2002 Gold Cup articles, standings and general discussion [R implicit]

From Soccer America Women's Soccer Insider

"2. ALY, KARA AND MARIBEL: What the Insider has most enjoyed about this Gold Cup has been watching the international arrivals of U.S. playmaker Aly Wagner, Canadian attacking midfielder Kara Lang, and Mexican forward Maribel Dominguez. All were known quantities, to be sure, but in many ways this tournament has belonged to them more than anyone else.

Wagner has been revelatory, unless you'd been clued in earlier to her special gifts. U.S. coach April Heinrichs rates her the best passer in the world, and teammates gush over the "texture" of her delivery, her ability to put balls of perfect pace right on teammates' feet. All the evidence required was given in the first half of the 9-0 clubbing of Panama.

"We talk about texture, and she can lay a soft ball, she can bend it around," U.S. forward Mia Hamm said after the victory over Mexico. "That ball she served me [to set up Cindy Parlow's goal against the Mexicans], probably anyone else would have [placed it] out of bounds. It died. It wouldn't have gone out of bounds. It would have stopped. I was actually able to slow down, look up and then drive it near post. If I had served that ball, it definitely would have gone out of bounds."

Wagner's performance in the first half of the 9-0 clubbing of Panama was extraordinary, as good as it gets.

Lang, who turned 16 on Oct. 22, has been sort of the Landon Donovan of this Gold Cup, dynamically prodding Canada's attack and taking charge when need be, as when she scored four goals in the 9-0 romp over Jamaica.

"She's really not a good soccer player," one scout told the Insider. "All she can do is shoot."

Well, I don't know. Lang can shoot, indeed -- the two bombs against Jamaica attest to that. Her free kick to the upper-left corner may be the goal of the tournament, and there have been a lot of very nice goals in this tournament.

No question, she is inconsistent -- she's 16! -- and sometimes has lapses in confidence or judgment -- she's 16! -- but we tend to think Lang is a very fine player, and Even Pellerud, Canada's Norwegian Coach, certainly thinks so. She delivers a nice cross, is willing to battle, can move with the ball and create -- and there's always her shot.

Dominguez, Mexico's feisty Mexico-born forward (and W-League scoring champion and MVP last summer with the Kansas City Mystics), is a creator, and she was the foundation of Mexico's best attacking work in this tournament. Her sense on the field, with or without the ball, is uncanny: she is the product of a soccer culture.

Can she make the jump to the WUSA? Her work ethic and ball skills suggest she could -- Mexico coach Leo Cuellar says it's a slam dunk -- but she fared poorly against Atlanta's Sharolta Nonen in the semifinal loss to Canada, and that may have hurt her stock.

She and Monica Gerardo, who plays for the Washington Freedom, looked like they might have given the Canadians trouble as a tandem. When Gerardo hobbled off, that was over. Neither Teresa Worbis nor Iris Mora -- who has sat out most of the Gold Cup with a back injury -- provided the support Dominguez needed, and she crumbled when she came face-to-face with Nonen."

 

Absolutly not! Except as to W/L record (and FIFA rankings) possibly producing a different seeding than you might get with a diferent result.

In fact if the US or Canada had faltered in the simis and ended up third and won the home/home series to get into the WWC the groups adn seedings would be little effected because one game, even in an important tournament cannot move a team very far up or down in the rankings.

China, Norway, and the US will be seeded #1 in their groups with Brazil, Germany, or Canada becomming the other "seed". (Canada is a HUGE longshot as they have too many recent big losses on their record)

 

From CNNSI:

Border battle
U.S. women play Canada for title after making World Cup

 

Beau Dure, a BS poster and USA Today columnist is predicting that the ladies from up north will beat the USWNT on Saturday by a score of 3-2.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/columnist/dure/2002-11-07-dure_x.htm

 

Yeah whatever.

 

Here is an Aly Wagner article from the 11/8 LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-wagner8nov08,0,997911.story?coll=la-headlines-sports

 

I hope that the rain that SoCal is having right now (and is predicted to have a good chance of lasting through 3pm tomorrow, with the temperature hovering right around 60 then) will not cause too much of a problem as far as attendance is concerned.

 

I think it would be Brazil as the last seed. Canada IMHO is not in the running to be seeded for the reasons you state, even if we do upset the US on Saturday. However, I think we are on an upward swing and will be much better than we are now by WC 2003 and will help turn one of the groups into a group of death

 

Has that guy even watched the games? USA is clearly the class of the field and will crush Canada. Give me a break.

 

Wendy Parkers take on Wagner in the AJC:

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/sports/soccer/1110insocc.html

I Like the title of the Calgary sun article: Canada Hamm-ered in OT

 

I was at the game and the weather was really bad, there's a photo here.

Cyber Soccer news

It was cold, wet, foggy, all made right by a glorious goal from Mia.

Linda

Aston Villa 3 Fulham 1 - I told you, I don't wanna talk about it!

 

From Soccer America Women's Soccer Insider:

3. GOLD CUP'S BEST: Nothing against Tiffeny Milbrett's performance, but we thought the vote for MVP was skewed. Aly Wagner, who finished second in the media balloting by one vote, should have carted off the trophy. Milbrett was fantastic -- seven goals in 180 minutes, including the five vs. Panama and the superb volley in the final -- but Wagner, the engine of the U.S. attack, was even better. The show she put on in the first half against Panama was phenomenal.

Both are on Soccer America's Gold Cup XI. Our team:

Goalkeeper -- Jennifer Molina (Mexico). Sturdy, strong under pressure, and made big saves. An easy choice.

Defenders -- Candace Chapman (Canada). Best attacking back in the competition, playing so high in the group games one would never know Canada was in a four-back alignment. Great speed, good with the ball, and an able defender when the Canadians had to defend.

Joy Fawcett (USA). Incredibly poised and consistent, rarely makes an error, incisive before things become dangerous. Best defender in the
world? We won't argue.

Monica Gonzalez (Mexico). The critical player for the Mexicans, marshaling a young but capable back line and playmaking from deep. Added to the Tricolores' attack, but her leadership benefited Mexico most.

Gabriela Trujillo (Costa Rica). Unlike the Americans' and Canadians' defenders, Trujillo spent the entire tournament on her heels. The heart of a Costa Rican team that didn't have the depth or talent to
stay with the top three, she was the primary reason the Ticas kept things relatively close with Canada and Mexico.

Midfielders -- Kristine Lilly (USA). Wonderful opener, good final -- especially beating Chapman and delivering the ball Milbrett finished. The best flank player in the competition.

Christine Sinclair (Canada). Won another Golden Boot with seven goals (sharing it with Milbrett and Hooper), but was as impressive linking things in midfield. Didn't have much impact in the final.

Aly Wagner (USA). Everybody marvels about her passing, but she also works hard defensively and makes herself available to teammates in most situations. She was credited with eight assists but played critical roles on several other goals.

Forwards -- Charmaine Hooper (Canada). Nobody played with as much tenacity, nor caused as much danger, as did the veteran striker. She's also the heart of the Canadians: No surprise it was she who
pulled Canada even in the final; and during the awards ceremony, every Canadian was smiling but her.

Shannon MacMillan (USA). Milbrett and Sinclair might have scored more goals, but MacMillan was the most consistently dangerous of the University of Portland attackers on display. Her goals were
marvelous, and some of her set-ups even better.

Tiffeny Milbrett (USA). Came back from layoff much fresher and, once she found her legs, reminded us why we've been calling her the world's best player. Marvelous finisher who works hard on both ends and causes havoc deep in enemy territory.

The official Gold Cup XI, chosen by the tournament's technical committee, added seven substitutes. Given similar freedom, our bench would have Marie-Claire Herra (Costa Rica) in goal, defenders Brandi Chastain (USA) and Cat Reddick (USA), midfielder Shirley Cruz (Costa Rica), and forwards Maribel Dominguez (Mexico), Kara Lang (Canada) and Cindy Parlow (USA).

 

Thanks, Clavs!

As much as I like Tiff, I have to agree. Aly was fantastic throughout the tournament and definitely deserved the MVP. Too often I believe the MVP award is simply given to whoever scores the most goals, and while Tiff certainly had some valuable goals for us, the majority of her goals were "extras". That's no knock on Milbrett--all she can do is her best in whatever circumstances she is playing in--but the MVP value of her having seven goals is muted by the fact that she didn't need to have the 5 vs. Panama for the US to advance. Aly's play, on the other hand, was critical to the US advacing in each of its games.

I also have to say, I'd still like to understand why Tiff came out of the final game. I think that was lame. Mia, OK, yes, Mia is awesome, but why not Mia for Parlow instead fo the red-hot Milbrett? I supposed I'll have to chalk that up as one of the big mysteries of the universe and let it go!

 

Though it is not in vogue to give an MVP to a player from the losing team, I still think Charmaine Hooper should have been considered. While the US team had a bunch of goals scored by many players, none of them played every minute of the tournament like Charmaine.