One cool thing that they did several times during the USWNT vs. South Africa game was advertise the Chicago Red Stars over the intercom and big screen. Hopefully some of those fans will get to a Red Stars game this season and in the future.
To be fair Press has to put it on frame...no excuse not to. That wasnt a situation where she needed bend the ball around anyone...just commit the GK and slot it the other way.
Not that Im one to miss a chance to pile it on Ellis but my main complaint here is her taking the players from the NWSL early. What the hell did she get out of those extra days of practice? The team looked like they hadnt seen each other in a month not like a team coming off 9 days together. Tho the score was close, Press and Pugh both missed bunnies right in front of goal and Long had a certain goal saved off the line. On the RSA side they had one decent shot from 30 yards right at the keeper.
South Africa did pleasantly surprise in that match though. They certainly didn't play like a pushover CONCACAF opponent.
I got the impression that it was slow, but much slower in several patches than the rest. In particular there seemed to be one section maybe five or eight yards around just to one side of midfield and halfway toward the sideline where the ball just suddenly died-- decelerated three times as fast as elsewhere. Both teams seemed to learn to keep it off the surface there as the game wore on...