At least the announcers won't be calling Midge someone else, like Payne, Jenkins, Freeman, etc. That's really annoying especially since they look nothing alike.
Horan with a Hat Trick!!! Team not looking very strong against a very weak CRC side. Score should easily be 6+ at this point. Kudos to CRC keeper who has come up big a few times, but honestly, our top should be scoring at will.
Thought the midfield was very sluggish. Andrews disappeared for long periods and all the passes were negative. Also, Basinger was not quick or creative. Not impressive. On the other hand, thought Horan made the most of every chance and Jordan played through her finishing issues before finally scoring. She works hard. Doniak played well in her time before getting injured.
As of right now, this looks like the 3rd place team of the U-20 WWC. Let's hope they improve, and improve by enough to bump up to the #1 looking team for their youth level. Right now, they're not there.
good game. but it's vs costa rica. it doesn't tell me anything. they passed the ball well. horan has some skills. but i'm not yet convinced. i don't see any team speed, or the ability to move the ball quickly against better sides. i could be persuaded by later games tho.
It's impossible to know at this point if this team will win it all or get knocked out early. We don't know the final line up of who is going to Canada (assuming they will) and how this unit will come together. The evaluation of talent is only one component, and probably too emphasized on this thread. I often don't agree with Chastain, but I did agree with her thoughts about which players at the College Cup could have good pro careers. Her emphasis was upon talent, but even more so on which players play big when it counts and have the mental aptitude to persevere when it is tough. This is something that we don't yet know, and we are not sure how well French and staff will be able to prepare them. I remember Leroux and company being knocked out a couple of cycles ago, despite superior talent. And the full WNT faced great adversity, and yet pulled out wins in dramatic fashion against Canada, Brazil and Japan. We will really not know until the going gets tough, and some of these dire early predictions seem quite ignorant of what it takes to win in any sport.
Perhaps referring to assessments that the US U20s are maybe going to come in #3? Of course, that's only "dire" if one thinks they clearly and obviously should be #1.
I'm not saying they're going to finish in 3rd place when it's all said and done, I'm just saying that as of now they don't look like the #1 team in the world for their youth level. They still have a lot of time, and this team is quite new together still, so hopefully they can pull it all together in time.
I got ATI Radeon CrossFire v-sync woes: horizontal lines, colors psychedelic. Other than that, it's really smooth and sharp And my FutureMark 11 more than doubled! [JAM-USA] 30' 0-0 USA chips a cross from 12m mid-left to #9 Horan at 13m center, rises for a header, just wide left. 31' 0-1 USA cross from 24m arc right, high to #13 Savannah Jordan at 10m 6-left. She chests ball down into her stride, steps into the high up-bounce, flicks ball over #13 Chris-Ann Chambers and just under the upper left 90. Beat her near post!
32' 0-1 USA shot from box top? Chambers sprawls low, spills a rebound to 5m left post. #9 Horan, poaching at center, chases ball inside-out. Just as she turns to shoot, #15 Myjnairii Perkins slides in (on knees) and DOGSOs her -- a wincey shot to her planted right knee, then undercuts her like a skit. Ball bounces out to 15m 6-right -- 3rd player slices into the right side netting. Stoppage, trainer comes out -- Horan limps into touch? Edit: ussoccer tweet says it wasn't a teammate. I cannot tell -- same psychedelic colors, same horizontal scan lines across the jerseys ...
39' 0-1 #14 Rachek Hill shoots, Chambers blocks it along goalline right. Horan chases it down, backshields 1 -- who sweeps the foot from behind just before endline (or just over, doesn't matter). This one gets called. 40' 0-2 PK, #19(c) Andi Sullivan, opens hips, right instep to right back low, Chambers frozen.
Thoughts on first half. Obviously this team celebrated their amazing performance against Costa Rica by hitting the buffet line, and dreaming of future glory. Give me an aspirin Wathcing that uninspiring attempt at football has given me a severe headache. Oh and the coaching is top notch for the US. I say Top Notch.
46' 0-2 USA subs in (1 of 3) #16 Stephanie Amack (DF) for #7 Morgan Andrews (MF). 52' 0-2 Jamaica subs in (1 of 3) #18 Kayla Gray (FW) for #17 Simone Wark (MF). 56' 0-2 Royal clusterfrog in Jamaica's box. USA keep ball inside the 6 for about three whacks and 15 seconds. Cleared, no call. 58' 0-2 Jamaica subs in (2 of 3) #12 Keona Simmonds (MF) for #Alexa Allen (FW). 59' 0-2 USA subs in (2 of 3) #15 Margaret "Midge" Purce for #5 Summer Green. 60' 0-2 Jamaica shoots from long range, high left post, Rowland catches face-high. 62' 0-2 Purce drives through box top mid-right, down to 6-right foot, crosses back to Jordan, volleys just wide right.