Wow, I'm pretty upset they lost. If the USMNT ever made the finals and lost, I'd be absolutely gutted.
So disappointing. The only thing that was reconcilable about today's game is the fact that they have Olympic qualifying to look forward to in a few months. Still a major senior tournament (BTW, of which the USWNT has five titles, way more than any other country)
I had a lot of fun following this WWC. Never really followed women's football before this. I was supporting the US but I'm not unhappy that Japan won. The womens side of the game is a completely different beast than on the men. While the mens game is faster and is quite a bit more sophisticated it also has a lot of cynicism involved which is, in large part, missing from the womens game (US-Brasil game notwithstanding). Overall it was a positive experience that had some quite exciting games including the final.
Glad that those of you who have not paid attention to the ladies did this tournament. But the dye was cast long ago. Imagine if Rico Clark and Pablo Mastroeni were given the keys to the car in 2010. That was boxx and Lloyd Imagine if Davies was selected in 2010 because he worked hard to come back. That was heather mitts The USA women are a glorified sorority. Pia did not change that underlying, insidious dynamic. The USA men are miles ahead of the women. The women rely on college ball for players for chrimeny sake Let's hope they get head out of a-s soon
Why didn't Pia even use Mitts? It seems like she would have been the perfect person to lock the game down in the 2nd A.E.T. and we had a sub left over. Is there some internal political stuff going on?
I get the impression that 4 senior level finals in 2 years is a damn impressive feat that no other country on earth has done recently.
I don't really follow the women that closely, so I'm curious as to how Lloyd compares to Clark or Mastroeni. She seems to play as a box-to-box type with a nose for goal rather than a dedicated DM. I hear you about Boxx though. She does a job, but I was left wondering if there was someone in the pool that was a little bit more dynamic. I don't follow this at all. Heather Mitts was more like Stuart Holden than Charlie Davies. And Pia revitalized that team after the '07 debacle. And the women rely on college ball to develop players because there's no professional development league. I'm curious to know what the alternative would be. US Women were ranked #1 in the world, and should have won the WC final. Odds are that I will probably be dead before the men ever achieve that. I was very impressed with the style of play in the final on both sides.
“A critic is someone who never actually goes to the battle, yet who afterwards comes out shooting the wounded” --Tyne Daly
Trust me, she would have been the worst player on the pitch for the U.S. (besides maybe Buehler). She should not have been selected to this roster ahead of some better and more deserving players.
agree. i think we sometimes we set ourselves up for "glass half full" assessments with our expectations. high expectations are good, but we should still recognize the positive aspects (where they exist) even when we "fall short".
We won the Gold Cup in 2007 and the Women won the Olympic Gold in 2008 Lost GC 09, 11, WWC 11, CC 09 So we are what 2 for 6? Not too shabby at all...