This was the first match in which Macario showed that she had potential to be a dominating player. Of course, it was Paraguay.... I was disturbed that the Paraguayan player who was seriously injured in the closing minutes didn't get more attention from the announcers and the TV broadcast. No replay of how she was hurt....nothing. It looked like to me that she was being treated for a possible broken neck.
What’s the benefit of a professional team playing an amateur squad? Seems like a ripoff for the paying fans.
Think of the criticism that ESPN got for showing too much of the Christian Eriksen injury during the Euros. They went out of their way to not show much tonight.
The worst part of that was that it was a local feed and espn and all of the international broadcasters had no control over it at all. There was however no excuse for the statements from Taylor Twellman and I thought she should have been taken off the Euros as a result.
They're exhibition games, and any fan who cares is going to know that Paraguay's program is just getting off the ground. Anyone who doesn't is just going to see the faces, not the competition. If that is a ripoff, than so are most things people pay for. That said, I acknowledge that I was wrong and Paraguay was not really much more competitive. I thought they would likely have gotten over a certain amount of jet lag, and have caught on to just how alert and ready one needs to be from moment one against a really good team; but it was much as before... They are just going to have to go through the painful process of figuring out who they have that is tough enough to go through these times and improve, and who is not and needs to be replaced. Sullivan, I think, got a lot out of these games even so, in terms of fitting her skills and talents into the needs of this team's personnel. Admittedly the opposition was poor, but still, she's starting to show up in the right place at the right time an awful lot, and looking like a future mainstay... Macario is "playing in" to the specific groups as well; she was easier to see in these games without one looking for her. Not much else to draw from them, though Smith finally got something to happen for her, and Rose put on a show for the home folks...
They have to play someone... it's literally in their contract. Name ONE quality opponent that was available that they could have played that they haven't already played this year. JUST ONE! All of Europe is unavailable, which pretty much ruled out all of the quality competition available that they haven't already played this year. You can't make teams play you and sometimes in the cycle, like this window with UEFA in WCQ, the best team available is a tomato can. Nobody in the world plays an annual schedule against as many top ranked teams as the USWNT. They've already played 9 games against Top 10 teams this year. Last year (in which they had an 8.5 month COVID break), they scheduled 6 games outside of OGQ, all of them were against high quality opponents (ENG, JPN, ESP, NED) with two April games being cancelled (AUS, BRA) due to the COVID breakout. In 2018, they played every team in the Top 8. In 2017, they played every team in the Top 8.
Well, if you are a "fan" you would know this already. I knew it the day it was announced. Had it been closer to me, I still would have gone. You still support the Team, the sport, the retirement, ...
USWNT is unique that if you combine the caps of it’s eleven starters, it could add up to well over 1000 caps!(Carli alone got 314) In comparison #2 Germany only could only start a combined 74 caps in their last friendly. So whether we’re playing tough or weak opponent, we’ll have an advantage in experience & chemistry. what worries me is that at his first outing in a major tournament, Vlatko didn’t know how to manage, prepare and/or condition his squad as something seemed quite off. So we could go unbeaten again for another two years but suffer a similar fate(if Vlatko didn’t want to learn from his mistakes)
They have played against top teams after World Cup. But remember in WC qualifiers you see teams destroying other teams like this as well besides the U.S. it’s not til the final 16 or so that’s when it gets really interesting. Wouldn’t be surprise if some European teams will be able to come play against U.S. prior to Euros early next year. Maybe a Euro tour for USWNT.
Another problem is as other posters said already, they have set up their own mini tournaments so we may have limited choices who we can try to invite.
I will give our women credit for that. I saw some of our "names" taking the time for selfies and autographs, quite a bit of time, and I thought that was very nice. This game may have been a joke to the fans but to the girls from Paraguay, they did what they could and I think it made the beating a little less painful. Classy move US Women
At the moment Sweden is actually ranked as #2 and their start 11 against Georgia also had over 1000 caps put togtether so it is not that unique (I get it to 1084).
oh sorry, I meant to say Germany was #2 at the time of their friendly this last June. And to add; out of the 74 caps, half(37) belonged to just one player, the ten other starters shared the other 37 caps
I always thought Macario is overhyped (maybe I'm wrong) but then again they were playing a terrible Paraguay team so... Overall though it was good to watch the younger players on the pitch together and taking turns on corners. It's seriously time to move on from Rapinoe as the designated corner taker honestly. Lastly, I'm happy that Lavelle was able to put on a great performance for her home crowd.
Don’t bother responding to the altidore (lol) fan. He’s all over the USSoccer reddit trashing the women and the equal pay fight. He is not a fan of the team. Playing these games gives Paraguay exposure and money that hopefully gets passed on to the women’s players and program. It’s the reality of most women’s teams especially in poorer nations. The women would love to play more competitive matches but sometimes it isn’t logistically possible.
Since this is now our reality, I think the US should be an invitee to these mini-tournaments. We'd get practice against good teams as well as practice at traveling. And, we should send a B team to the Algarve every year.
To refuse the USWNT is like refusing to invite Messi or Cristiano to your birthday when they say they will come if you invite them.
The USWNT could take on the Portland Thorns, but got the feeling the Thorns would beat them big time!