I thought Sauerbrunn was nails. Sure, she almost had an own goal. But, in doing so, she saved a sure goal.
Getting way OT: I've forgotten the story of how Michelle Akers went from Akers, to Akers-Stahl, to Akers. Seems like I knew at one time. But, don't now.
I'm impressed here with how gracious Rapinoe is in these videos; I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be taking any pictures with people if I was going through the airport after a long night of partying and likely little, if any, sleep.
Uh, I'm talking about on this board - the post I responded to reeked of "no criticism allowed." Who suggested limiting her ability to speak out, or discouraging her from doing so. Certainly not me. All I said was that all the players can be criticized, regardless of their politics.
She got married in about 1990 and then divorced in 1994, so she was Akers-Stahl in the 1991 WWC. Also legend has it that they were married on a soccer field; I'm not sure about that part though.
If I've mischaracterized your opinion, I'm sorry. But there has been a lot of criticism, some of it out of prejudice not good will, of Rapinoe on this board. Here's what she said about her experience with being semi-blackballed for her beliefs. To a lesser extent her experience is a bit like what happened to Mohammad Ali when he criticized the Vietnam War. "The truth is, after the 2016 Olympics, I really thought maybe they were putting ol’ Pinoe out to pasture. I thought maybe it was over. I had a bad ACL injury. Then I barely made the Olympic roster, and I wasn’t close to 100%. So I had a terrible tournament. I barely played. I was a shell of myself. And then before a friendly match in September, I knelt during the anthem in support of Colin Kaepernick’s message about police brutality and equality in America. The federation was not very supportive, publicly or privately. I started getting left off rosters. It was never directly connected to my kneeling. They told me, “You’re not really at the level you need to be.” Which was true! I was coming back from a big injury, and not at my best, but we weren’t in season with the NSWL. The only way I could get into shape was to play with the national team. For five months, I wasn’t rostered, and I was kind of in the wilderness. I had to play to get back into shape, but there was nowhere to play. Cool coincidence! So yes, I felt as though I was being blackballed a bit. Maybe that’s harsh, but it’s how I felt. It was never explicit, but how can I put this? It felt like maybe if I faded off into the sunset, that would’ve been just fine. Well, guess what? I wasn’t gonna fade away. Tough s***."
Again, the poster to whom I responded said that anyone, other than one person, who criticized Rapinoe's play, was doing so b/c politics. I called him/her out on it.
Just so people don't think I dump on Rapinoe for lack of anything better to do, I seem to recall that she had a serious knee injury (and cannot recall if it was before or after '15). To have made her way back on the team notwithstanding that shows she had dedication and worked hard in rehab. That persistence merits respect.
Congratulations to the USWNT! Great tournament and well deserved final win. By beating France, England, and Spain, they showed themselves to be a great team. The finals seemed anti-climatic as the Dutch didn't threaten the US midfield like France and England did in their games. I told my wife during the game that once the US score the first goal that it would be a blow out. I was only wrong because of poor finishing. Also, I want to give Ellis and the coaching staff credit for managing the team throughout the tournament. They made some key changes to strength the defense (dropping Ertz into the back line) which helped against England and France. I will admit to not being too happy against France when Ertz dropped back with 20-30 minutes left in the game! I thought Dunn and Mewis had a good final after struggling at times earlier in the tournament. The only disappointment of the tournament was the play of Morgan. Poor touches, poor decisions, and going down too often. Sure, she had her moments, but I expected more from her...
100% agree, it’s now time to look towards the Olympics. But to some of the other people on this board who have criticized my comments towards Rapinoe: think it’s funny because our natural instinct is to make excuses for people we like when they don’t perform. Rapinoe has had the luxury of having that built in excuse - “the only reason why people hate on Rapinoe is because of what she stands for”. And that....is garbage. Anyone on this board who knows anything about soccer, has played her position, know darn well the expectations of the role on a consistent level: to be fast, to be a 2 way player, to create chances, etc. 50% of the people on this board think she did enough simply by scoring, 50% of people believe she didn’t do enough and others should have been given more of an opportunity and provided specifics. This tells me, Rapinoe wasn’t being judged because of her stances, she was being judged based on her performances and the options the US had on the bench. Look, for all you people standing up for Rapinoe, SHE DOESN’T CARE! By being a vocal and sometimes polarizing person, she knows what she’s in for and she knows she open for criticism! So for people who say close your mouths In regards to her, that’s BS. There are some very soccer knowledgeable people on this board....some may be more harsh than others, but just like she’s entitled to her opinion, so are we. That said, if she’s able to play in the Olympics, great. But the world is catching up to the US in soccer. It’s time we start investing more opportunities for our youth players. Regardless of your stance on her, hopefully we can all agree there. Having a Rapinoe serve in a starting role in the Olympics will do zero good.
While I agree we need to freshen the team for the Olympics, the world has been catching up for a long time. The USWNT was never a slam dunk to win every WWC (and we've only won 1/2) and most of the teams are the usual suspects (though Japan and the Netherlands and Spain are pretty new to the top game). https://equalizersoccer.com/2019/07/07/the-world-is-catching-up-but-not-to-the-uswnt/
Really, the only teams that aren't new, are Norway, China, and Germany, and prolly Sweden ..... and Japan. Those teams have all reached a peak level of performance before. But, there is a big wave of Euro teams that are coming on strong. The Asian teams will likely get back in the mix. Concacaf and Conmebol, with their built in sexism (other than U.S. and Canada) are going to be a long time coming. And, I guess Africa, b/c of limited resources, will take a while. What's the furthest an African men's team has gone in the WC?
My Japan reference was to their sudden rise in 2011. Before that, they didn't have much of a record in the WWC and had a horrible record against the USWNT. True, England and France might be more in the come-lately crowd, but the US has always had Euro challengers for the title.
Things you ask the soberest player left to do: Post game @FIFAWWC🏆 tunnel moment: @oranjevrouwen's🇳🇱 @ShaniceJanice sends @USWNT's🇺🇸 @moeebrian on 'shirt swap duty' in the USA dressing room, handing her a pile of orange jerseys with a list of instructions. 'So do you remember which person wanted to swap or should I repeat?' pic.twitter.com/erDxrIUh1k— Emma Coolen, FIFA (@FIFAWWC_NED) July 7, 2019
Let's stir the pot! My order rankings for the 23 US players for tournament overall: 1. Lavelle 2. Sauerbrunn 3. Ertz 4. O'hara 5. Mewis 6. Naeher 7. Dahlkemper 8. Dunn 9. Morgan 10. Heath 11. Rapinoe 12. Press 13. Lloyd 14. Horan 15. Krieger 16. Sonnett 17. Pugh 18. Davidson 19. Mcdonald 20. Harris 21. Franch 22. Brian 23. Long Comment!
Lol as much as I can’t believe I’m saying this, Rapinoe has to be higher than 11, considering the clutch PK’s she made. Honestly, when I look at it this way, and I think in my head how each contributed, Morgan ends up at 11 for me. Considering how active Dunn got in the tournament and started shutting players down, she probably is too low. I’d say Mewis is too high, she just didn’t do enough for me to be considered one of the top 5 for the overall tournament.