Ballet is a form of dance, a performing art.......... not a sport. Sorry... If you want to include dance as a sport you might as well include theater arts and actors as sport too, which they are not. I don't know why you people deny your own countries as being sexist. I'm not trying to offend you all, I'm just telling it like it is. If the United States was just as sexist as you all, why do we have the number one team in the country and you don't have a team that ranks in the top 3, let alone top 5? What are we doing right that you are doing wrong? Why are the United States constantly a competitive number one team?
just as holden accepts my opinion as ballet being a sport, i have no trouble accepting it's not be considered such. but don't lump it in with theater arts please. it's more physically demanding than soccer. why does the US nave the number one team in the world (not the country, i see a slip ofthe tongue that betrays a high level of provincialism)? a question we're all examining, but there could be lots of reasons, it doesn't necessarily hang on sexism. i admit france is sexist. the world is sexist. if the US is less so, it's not by very much. and i'm basing that on my own experience of living in the countries i speak about. that is also "telling it like it is".
There is something who has to be said , some teams are "weak" because of coach decison ...certainly not because of cultural , sexism or not financial help by the federation or governement . England is a good example , they definetly can do better than that with all the players they have got ...there ain't a contry in the world with quality wingers like Yankey, Clarke, Davison ,Potter etc.....if Hope Powell choose to renounce at them who is to blame ? Switzerland got three of the most talented players in europe , Dickenmann,Bachmann and Crnogorcevic plus a bunch of good players , Thalmann ,Abbe' ,Mandly etc.....It's enough to qualify for Euro at least .
Hope Powell is a terrible coach (well, we'll just say less than mediocre). And Switzerland's players are overrated. Bachmann was the last draft pick in the Abby XI vs. Marta XI all star game, for a reason. The other star players don't respect her as much as the non-players (fans, media) hype her game up. Bachmann is probably the most overrated player in the world. At one time she was labeled as the #2 player in the world behind Marta. Ha. She is the complete opposite of Alex Morgan at "finishing" scoring chances. Bachmann wastes too many of them. Dickenmann is a nice player. But not one of the best in Europe overall. Certainly not Top 10 in all of Europe or anything. I do like Crnogorcevic's game. But she can be quiet at times for too long. And Switzerland's coaching is not all that.
Bachmann overrated ......Dickenmann not one of the best ........ anyway ,we all can have different opinions ,which have to be respected, even if they are questionable.
She do seem to take a long time to acclimate herself to new clubs and get up to her high level. It didn't really appear at all in the WPS (but they had a fairly short seassons ) and she was almost invinsible for the first half ot the 2012 seasson when she moved to Malmö (still ended up forth in scoring in Damallsvenskan almost all scored in the 2nd half of the seasson).
Bachmann is a great player still, but not a Top 5 player in the world overall. Maybe Top 25 (and Top 10 forward) overall in the world. She's still a world class player. But not Top 5.
Sure she is not top 5 but probably a top 25 (depending a bit on how one rates forwards against other positions), She is good enought to take a place in any WNT(if rules allowed) but not good enough to be domiant or perhaps not even as a starter in the German or US teams. But she was as good 3 years ago as now and since she then was 19 many assumed she would continue getting better and thus surpass all but Marta.
if she hasn't improved from 3 years ago, i've got to question if she is top 25. 3 years ago she was freddy adu - a bucketful of stepovers and promise with an annoying tendency to produce little or nothing.
adu's was the name JB's post suggested to me as well. but i hope you don't intend to call bachmann's birth certificate into question. that would never do.
@ WPS ,I don't think you read accurately my post ....I said Ramona Bachmann is one of the best IN EUROPE not IN THE WORLD , so if you said she is in the top 25 that's means without americans, canadians ,brazilians and japanese she is easily in the top 10 ....... don't you think? Anyway , what I really wanted to say is the Swiss with an offensive force including Bachmann, Dickenmann ,Crnogorevic and Maendly plus some good supporting cast like Abbe' ,Thalmann ,Brunner are definetly strong enough to qualify for Euro....they are certainly more talented than 3~4 teams who qualified....but football is not won on paper unfortunately for them.
Well she did very good seasson in 2009 and 2011 and the second half of 2012 and 2008 was rather good to. 2010 and first half of 2012 was unremarkably (I think that maybe that she is slow to aclimate herslef to a new club). Apart for 2010 and first half of 2012 she is possible on of the best 5 forwards in Europe and one of the ten best for sure and possibly one of the ten best in the World but not one of the five best. Not sure how to realy tranlsate that to other position.
Bachmann is good. One of best forwards in Europe (Top 10 for sure, maybe Top 5 in Europe). But she hasn't lived up to the hype yet (let's face it, she'll never be the #2 forward in the world). Switzerland does have Top 12 (team) talent as an overall team (on paper) in Europe. And 12 teams do make the Euro tournament, so theoretically they should make it. But they haven't. Their coaching is not the best in Europe, that's for sure.
When I read this kind of threads I really wish there was some WNT videogame How about Bulgaria? While the MNT seems to be in the right track after their slump, the WNT is poor even for Eastern European standards, losing all 10 games in the Euro qualifying with a 1-54 goal average and being trashed by Hungary (0-4 in Lovech, 9-0 in Sopron). As for bad coaching I think Spain is the unluckiest out of all promising European teams. Ignacio Quereda has been in the job since Alex Ferguson was a newbie in Manchester United despite achieving hardly anything, and he is a complete hindrance, with rutinary call-ups, petty clashes (Laura del Río anyone?), terrible line-ups, obsolete and lazy tactics that nullify the team's talent and no reaction to the game's developments. It's a shame to watch Spain play and see such restrain and insecurity in a quite talented team. We only defeated Scotland in the repechage because the players relied on their instincts when the situation had become desperate. There are talented coaches in the Spanish league and youth teams that could do great, like Jorge Vilda, Antonio Contreras, Luis Carrión, Jesús Núñez... (on the other hand it's worrying how none of the 16 teams in Primera División have a female coach) but that will have to wait until Quereda retires. We could have performed like Bulgaria and he wouldn't have been dismissed, because he has good connections and the federation just doesn't care. Can you believe the Spanish season ends two weeks before the start of the Euro? It's difficult to produce results under such conditions.
I think a major factor in the success of the USWNT is the sheer number of players to choose from. The College system ensures that there are always fresh faces emerging in the Woman's game over there. What's great about the US is that the game can provide an education for athletes, and the universities market the game and attract semi-partisan crowds that would be otherwise difficult to achieve. Over here in the UK, we should be looking at that system as a means of improving second tier sports (In our country) like volleyball etc. That's not to say our (UK) system won't produce good players, it will naturally owing to the cultural standing of the sport here - just that the College system you lot have is superb and gives more athletes more access to good facilities and coaching. I think the Olympics helped somewhat, but largely the England Woman's team games are not televised, and are not reported on in the press. Here's hoping for improved coverage over here and more investment in grass roots as a result.
well, that might be going a bit far. some of us think that the severe restrictions on practice and playing is a bit of a hindrance. but i get what you're saying.
There will most certainly be a women's video game (the question is when, not if) .......... https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/womens-soccer-video-game-coming-soon.1979594/
from what i understand that when will not be in this century. there may be people interested in it (and from our vantage point it may seem there are a LOT of people VERY interested in it) new FIFA and PES versions are huge outlays, so this just isn't a viable project. Nintendo and EA Sports are not charitable institutions. tacking on a feminine looking sideshow feature in the vein of dinosaurs vs. penguins may be doable, but i don't think that's what anyone wants. recognizable rapinoes, bresoniks and schelins and even remotely realistic databases for different players and teams is a dream that's just not going to happen.
An alternative could be modifying the sprites and data of an old videogame by a group of fans with programming skills. For example, here in Spain there are a few websites making updates of PC Fútbol, a series of videogames from the 1990s with aged but decent graphics and a cool manager with a complete database.
It's funny that you said that. At the Scotland game in Hampden we sat not far from the Spain bench and the person organising everything form the subs warming up to shouting instructions to the field was Vero not the coach. Maybe her taking over is got them to the Euros.
There have been all kinds of articles out there that quote them in saying they want to be innovative and be the first to create this kind of game (and do it the right way). Whether they come through with it or not, well that's the question.
i was very enthusiastic when i heard about this, but when i talked with someone who actually knows something about the industry (i don't even play any games except for GT5) i wa informed that a game like FIFA needs to sell about 3-4M copies for the two major platforms to break even. now it turns out that about half the FIFA and PES players in the states are female... but that's because the states are an almost marginal market for soccer games : less that 5% of sales (when for big FPS titles it can account for as much as half). and in the rest of the world women playing video games, and interest in a femfoot game overall, are trace to zilch.
I agree...however, let's not leave Australia out of this conversation...a VERY young pool with a tremendous amount of ceiling!
i'm sorry i don't have time to translate but here's an interview giving an informed opinion of why switz isn't as good as they should be. http://www.footdelles.com/article/P...feminin-suisse-est-scinde-en-deux-_75842.html