trend to change. Brazil, Germany, and England are just a few of the teams that pose a threat to the US, and if the US is not careful, it can and might be left behind. The US front line and back line are excellent, but the midfield needs serious work before 2008. Hope Solo also needs to be back in between the pipes come 2008, or this team could be in trouble. But with Marta, who might just be the world’s greatest female player today, leading a strong Brazilian team, the US can no longer call itself the best in the world.
4. At Some Point, We Need To Stop Crowning Our Teams Before They Win. Nike called this team “The Greatest Team You’ve Never Heard Of.” And they were right. I watch a lot of soccer, and outside of Abby Wambach and Hope Solo, I couldn’t name a single player on the team. As I watched the games, I learned that this team is good, but its not as great as it was made out to be. The same thing was done before Germany 2006 with the Men’s National Team. While we love our teams and think they can win anything, we have to realize that at the moment, we simply cannot hype our teams like this anymore, because all we do is set ourselves up for disappointment.
5. This Is The End Of A Decent Summer For US Soccer. We won the Gold Cup, got demolished at Copa America, and disappointed at the u-20 and u-17 World Cups. And now we’re bounced out of the Women’s World Cup. If you look back at it , the only tournament that went terribly for us was Copa America. I’m excited about the future of US Soccer, and I’m looking forward to the upcoming matches for both the Men and Women.
Freddy Adu Scores His First Goal For Benfica
Well the Carling Cup continued today and a couple of Americans were involved. Frank Simek took part as Sheffield Wednesday lost 3-0 to Everton. Everton rested Tim Howard as most Premiership sides rest their starting keepers for this competition. It may be because I’m biased, but I don’t see Frank Simek’s career taking off with Sheffield Wednesday. If they can return to their Premiership days, there may be a chance, but I think after a while he might want to move on. Spector was also on the bench for West Ham.
In bigger news, Freddy Adu scored his first goal for Benfica. He came on as a second half substitute. A Taça de Portugal player committed a handball in the area. In a surprise move, Adu was elected to take the penalty, and easily put it home. He took another penalty in a shootout after regular time ended 1-1. Hopefully he can score from open field next time and start to move into regular first team action. It is nice to see the team has confidence in him to allow him to take that penalty, and have him be their first taker in the shootout. Anyone that knows me knows that I have sometimes have doubts about Adu, but it is good to see him on the score sheet.
A few programming notes before I leave you. The United States Women’s Team Semifinal against Brazil will be shown on ESPN2 tomorrow with coverage starting at 7:30 Am ET. (The game doesn’t start until a couple of minutes before 8.) Also on ESPN2, LA Galaxy take on Kansas City at 8:00 PM ET. Kansas City will be looking for all three points, as the playoff race is on. The Chicago Fire are “lighting a fire” underneath them, and it may turn into a tight race down the stretch.
Daily Roundup 9/26/07
Long time, no update. I have to admit, Danny and I lead busy lives. Sort of. Actually, not really. Lets just do this thing….
Bobby Convey scored in the Carling Cup against Liverpool, slotting one past GK Charles Itandje in the 28th minute. He would have scored his second of the game right before halftime, but his shot was saved brilliantly by Itandje. Its good to see Convey back on the scoreboard. He’s had it tough the last year or so, and while I do think his time on the national team should be coming to an end soon, but he can still provide valuable minutes to a club like Reading.
In other news, sources are saying that US Women’s Keeper Brianna Scurry will start on Thursday against Brazil. This means that Hope Solo will not be starting. I’m not sure why this is happening to be honest. Solo hasn’t been playing badly, and while Scurry is still solid, at 36, one has to wonder if she can still bring it at this level? We’ve already seen the demise of another over 35 keeper for a US national team(cough Kasey Keller cough). I would hate to see the US flame out of the tournament over a mistake by Scurry that Solo would not have made. We shall see. The Greatest Team You’ve Never Heard Of Until You Read This Post faces Brazil at 7:55 am Thursday. Also, FoxSports.com did a very interesting piece of DC United midfielder Ben Olsen. You can check that out here. And really, thats the news for today. Later this week, we’re looking to do an in depth report on the MLS playoff race, and who we think will end up winning(hint: Freddy Adu used to play for them). So until then, enjoy the week, catch up on European games(Go Red Devils!), and just kick around if you get the chance.
I’ll leave you with this. It still gets the adrenaline pumping for me.
Credit to YouTube and user Seraphim921 for the video.
Women’s Team Advances to the Semis
Women’s World Cup
The ladies’ team was victorious yet again this morning, dispatching England with a score of 3-0. The game was a rather tight affair. Both teams showed their defensive quality, but the Americans had that slight extra advantage. When Abby Wambach broke the deadlock in the 48th minute, the floodgates opened. Shannon Boxx and Kristine Lilly scored in quick succession to put the game away. We’ll post highlights as soon as we are able to find them.
With Kelly Smith leading England’s attack, the Americans were able to show how stout they are defensively. With a strong performance by the defense in the semis, it is hard to see anyone beat them. They will face the winner of Brazil versus Australia, and we can only hope that Australia comes up with an upset. Marta is a force to be reckoned with, and avoiding her would be a very lucky thing for the United States. The semifinal will take place next Thursday.
Premier League
It was not as busy a Saturday as we are used to. Only half of the games took place today, while the other half will take place tomorrow. Benny Feilhaber got a decent amount of time for Derby County today. He was brought on in the 56th minute, but had little effect. Arsenal’s midfield was suffocating, and there was nothing Derby could do to stop them. The game ended 5-0, with Emmanuel Adebayor scoring a hat trick. You can’t help but to feel that Derby are doomed for relegation. However, the presence of Giles Barnes back from injury will provide them with a slight spark, and a scoring threat that they haven’t had so far this season. Another bright note is that Eddie Lewis, the American veteran, did look lively on the left wing today. He has a decent crossing ability, but just needs someone to get on the other end. Even with the big loss, I think Lewis has cemented his place in the team, whether it be as a starter or someone that can come on late in the game.
Marcus Hahnemann lead Reading to a 2-1 victory over Wigan to end their slump. They seem to have fallen into the “sophomore slump” category that most teams that have just come up suffer from. With such a great season last year, they were expected to do well again. But with little luck in the transfer market, including the loss of Sidwell to Chelsea (which in my opinion was a very questionable career decision), they have gotten off to a very slow start. The win has taken them out of the relegation zone, and lets hope they can stay out.
Clint Dempsey and Carlos Bocanegra played the full 90 minutes in Fulham’s 3-3 draw against Manchester City. The draw brings Fulham out of the relegation zone along with Reading. Fulham have looked good this season, although their point total doesn’t show it. They have a fighting mentality and an ability to never give up in the game. With their determination, and a little luck, it is easy to see them staying up this year, and even making it to a mid-table position.
Michael Bradley
Michael Bradley scored 2 in Herenveen’s 5-3 victory over Helsingborg in the Uefa Cup on Thursday. Highlights can be seen here. Credit to for providing the highlights.
Wambach Scores a Brace to Down Sweden
The United States Women’s Team was able to bounce back from their draw with North Korea to beat Sweden early this morning. Abby Wambach was the star of the game, which is no surprise. She scored two to make USA tied with North Korea for the top spot in Group B.
The first came from the penalty spot in the 34th minute after Lori Chalupny was brought down in the box. The Swedish goalkeeper completely misjudged a long ball and it bounced over her head. Chalupny was about to tap it in when she was brought down from behind. Wambach’s second goal came early in the second half, when she chest controlled a long ball and slotted the ball home to finish the Swedes off.
The one theme of both goals was long balls. With the team coming out in a 4-3-3 formation, our midfield was dominated. We were not able to keep possession well, and that lead to some scary moments. The Swedes were able to control the pace of play, and when our defenders got the ball they just booted it up the field. The long ball tactics are effective, but can’t be relied on every game. An established midfielder, or a change in formation, could definitely help us control games better.
On September 18th, the Women’s Team plays their last group stage game against Nigeria at 8 AM ET. Anything but a loss will guarantee that we proceed to the next round, but a big win would be preferred. North Korea looks like they are firing on all cylinders and will be able to beat the Swedes. If they win, we will have to beat them on goal difference to take first place. Second place would be fine, but then we may have to face Germany in the next round. Avoiding Germany at all costs right now would be the best option.
I’ll try to find some highlights later, and will post them for everyone to see.
United States Gets A Point Against North Korea
The US Women’s National Team started their campaign for the World Cup early this morning with their game against North Korea. Now I know some people don’t enjoy watching the women’s game, but I don’t care who you are, this was an exciting game. Both teams played with great pace, and the action just seemed to go nonstop end-to-end. We took the lead in the 50th minute, through an Abby Wambach goal.
Later in the half, Abby had to leave the field after a scramble in front of the net which left blood pouring down her face. It was oddly reminiscent of Brian McBride in the last men’s World Cup. However, her absence could be felt much harder than McBride’s absence. We were able to see how important Abby is to this team. The second she left the field, we seemed to lose a bit of alertness in our game. While she was off receiving treatment, North Korea was able to score twice to take the lead. The first goal was a result of a shock mistake by Hope Solo, as the wet ball slipped through her hands after a long shot. The second goal allowed was after a defensive mess and a rebound that was slotted home by the North Korean player.
Wambach came back after the 65th minute and the team was able to regain it’s footing. Heather O’Reilly was able to score 20 minutes before the end of time to equalize for he United States. The goal can be seen here. She used the outside of her foot to place it in the top corner, leaving the North Korean keeper with no chance.
Though the team slipped up a bit in their first game, no harm was done as the other game in the group was drawn as well. On Friday, the United States will be playing Sweden, while North Korea will be facing Nigeria. The road is going to be a difficult one for us as Sweden and Nigeria are as far from push-overs as it gets.