84' 1-0 USA on another counter, Wambach dribbles all alone up the mid-left. Strolls to box top left, visibly pulls up -- she just doesn't have her 5th gear back yet. Unselfishly passes left-to-right across the box top. Cheney at 15m right post dummies the ball between her legs, it rolls to Rapinoe running on, and her shot sails way high. Attendance is announced as 8,433.
She's done soccer in the old days of the WUSA; the weekly game on Pax Network (if you've never heard of it, you aren't alone). She's also PBP'd field hockey, softball, and I think she's done a lacrosse game or two for CBS College Sports and ESPNU. That being said, I'm a fan of Pam Ward, too.
90+1 1-0 The game winds down in a relaxed phase of non-urgency. Neither side has been sprinting much for the last 30 minutes. On the right half of my screen, a commercial for a Steven Seagal rerun steals my attention away momentarily -- I must confess. Mowins and Foudy, looking for a high point to discuss, point out that Heather Mitts's arm is too skinny to fill out the captain's yellow armband, which she resorts to holding in her left hand because it keeps sliding down off her wrist. Full time!
Congrats to the Wombat. In front of the home-town crowd, as according to the script. And Heather needs to pick the right-sized armband.
I heard from a fellow fan on facebook that Solo is there, but is sick. This girl won a contest to fly to the match and meet hope. She said Solo would be out for both matches. My takeaways from the game. First of all it was clear they haven't played together in awhile. I think box played well and has regained a lot of confidence playing on the Sol. Same with Oreilly who seemed more engaged and more comfortable in the midfield. Mitts had a good game and it makes me wonder WTF is going on with Boston. I thought she had really dropped a level in the game after seeing her in the WPS, but its pretty clear she isn;t the issue, she just isn't fitting into the breakers system (whatever that is). Say what you want about hucles, she is a consistent performer and has an ability to get herself in the right place at the right time. She also seems to excel when under pressure. Thats something you cant teach and I expect she will continue to have a spot on the national team. While I still think whitehill is a bit slow, i do think her service is something we lack. Im on the fence with her. Chlup is good as always. Tobin came on and looked so much more confident. She has always had the talent, she just lacked experience. I like what I saw. She was left off the last roster and you could tell she was trying her hardest this time around. she wants a spot and I think she deserves one. Cheny has always been a fav of mine and I think she was shortchanged when Pia focused more on Arod. She has confidence and is fearless. For the longest time I was wondering what was up with Abby. She seemed to be a bit lost. I have come to conclude its the absence of someone to work with. Once Cheny came on the clicked. I see them as an incredible pair in the future. Rapinoe reminds me of tarp with her workrate. I think she has a strong future with the team. Arod is not preforming at a level sufficient for the national team. She blew so many chances, her timing was off and I doubt she could find the goal if it were right in front of her. Barney played well and she seemed to keep the defense in check. Buehler is the future of American defense and I continue to be impressed with her development. Thats all I can remember for now. What is everyone elses take? PS i loved when pia jumped up and gave a fist pump when tobin took on and passed by two Canadian defenders.
I just watched this game. I was disappointed with Canada. They were clearly trying to play for a draw and had zero chance in this game. Either that or they think Sinclair is going to beat 4 defenders and score by herself. What's the point of playing this match? Their coach said she wanted to introduce an attractive style, and then got scared and changed her mind when her team got beat 4 nil last time. That game was mostly a waste of time for Canada and a borefest for American fans. Shannon Boxx is fun to watch. She has wonderful skill and best I have seen in women soccer for her position. I was very impressed with Buehler. She is best defender on the team. But overall, I don't think this team is playing at a higher level then the 99 team skillwise. But tactically, US has moved forward since 99. US is no longer using college level tactics but they are playing a lot more like guys.
Here's a link to the game story from Rochester: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090720/SPORTS/907200329/Pittsford+s+Abby+Wambach+scores+100th+career+goal+in+homecoming+game&referrer=NEWSFRONTCAROUSEL
Anyone know what the deal was with Lloyd? Did she just not play? I was looking at the match report on US Soccer yesterday and by her name it had injured, but now it doesn't. Just wondered if something happened or if she just didn't get into the game.
i was there and i notice her warming up with other players during the 2nd half. She looked fine to me. Took some pictures will post them later. Great soccer atmosphere in Rochester!
No, no, they deviated from the script. Abby was supposed to score when she did. Christine Sinclair was supposed to score in the 87th minute, then Abby was to score in the 90th minute on a vicious header while holding off three players on a driven corner. Time expires. Crowd erupts. Camera shakes. Fade to black. BTW, I was there. It looked like Heather had picked up the referee's dropped yellow card or she had been issued the most obviouse hall pass. It didn't look like an armband in her hand.
She had a big-assed strawberry on the outside front of her lower legs. It looked to be 8-inches long by as much as 4-inches wide.
FSC people did mention Wambach's goal during the WPS broadcast...Remember, FSC will show the USWNT on Wednesday... It was great for ESPN commentators to mention WPS...I am sure there are some viewers who have not heard of WPS yet...(ESPN news channel does not show WPS scores on the bottom.) I hope the commentators are not reprimanded by their ESPN bosses for...mentioning WPS.
My thoughts: Thought it was a fairly boring game. Not a lot of great play, but not bad play, just average. No big mistakes, nothing genius (maybe Heath's double nutmeg) I'm of course excluding Abby's 100. That was great. Abby - Not yet where she once was. Slower, not as confident... Great game to score goal 100 though. Boxx - maybe the best in the world at her position, I think she plays better when not on the feild with Lloyd. I really don't like them in the middle together. Rapinoe - is great, she's the better Lloyd. Better possession, better touch, great passer, better on defense..not as hard of a shot, but a very solid striker. Hao - Great when she gets involved, often dissapeares for large chunks of every game. Cheney - excited to watch more of her. Good head for the ball and seemed to have some explosive speed yesterday I haven't seen from her before. Arod, Mitts, Hucles - All three have played poorly for the Breakers, I thought all three played better yesterday. Arod is clearly lacking confidence. I dont think she's a starter, but we need to develop her and see how she can improve. Hucles is solid. Mitts made a few positional mistakes, but luckily made up for them with her speed (had that been Germany or Brazil though....) I'm questing what Tony is doing over there in Boston.... Tobin - Well, i'm excited to see her develop, but why does she insist on trying to nutmeg on every first touch? She did the same thing in the olympics and was disspossed everytime. I like her flair and she's a talent, but sometimes a bit scary on the field. Chupa - Great. One of the best players on the ball on the team... Can we please find a great LB ? Or is this right for her? Buehler - Not as impressed with her as others. She's tough, that's for sure. Not that tall, not a great verticle, not that fast (not slow either) ok on the ball. She's tough though. I dont think she or Osbourne have played well at FC, i've seen them play 3 times though. LePielbet - Solid. Would love to see Bock and Falk, two younger players, there instead. Amy is ...what? 27? Cat - pretty good. I hope Narian, Tobin and Cheney play more next game. Osbourne, Tarp, Lloyd - I dont need to see them play next game.
The camera work for this game was terrible. I mean, yes, I am grateful that the game was televised at all. But really, pan out a big camera operator! At least one shot (and many passes) did not actually include the player shooting the ball (receiving the cross/pass) in the camera view. WAY too many "close ups" of three players closest to the ball. My other quick thoughts (will post more maybe tonight): ARod was not good or rather not WNT level at this point. It might be left over rookie slump from club play. It might be something else. Some of her runs make sense (but please, you're on the field w/ the WNT, no need to hold your hand out for the ball as you make a run) but her touch was generally bad and her passes off. Of course, many of her teammates had bad passes, too. It is like they forgot who was on their team. Long balls generally did not find teammates. Many short passes were off. Lots of turnovers. Whitehill is not an outside back. Made one nice (and timely) slide tackle & wasn't as bad out there as I feared. She gets extra points from me b/c she gave a good effort out there but really, not a position she should be in to have the highest chance of success personally & for the team. When I saw that, I really wondered if Pia was going to try a 3 back system w/ Chalu pushed up into midfield. Actually, would like to have seen that--this sort of friendly is the perfect place to try such tactical experiments. Oh, and she nailed that one Canadian twice w/ the ball. That had to smart. The entire team was trying too hard to get Abby the ball for her 100th goal. Seemed like once she finally scored, the ball moved better. Might have had something to do w/ personnel on the field, too. Cheney impressed in her short time on the field. Well, impressed more than ARod. Heath did the juke&tricks that she's sorta known for in some parts. But she also made nice basic passes, too. Limited time and I didn't see her get tested defensively (she's yet to show that she's got the d skills to play at WNT level). I would guess that the people that are healthy that didn't play yesterday will get much more time on Wed.
I agree our tactics are better, because Pia is a better coach than Tony and April. Athought echnically the 99 team was supierior to this team. The 99 as a whole had much better touch and passing ability. Lilly and Milbrett, both pushing 40, still have better technical still than almost everyone on the WNT right now.
LeBielbet has generally been excellent in WPS play. Defenders (especially central defenders) seem to be better at a little older than strikers/mids. I have no problem w/ her getting called up. I thought she played well yesterday. In fact, if she continues to excel, she may the answer to that "Next Shannon Boxx" thread question. A player that is a little older that works her way into the WNT due to a pro league in the USA. And I'm not yet as in love w/ Falk as others seem to be. I agree w/ your points on Boxx. You are far from the only one that thinks the Boxx-Lloyd combo is not the team's best. Several other posters (including me) thinks that, at best, they get in each other's way.
Agree with most that the game was rather pedestrian but Canada is making major changes so that's expected. I hope we see a lot of new faces for the next game. I was slightly disappointed that Pia didn't play more young, new players. That's what these games are for. I really like what BB is doing with the men's team in the gold cup and would like to see Pia be willing to play a full B team in games like this. We need to see these young players more. My thoughts on a couple of players: Arod: not sure she is going to work at this level. Her runs off the ball are terrible. Often, she is running into the space of the ball carrier and bringing defenders into that space. Not sure she can be coached out of this. Rapinoe: is going to be awesome at this level in time. I love her creativity and touch. A typical Clive player. Whitehill: nice to see that she has recovered from injury but her lack of speed is going to hurt against Brazil, Germany, South Korea. Boxx: I guess I'm going to be the only dissenting voice here. She made five or six horrible passes at midfield that would have been disastrous against a team that was not bunkering. I really don't think she has the speed to play this position at the international level any more. Remember how she struggled against Brazil and Germany in the last couple of years? As a whole I worry about a starting midfield that lacks as much speed as the the U.S. had on the field yesterday. Hopefully the October friendly against Germany works out so we can really see where some of these players stand.