Showing posts with label U.S. Women's Soccer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U.S. Women's Soccer. Show all posts
Thursday, August 21, 2008
U.S. Women's National Team Wins Gold
By an extra time goal from Carli Lloyd.
Now, can Hope Solo finally get some love from her teammates.
Look a win against the run of play is still a win. In other news, the Germans won the bronze medal in a 2-0 win over Japan.
Outplayed and overwhelmed for most of the night, the Americans got the only shot they needed.Well done, Ladies.
Olympic champions, once again.
Carli Lloyd scored in the sixth minute of overtime Thursday night, Hope Solo bailed out her teammates time and again, and the United States beat Brazil 1-0 to win the gold medal in women's soccer for a third time in four Olympics.
As the final whistle sounded, the Americans charged across the field, hugging anyone in sight. Someone handed out flags, and several players took off, running.
Now, can Hope Solo finally get some love from her teammates.
The victory was a bit of redemption for the Americans, who went to the World Cup as favorites last fall only to be humbled 4-0 in the semifinals by Brazil. And for no one was it sweeter than Solo, who was banished from the bronze medal game at the World Cup after criticizing then-coach Greg Ryan for not playing her against Brazil even though she'd allowed only two goals in four World Cup starts, and had a shutout streak of nearly 300 minutes going.Although the Brazilian Women got a Silver Medal, it was not a good Olympics for the Brazilians. The men's side have yet to win gold in the competition and were trounced by Argentina in the semi-finals (the men will play for the Bronze). The women lost for the gold medal game for the second time in consecutive games to the U.S.
Look a win against the run of play is still a win. In other news, the Germans won the bronze medal in a 2-0 win over Japan.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
U.S. Women v. Brazil--Again--in Gold Medal Match
The U.S. Women's National Team rallied from 1-0 down to beat Japan in the Olympic Semi-finals 4-2. The U.S. will face Brazil, again, in the Olympic Final.
The U.S.-Brazil pairing has much history and the match is sure to be good.
What I like about this Wambach and Whitehill-less U.S. women's squad is that they have proven that they can come back from set-backs. The 2-0 defeat to Norway led to a 1-0 over Japan and a 4-0 dismantling of New Zealand in group play. The U.S. overcame a lengthy rain delay in teh quarterfinal match against Canada to win on a Natasha Kai goal.
In the Semi-finals, the Japanese women played very well (I see the emergence of a team that will regularly compete for Olympic and World Cup honors). But the U.S. came back. Angela Hucles got a brace and Heather O'Reilly and Lori Chalupny got one each.
The U.S.-Brazil pairing has much history and the match is sure to be good.
What I like about this Wambach and Whitehill-less U.S. women's squad is that they have proven that they can come back from set-backs. The 2-0 defeat to Norway led to a 1-0 over Japan and a 4-0 dismantling of New Zealand in group play. The U.S. overcame a lengthy rain delay in teh quarterfinal match against Canada to win on a Natasha Kai goal.
In the Semi-finals, the Japanese women played very well (I see the emergence of a team that will regularly compete for Olympic and World Cup honors). But the U.S. came back. Angela Hucles got a brace and Heather O'Reilly and Lori Chalupny got one each.
Friday, August 15, 2008
U.S. Women Advance to Semi-finals
Facing Canada for the fifth time in 2008, the U.S. Women advance to the Olympics Semi-finals with a 2-1 extra time victory over the Canucks, on goals by Angela Hucles and Natasha Kai.
The U.S. will face the winner of China-Japan. If Japan, I think the U.S. can advance to the Gold Medal Game. China might be a tough road to follow to get to the Final match.
The U.S. will face the winner of China-Japan. If Japan, I think the U.S. can advance to the Gold Medal Game. China might be a tough road to follow to get to the Final match.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Comcast--You Got Some Splaining to Do
Comcast will carry NBC Soccer Olympics but only if you pay for it.
At least that is what it looks like.
There are lots of entities that are going to make money on the Olympics and NBC is a big one. I liked the plan of taping and showing live and delayed broadcasts of all the Olympic soccer. I think NBC will make a pretty penny off of it. But it looks like Comcast and a few other cable operators no doubt, want to make some money too. So they will put the NBC Olympic Soccer behind a pay wall. For a roughly two week competition, I don't want to have to pay for at least a month's worth of programming (or more-Comcast doesn't have a sense of humor about buying programming for just a month).
As Laurie said, start calling and emailing.
At least that is what it looks like.
There are lots of entities that are going to make money on the Olympics and NBC is a big one. I liked the plan of taping and showing live and delayed broadcasts of all the Olympic soccer. I think NBC will make a pretty penny off of it. But it looks like Comcast and a few other cable operators no doubt, want to make some money too. So they will put the NBC Olympic Soccer behind a pay wall. For a roughly two week competition, I don't want to have to pay for at least a month's worth of programming (or more-Comcast doesn't have a sense of humor about buying programming for just a month).
As Laurie said, start calling and emailing.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Abby Wambach Out of Olympics
After a nasty collision last night in a tune-up friendly with Brazil, the U.S. Women's National Team's leading scorer AbbyWambach suffered a broken leg and will be out for three months to recuperate.
Wambach has 99 goals in 127 appearances for the U.S.
The women beat Brazil yesterday 1-0 with a goal by Natasha Kai.
This doesn't mean that the U.S. women are no longer a favorite to win the Gold Medal in Beijing, but Wambach is clearly a target player and even if she doesn't score, her mere presences keeps defenses split on marking targets. The U.S. should still advance to the medal rounds.
According to Goff, Lauren Cheney is the most likely replacement for Wambach.
Wambach has 99 goals in 127 appearances for the U.S.
The women beat Brazil yesterday 1-0 with a goal by Natasha Kai.
This doesn't mean that the U.S. women are no longer a favorite to win the Gold Medal in Beijing, but Wambach is clearly a target player and even if she doesn't score, her mere presences keeps defenses split on marking targets. The U.S. should still advance to the medal rounds.
According to Goff, Lauren Cheney is the most likely replacement for Wambach.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Women's Pro League Update
Goff has an update on the Women's League player allocation. The early seven teams are
My big issue with the Women's league is that there is not enough combination with the MLS. Most of the women's leagues in Europe also revolve around the club as a whole, thus Arsenel have the top women's team in England and other clubs have solid women's teams as well. Yes, teh pay is much, much, much less than the men's club, but it is very affiliated with the club as a whole.
So, the match ups should be more like this:
Washington-DC United
Boston--New England
New Jersey--Red Bull New York
Dallas--FC Dallas
Chicago--the Fire
Los Angeles--the LA Galaxy
The only outlier is St. Louis--which I have never understood why there is not an MLS franchise there.
These teams should be playing regular doubleheaders, should be playing in the respective SSS as available and cross-market.
As for attendence. The Maryland Soccerplex stadium seats about 3200 in the bleachers and probably another 1200 or so in grass seating at the ends of the bowl. The place is intimate. I don't think the teams are expecting to get more than 3000 to 4000 a game. As long as the ticket prices are relatively low, the attendence will come. Keep in mind, there are very few professional level team sports for women out there and girls soccer is huge in the states.
Anyway, I know my daughter is looking forward to the games even though she doesn't play soccer.
Washington (Maryland SoccerPlex), Boston (Harvard), New Jersey (Rutgers), Dallas, Chicago, St. Louis and Los Angeles.The comments question the wisdom of a women's league again.
My big issue with the Women's league is that there is not enough combination with the MLS. Most of the women's leagues in Europe also revolve around the club as a whole, thus Arsenel have the top women's team in England and other clubs have solid women's teams as well. Yes, teh pay is much, much, much less than the men's club, but it is very affiliated with the club as a whole.
So, the match ups should be more like this:
Washington-DC United
Boston--New England
New Jersey--Red Bull New York
Dallas--FC Dallas
Chicago--the Fire
Los Angeles--the LA Galaxy
The only outlier is St. Louis--which I have never understood why there is not an MLS franchise there.
These teams should be playing regular doubleheaders, should be playing in the respective SSS as available and cross-market.
As for attendence. The Maryland Soccerplex stadium seats about 3200 in the bleachers and probably another 1200 or so in grass seating at the ends of the bowl. The place is intimate. I don't think the teams are expecting to get more than 3000 to 4000 a game. As long as the ticket prices are relatively low, the attendence will come. Keep in mind, there are very few professional level team sports for women out there and girls soccer is huge in the states.
Anyway, I know my daughter is looking forward to the games even though she doesn't play soccer.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
New FIFA World Rankings
Are now in and the United States jumped seven positions to 21st. The wins against Sweden and Poland are paying off.
I suspect that the quality of American play is starting to get real recognition.
The formula for calculating points is complicated, but it is based in part on the strength of one's opponents and because CONCACAF is not exactly a strong region, breaking the top ten for the US is going to involve victories in the World Cup. But playing Sweden, Poland, England, Spain and Argentina means more points and victories or draws against said teams is very helpful.
The U.S. Women are ranked #1 in the World.
I suspect that the quality of American play is starting to get real recognition.
The formula for calculating points is complicated, but it is based in part on the strength of one's opponents and because CONCACAF is not exactly a strong region, breaking the top ten for the US is going to involve victories in the World Cup. But playing Sweden, Poland, England, Spain and Argentina means more points and victories or draws against said teams is very helpful.
The U.S. Women are ranked #1 in the World.
Monday, March 31, 2008
U.S. Women's National Team Roster for Olympic Qualifying
U.S. Women's National Team Head Coach Pia Sundhage has named a 20 player roster for the Women's Olympic qualifying tournament. Two teams from the six in the region will advance to the Olympics. The U.S., the top ranked women's team in the world is practically a shoo-in. The bigger question will be weather Mexico or Canada advances with them.
Both the Mexican and Canadian side is populated with players who have played at American colleges, a breeding ground for great women players.
Both the Mexican and Canadian side is populated with players who have played at American colleges, a breeding ground for great women players.
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