with that kind of defense in the first half, no goal keeper in the world can avoid those goals and perform well.
No kidding. Ditto to that too. Geez, the defense looked like sh!t out there. Tough circumstances for #6 ( ), and given them she did fine. But where was the defense on the two Scotland goals?? In the first half, it seemed like Lilly was the only one in the game and hustling. Well, Mia and CP were doing well. Sobs was there covering the shooter on the second goal, and she was the only one in sight (besides Brandi who was cover Fleeting in the corner). But where the heck was Bryan? Benson? Now my little sister really doesn't like Bryan, mostly because I do, I suppose. Unfortunately, Bryan didn't help the case of this CyberRay fan. Thankfully, Washington came through, and no--I don't mean the University of Washington. I like what runbabyrun had to say about this. I think Solo's youth especially showed--even moreso than her early commitment which led to the second goal--in how obvious it was that that goal shook her confidence. Solo off her line gave me a feeling of deja vu--WC '02, Britain's keeper Seaman misplayed a Brazilian free kick. The differences here are about 15 years of experience and Solo's defense no where to be found. Yeah, what s/he said. But no, we'd rather remember Solo for her one mistake than, say, her great diving save which the defense shouldn't have allowed to be redirected on goal, wouldn't we? No doubt, the defense made her look worse.
6200 or so, it was quite empty, but since they did a horrendous job promoting it, maybe not so suprising.
It is currently 94 out here in columbus (2 hours after the game ended), it WAS extremely hot. (As bad as FCII, but even more sun).
That was an enjoyable game- especially the second half. I'm really interested in what Jules said to Mia after Mia landed on her shoulder. They were both cracking up. : ) Too bad the Freedom didn't play Scotland in FCII- 6 goals combined for Washington's frontline- not to mention assists and such. Who's going to Long Island to see the game v. Russia?
God the crowd was depressing. I tried to put my tv volume up really high just to get a good atmosphere for the game, but it was totally nonexistant. The crowd for the Norway game was big but I think it was as equally non vocal.
european womens soccer account, listed under "Hamm hat-trick as USA beat Scotland 8-2" http://www.europeanwomenssoccer.com/
NO MORE SOLO! I hope to God that April has scratched that "Lets see what Solo can do" itch! So long as Siri, Bri and Keysia are healthy I never, EVER, want to see Solo in goal again!!!! Some of you can talk till your blue in the face about her kicking game. The bottom line is SHE CRACKS UNDER PRESSURE! That second goal was all her. Kate did her job and stuck her man and cut down the angle. There was absolutly no communication coming from her. Its almost as if she is intimidated by the big names playing in front of her. Rob Stone mentioned that April put her in purposely to see if she could handle the pressure. Guess what? NOPE!!! I'm sorry if some of you are offended by this post. (mostly though i'm trying to let out some steam. It's kinda hard to focus on the good parts of the game and be all "Rah Rah" right now. )
It's been a problem for the USWNT. I've been to several USWNT matches and when I fart you can hear it echo. Oh well. What's most important is that these matches as well as WUSA matches provide a nice wholesome family atmosphere.
My 8 year-old son and I were also at the game, and I was really surprised at the small crowd and lack of atmosphere. Promotion was definitely a problem -- only way we even knew about it was that we received a flyer as Crew season ticket holders. Interestingly, our section was pretty densely packed -- we had our regular seats as for the Crew games, and we were surrounded by a large group that had come up from KY with girls in a rec program. They were enthusiastic, and as noisy as 7 and 8 year-old girls can be, but it was different than a real soccer fan's enthusiasm. They focused on Mia Hamm, got real excited when she was on the ball, and bitterly called for yellow cards whenever the Scots touched her. Early on the adults with them were trying to use the game to teach them some things, but their attention drifted with time. But what would you expect -- they're 7 and 8 year-old girls (I'm guessing on the ages, but I have an 8 year-old boy, and I'm a child psychologist, so I think I'm fairly good at it). I'm new to this forum on BS, and maybe this has been discussed before (I'm sure it has), but the fan base for the women's game seems really different -- there were *many* more girls than boys at the game, and it seems to be a thing of looking for role models more than being sports fans. My point is not that young girls shouldn't be looking for role models, in sports or any other field, but that we as a society still see women's sports in a very different way than men's sports, and that's frustrating. My son was as excited about seeing this game as he is for Crew games, but that seems to be an exception -- I cruise the Crew forum on BS a lot, and never once saw the game mentioned in recent weeks, while any sniff of men's national team activity at CCS is crowed over for weeks. As I listened to the girls around me, you could really tell the athletes from the ones playing the game for social reasons (as you usually can with the boys, as well) -- I guess what I'm trying to say is I really hope that generation (boys and girls) grows up to see women's sports as exciting because they're sports, not because they're women's sports. We were thrilled to be at this game -- we had tickets to the Nike Women's Cup doubleheader at CCS last September 11. Compared to the real losses of that day it's real petty, but I felt like we got a little something we were owed today. Gee, did I ramble a little?
Surely this comment is missing a sarcasm emoicon. Welcome, TheImposter. No penalties for rambling here. In fact, it's encouraged. For those that saw the game (sadly, my son failed to tape it and I was in the air over the eastern seaboard), was Scurry tested in the second half? Is she back in Heinrich's good graces? Lorrie Fair as captain??? (insert thumb-down emoticon here) 100th cap or not, this just does not make sense even though the captain is meaningless. How did Angela Hucles do coming on for the energizer bunny (Lilly)? Scotland's #11-Debbie McWhinnie. Will she play for the Charge and their whiney fans next year? (Oops, better save this for the WRF. wink, wink, nudge, nudge) 90 minutes from Mia Hamm. Anybody else think that the Freedom should have tried that two weeks ago? I would love to have heard the talk in the USWNT locker room at half-time. Who said what and who kicked who's butt?
Not really. Tested, at least. A little bit of sloppy defense that she had to clean up for, but no big saves. I thought she looked good. A lot of Freedom fans are probably thinking that now.
That must be the problem. It's a well-known fact that 87.4% of US families are dysfunctional. Wholesome went out with Ozzie and Harriet.
runbabyrun, If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it still make a noise? If people come in here defending Hope Solo, does anyone dare to listen? Well, at least we have the answer to the second one. No one's been brave enough to answer my previously posted question or to heed your suggestions. It's time we face it: People have already made up their minds about Solo. They made them up a long time ago, and I doubt there's a damn thing in the whole world she could do that would make them change them.
Re: NO MORE SOLO! Let out some steam over...what? The fact that the team was tied 2-2 with the puny minnows from Scotland at halftime before absolutely annihilating. The gall. The horror. Wait, you're upset that the young keeper dared to make a mistake in a meaningless match. Yes, heaven forbid you take the opportunity to see how a player with potential. After all, a 8-2 scoreline isn't nearly as impressive as an 8-0 scoreline. The same goes for the defense. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that nobody ever gets hurt since we never took the time to find out who might be a suitable replacement. Looking for back-ups might cost us a goal or two. The absolute shame of that happening is beyond description. Here's an idea. Enjoy the match and the fact your team won.
UWHUSKY We will be the one's laughing after Scurry and Siri retire. They will be thanking April for the early preparation of Solo. She is the best gk of anyone in her age brackup +/- four years.
Duh! Isn't that the truth. Haven't heard so many retarted comments in a single thread in a while. The woman made the best save of the whole game and you would think she made a couple of own goals. Central defenders had the responsability of both goals. In the second one they share responsability with Chastein who had that ball under control but let their winger get to it before the end line and make the back pass of death Solo had no responsability for the goals, she did plenty to avoid them. And actually did avoid the third one when she completely cut the angle to the totally unmarked Scott forward. I guess some people's self-esteem feels better when their players look uglier than them or their girlfriends and not look like Solo. Man, how can people be so pathetic? Conjuror
She made a good save before the first one, but the second goal was most definitely her fault. It's a keeper's job to communicate to the defense whether or not she's gonna come out for a ball and Solo neglected to do that. It's easy to see that she's got the physical tools but she's totally lacking mentally. She's too timid and doesn't let the opposition and her teammates know that the box is her territory. I'd say Solo is at least 2-3 WUSA seasons away from being mentally capable of starting for the USWNT in a important match. Goalkeepers are slaves to their confidence. If you don't have it, it doesn't matter how good your physical skills are.
The USSF had to run promos on Fox Sports World, for crissake. The only promo on ESPN was Jack Edwards on an MLS telecast: "Get prepared for a whuppin." Amazing that the WNT gets fewer people than the Major League Lacrosse all-star game. Perhaps we won't see the resurgence of the Columbuz Ziggs.
I don't know how it looked on TV or to other people who were there, but the U.S. was attacking at our end in the second half (seats in the 3rd row, even with the top of the 18) and Hamm looked like somebody had really lit her rocket. No matter how many we scored, she had that look on her face like she was gonna make Scotland pay for something somebody said to her. However, this was the first time we'd seen the team in person -- maybe she always looks like that?
Two of the Scotland players played in the United States last year with the USL W-2 league's New Jersey Wildcats -- Suzy Robertson and Deborah McWhinnie. As I was the team's public-address announcer in 2001, I saw these players up-close. They are to be congratulated for putting up a good fight.