Post-match: 2008 Olympic Championship : Us V. Brazil (8/21)

Hope Solo, representing the UDUB well!

We love you Hope!

Bleed Purple and Gold! (and red,white and blue!)

But really, Hope was amazing, what a crazy couple of years for Hope.

 

wow. I thought I was the only one who doesn't like Cristiane.

I think Chastain was nice to Solo after that mess. Don't lump her in with the bullies.

On that note - It seems like Lloyd got the good karma reward goal.

 

THE GREAT RAMPONE:



On handling Brazil’s pressure:
“We just felt like we were getting better each minute. We just looked into each other’s eyes and everybody had everybody’s back. Don’t worry about making mistakes. Just go out there with confidence and be brave. You can feel it every minute in that second half we were getting strong, especially going into overtime we felt strong, we felt fit, we felt we could continue going after them.”

 

It's so great to see Christiane cry. I still remember her face vividly when she got Boxx red carded. What a classless play.

I'm really savoring this now.

 

Just a couple of thoughts/questions

I have ready many here say the Solo, Mitts, Rampone etc played the game of their lives, while for the most part in bunker mode. Is that what it now takes for us to keep a full strength Brazil out of our goal? If so, that does not bode well for the future, how often can you play the game of your life?

Also will our future games with Brazil follow this same script where we defend like hell and hope for a long ball or set piece to score? Brazil just seems to be getting better and better in both skill and tactics. I do not see our current team having any more skill than the late 90s teams and certainly not as much as Brazil. We have scraped out a couple of one goal win vs Brazil in the last 2 Olympics, while being outplayed. Eventually their talent will win out in a final.

Not to be a downer, I just wonder where this rivaly goes from here.

 

Riley's wearing a men's jersey. Heresy!

 

"THIS TEAM WAS NOT BREAKING"


The post-game live interview that Foudy did shows how exctatic they team was/is.

All the quotes were great, but Heather O'Reilly captured the esence of the team.

U.S. forward Heather O’Reilly
On facing a good Brazilian side
“We weren’t going to break. They were going to get their chances because they have such individual talent and players with amazing personalities, but this team was not breaking.”

Her face, her conviction when she said it, true spirit...wow.. priceless.

 

I had Chalupny as player of the tournament for USA.

Solo? Fantastic final match: excellent management of the defense, dominance in the area coming off the the line (pushed Brazil's shooters out of range) and in the air (took multiple crosses and/or punches in heavy traffic, and snuffed a very tough cross from Marta who was coming in near post from the end line). And when it was needed most, came up with MONSTER save from point blank range that would have made an NHL highlight reel, never mind soccer.

You could also tell that she and the defense had a great understanding and confidence in each other; this was exactly what was missing due to the boneheaded line-up change last year.

Very, very good back line play, especially taking Brazil into the corners to negate their superior skill and speed...what we used to call the old slice and dice: first defender slows them up, second one swoops in for the tackle. Very impressive, intelligently-played football by the defense, one and all.

 

thats because when riley grows up she will be so good she will play on the mens team. its in her genes

 

Well said. Pia inherited a team and had to do the best with what she had. No time to build her own team. What happens next will tell where we end up down the road. We must get more skilled and technical players. The day of the grind it out team are over. If Pia is smart, she will start a massive youth movement and bring in technical, skillful and fast players. Either that or start updating her resume because if she doesn't move forward, she won't last

 

I'll take a stab at that one...

I think the main issue here is the lack of the "goal scorer" That tittle belonged to Abby Wambach up to the Olympics; most of the attack was created around her, up to the point of spending several months on the beginning of the year trying to figure out the perfect dymanic duo up top. Pia tried A-Rod, Cheney and Kai mostly on different tournaments (Algarve, 4NT) to see who, combined with Abby could lead the US attack.

When Abby went down (breaking her leg) on 7/16; Pia had less than 1 month to re-structure the attack and fill the HUGE gap that not having Abby entailed.
No one (and I don't mean to take away anything from the 18 wonderfull players) could replace Wambach, (target player, physique, goals scored) so everyone did a little bit more to carry the team over, explaining 7 players scoring in this Olympics.

She always said the attack starts (for her) from the fullbacks, (Chalupny and Mitts) but throughout the games I saw it trying to develop constantly from the midfield, (Lloyd and Boxx ) hence the more evidence of "lacking skills" when they will turn the ball over the other teams. Even though in paper we were on a 4-4-2 it almost felt as a 4-5-1, with Hucles dropping back and leaving A-Rod up top.

So going back to the "there is not one star but 18 great players" statement by some of the players, Pia and the team went to the field with the idea of relying on each other for everything on the game; I was pleased to see A-Rod helping double and triple mark Martha and company near the goal line because they all know how good she is.

Players like Chalupny and Mitts had to relegate their attacking role, because the few times they went up they got stripped form the ball ( that's you Mitts) and had to run all the way back while the Brazilian was running with no one in from of her on the flank (that's you Chalupa)

So, to answer your question; this game was a lot of defending but I believe that this is not going to be a pattern in the future; the fact that Pia brought from the bench attacking players even when we were winning tells me that she is not going to make this team bunker every time.

With time, when Abby comes back ( I truly, truly want her back ASAP and in no way I think she can hinder the development of the attack) the attack will be more and more predominant. If for some reason Abby doesn't make it back (knock on wood, pivots three times on the same space and prays) there will be plenty of forwards to make this team even greater and a scoring machine.

The rivalry will continue, that is what makes the sport so great. Next time we face Brazil, I will however steal one of my mom's Xanax or Valium.

 

It's that "either you're with us or against us mentality". Who knew that Dubya could be such a uniter..

I still chuckle when I think about last month and the collective meltdown over Abby; the majority here didn't even think the US could medal w/o her!

Serious question: Does she still get a medal or no?

The US defense is the WOTM. Each one of the chicks on the back line made important contributions to the victory. Hope made some great saves but those other chicks were steadfast for the most part.

Now the medal has been won, Pia can go on and make some important changes to the program. I'm intrigued to see what she does in the future.

 

for those of you (like me) who like to watch good stuff over and over and over...

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0821_hd_fbw_us_l1126

highlights, medal ceremony, shots, etc

 

Rampone often plays that well and Mitt's is getting better all the time.

 

Re: Gold Medal Match: Us V. Brazil (8/21)

No Lilly either.

Sweet justice.

 

The Team-Abby and Hope Solo The Redeem Team 2(R)

That was an amazing match we all got to see between us and Brazil. This is a completely new attitude and style then what we had in the WC.

Pia has really got a Joy in most of these girls faces. They seem to have bonded very well on and off the pitch. The new guard has finaly taken over this team and it seems to have stuck.

Abby Wamabch said all the right things this past week and half since her injury and is simply been a great teamate from the stands.

But for me watching the team defense the hustle, seeing Pia put her stamp on this team, has been the second best thing for me.

My favorite moment of this match was watching my girl Hope walking around with this complete and deep satisfying look on her face. Watching her eyes closed taking deep breathes as the national anthem was playing said to me she was " DRINKING IT IN"

DRINKING IN THE REDEMPTION...Trying not to pound your chest not syaing I told you so...BUT just DRINIKING IN THE VINDICATION..

She was ROBBED of Dignity by Ryan and some of the Senior players at WC. She was ROBBED of her chance to help her team win at the WC. ROBBED of What she had earned after years of preparing and waiting her turn..and when that WC came she was the best Goalie in CHINA .

.but Fear gripped the team and the management and out she went.

She was ROBBED!

Hope Solo you could have answered those questions a bit more softly in 2007 after that Brazil match..BUT YOU WERE RIGHT!

And now you and your team desrve that Gold Medal! FEELS GOOD HUH?

DRINK IT IN BABY DRINK IT IN.......YOU LOOK SATISFIED!

 

Re: Gold Medal Match: Us V. Brazil (8/21)

that's the spirit!

 

The next game won't be the same as this. We will have good new/returning players to choose from, and a great tactician leading them.

 

Hoozah! Congratulations. However, I don't think I'm stretching it by saying that it was rather undeserved, and that luck was the deciding factor in this outcome (as is usually the case with sports). I don't think anyone should expect to win many tournaments playing like this.

 

It's better to win ugly than lose while looking pretty.

 

The US has lost what? 2 games in 3 years? Lets drop the infatuation with Brazil. Not saying Brazil doesnt deserve some glory but until they post 2 world cups and 3 gold medals (lets not forget a silver and no lower than 3rd place in WC finishes) we should reserve the goo goo eyes till a later date.

 

What? You're saying that you'd rather be the US and have won 2 of the last 3 major competitions (2 Olys) than be the Brazilians and have won 0 of the last 3 major competitions?

I'd rather be the Brazilians because they are so stylish and play so beautifully.

 

right..but this is a testament to how good they actually are. Theres a reason FIFA arbitrarily ranks them #1 ...because they win. Luck plays a part in every sport but you DONT win 4 medals and finish no worse than 3rd in WWC by luck alone.

Id go as far to say Italy didnt deserve 06 but teams with that kind of pedigree find ways to get championships.