What's your Dream XI from this year's WWC?

Forward: Marta Delie
Midfield: Abily, Necib, Sawa, Seger, Miyama
Back: Kumagai, Peter, Rholin,
Goalie: Solo

^
Looks pretty good although I would replace Delie with Schelin

Through the semi-finals, best roster of 21:

Solo
Krieger Kumagai Rampone Kellond-Knight
J. Scott
Lauhder Sawa Necib
Cheney Marta

Subs: Thunebro, Bussaglia, Matheson, Bompastor, Mayor, O'Reilly, Thiney, Anonma, Simon, Schelin

Forward: Marta Delie Abby
Midfield: Abily, Seger, Necib
Back: Peter, Rholin, Riley, Rampone (best wheels in tourney)
Goalie: Solo

I'd like to make some slight amendments to my Dream XI:

[LINEUP-4-4-2]Kawasumi, Ando, Miyama, Sawa, Sakaguchi, Ohno, Sameshima, Kumagai, Iwashimizu, Kinga, Kaihori[/LINEUP-4-4-2]

I really don't mean this as a joke. I thought Schelin was awesome until I saw her being reduced to absolutely nothing against Japan. Same with the German players I had on my roster previously. I'm sure Marta, Wambach, Bompastor, Abily etc. wouldn't fare much better either.
Goalkeepers are a different story, but Angerer and Solo have both made some heavy blunders, and there are no others that could impress me in any way, shape or form. Also, it would be kind of strange to fit them into that line-up. I'd rather put Fukumoto there, but she hasn't played yet so I guess she doesn't "count".

Part of Schelin's performance has to do with the coaches decision to isolate her up top. She just doesn't seem like a good target forward to me, much better at running at the defense with support options.

Well, good to see that Kumagai (4) and Sakaguchi (6) have crashed more people's starting XI. Sawa's been getting too much ink, these two are the glue that holds the Japanese together.

I agree, but isolating her up top is a direct effect of playing against a Japanese side that would otherwise completely dominate the midfield, and by "completely" I mean even more than they did anyway, which could already be considered complete domination; resulting in no balls for the forwards whatsoever, which is ultimately the same thing as playing with two players down. In the end, Schellin's performance would have been even worse.

My team XI of the tournament so far:

FWs:

Marta: She IS Brazil
Wambach: Heart of the USA (and the head)

Midfield:

Miyama: Deadliest set piece taker in the women's game
Recib: They call her the female Zidane and I agree. Her surgeon like passes and non-existent panic level with the ball is amazing
Sawa: If Recib is a female Zidane, then's she's the female Xavi. She's the swiss army knife for the Japanese as in, she can do it all
Rapinoe: She got speed to burn and crosses to deliver. Has a knack as a game changer which leads me to wonder how good would she be if she started?

Defense:

Sameshima: This girl is friggin' calm. Hasn't put a foot in wrong all tournament and has skinned people left and right on the attack
Rampone: The wall of the US defense. Oldest yet has the skill and legs to run with the young'uns. I loved the way she chased down Marta and bother her enough to shoot wide on a 70-yard sprint. Wowza...
Iwashimizu: Dealt with the mountains of Germany and Sweden with ease which amazes me. She's giving up 3-4 inches and 30-40 lbs and always seems to be on the right side of the ball
Bompastor: Love the way she marauds on the left.

Goal:

Kaihori: She's been the best of the lot to me. She's been so calm during the late stages of the game that I'd want her there. In a PK, I might go with Solo, but so far, she's been stellar.

In goal:

Bardsley (England)

Defenders:
Krieger (USA)
Rampone (USA)
Sameshima (Japan)
Bompastor (France)

Midfielders:
O'Reilly (USA)
Carney (England)
Sawa (Japan)
Miyama (Japan)
Rapinoe (USA)

Forwards:
Marta (Brazil)

GK:Solo
DF: Bompastor, Buehler, Rampone, Riley
MF: Sawa, Seger, Rapinoe, Necib
ST: Marta, Popp

Next choices: Wambach, Anonma, Carney, Sameshima, Sinclair, Miyama
Too many great players to choose from!

Popp? I'm just curious but what did you see from her over Wambach?

[lineup-4-4-2]11 Wambach, 8 Schelin, 9 Carmen, 10 Sawa, 4 Laudehr, 7 Carney, 6 Thunebro, 3 Daiane, 5 Krahn, 2 Krieger, 1 Solo[/lineup-4-4-2]

I´m so sorry for Daiane that I took her into my eleven. She had bad luck and is normally a good player. I´m not so sure about the back four though, except of Sara Thunebro, who is in my opinion the World Cup´s most constant defender. Carmen impressed me in the match against Sweden running up and down the line. I took numbers from 1 to 11, the classic way.

Abby is more experienced, stronger and a better leader but Popp would scare me to death as an opposing coach. I'm a fan of faster/more creative attacking players so that's why i would put her in.

Based on what I saw from her against Canada, Popp could have won the Golden Boot if she had been on any team besides Germany. Same could be said for Inka Grings. Germany just had too many good strikers on one team and couldn't find a way to effectively use them all together.

Really you could make an argument for anyone in a pool of 20-30 players to be in a starting XI...that's how competitive this WC has been. One player i would definitely NOT put in though is Schelin. Always offside and can't finish...the only goal she scored was a Christmas present from the Australian defender.

No question.

Hope | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I can see an argument for Popp over Wambach. Wambach is deadly in the air. But there's really not much going on underneath. She's just not technically proficient enough to make an impact with the ball near her feet. Popp is probably a better overall player. That said, Wambach has been tremendously clutch in this tournament. She has been virtually unstoppable in the air. I think she absolutely deserves a place next to Marta in the starting 11 in this edition of WWC.

My picks

Hope Solo

Ali Krieger – Christie Rampone – Faye White – Sonia Bompastor

Camille Abily – Homare Sawa – Louisa Necib

Genoveva Añonma – Abby Wambach – Marta

Super Sub: Megan Rapinoe

Hope
Ali Riley, Rampone, Bompastor
Laudehr
Camille Abily – Sawa – Necib - Cheney
Abby - Marta

Reserves: Anonma, Rapinoe, Ohno, Kinga, Garfrekies, (maybe a Swede or two)

And Krahn for the same reason?

actually good line up but i'd drop krahn for rampone.

daiane
1. own goal - 1st error of the tournament
2. marking abby far post vs aline - she plays about 5-6 ins shorter
3. kick - confidence is shot after regulation

the arrow points to because of 2 and 3 ----------------> LIMA

OK, OK, understood. As I said, I am not so sure about the back line.

[lineup-4-4-2]11 Wambach, 8 Schelin, 9 Carmen, 10 Sawa, 4 Laudehr, 7 Carney, 6 Thunebro, 3 Daiane, 5 Rampone, 2 Krieger, 1 Solo[/lineup-4-4-2]

Ok, fix the back line by dropping Daiane for Kumagai. Good call on avoiding the Bompastor tidal wave and for including Carney. I also liked Laudehr, but she disappeared in the quarterfinal.

So we build our team together. Here you are:

[lineup-4-4-2]11 Wambach, 8 Schelin, 9 Carmen, 10 Sawa, 5 Laudehr, 7 Carney, 6 Thunebro, 3 Kumagai, 4 Rampone, 2 Krieger, 1 Solo[/lineup-4-4-2]

Laudehr showed some nice technique during the tournament and the lack of concept in the quarterfinals was the coaches fault.

[LINEUP-4-3-3]schellin,wambach,o'reilly,sawa,miyama,abily,bompastor,rampone,kumagai,kinga,solo[/LINEUP-4-3-3]

My final verdict with lindhal,thunebro,necib,bussaglia,georges,marta,krieger,morgan in the bench.

coach:norio sasaki (japan)

Official All-Star Team
http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/news/newsid=1476704/index.html

My reactions:
WTF Cheney/Boxx over Rapinoe? Schelin over Morgan??
Otherwise I think it's pretty good.