so A1 is USA... D1 will be China B1 and C1 are either Norway, Brazil or Germany... since we see B1 play, who do we want to be B1?? Well, my preliminary draw has Pot 1 - USA, Norway, Brazil, China in heading groups a to d Pot 2 - 4 euro sides France, Sweden, Russia, Germany Pot 3 - Asian and Concacaf North Korea, Japan, Canada, plus (mexico or #3 asia) Pot 4 - Argentina, Australia, Nigeria, Ghana
Well, France of course. Too bad China won't be in the group. We could have had a real festival in Chinatown before that match!
yeah, but China at Home Depot along with Mexico will guarantee a sell out in LA... Appears to me and ASIAN side will play here, either North Korea or Japan... If CONCACAF and AFC are in the same pot, we get the ASIAN side... The b1-b2 match looks to be the best that we'll see... still I think if France gets into USA group, they have a good chance to advance... If France can avoid a group which has Canada, I like their chances...also stay away from North Korea too
You're right. I listened to you on that account when I did my groups. "If France can avoid a group which has Canada, I like their chances...also stay away from North Korea too" Well, I had that down for political reasons. Ha! Ha! Anyway, I could just switch one of the Koreas for Japan then. That is if Japan makes it or if one of the Koreas make it.
If France is drawn into USA group, I think they can advance... pot 4 would be Ghana and Nigeria and Argentina and Australia pot 3 north korea canada japan (mexico or #3 asian) it would be slightly better for the 3rd asian side to advance, because that lessens the chance for North Korea to be drawn... I still feel FIFA would keep N Korea out of USA group for political reasons... assume Japan is the Asian side, as long as pot 4 is NOT Australia, then France would be a claer favorite over pot 4... and against Japan, the match would be close, but France has Pichon, which is an edge... and France would keep the score closer against USA, then Japan would...if USA played France in the 3rd match, following two wins...USA would have some 2nd line players in there, and I believe the match would be very competitive... I don't like the USA defenders against Pichon..
Well, I think that they should play against the US. Then I would like to see W. make the type of speech that Clinton did before the Iran game in 98. Not going to happen.
well, could you imagine 9/21 match being USA-North Korea in RFK?? would 43 attend?? I could iamgine the security getting into any USA-NK match... oddly, about 10 years ago, NK men played USA men at RFK...memory is hazy, but I think NK won... USA-France at RFK would be an other interesting match too... since USA starts confed cup in a couple days, I'm curious what the French public will do in Lyon... USa-Nigeria would be interesting given 1999.... still I'm rooting for B1-B2 match to be Germany-France... that would be quite a treat
To stoke viewer interest in the group stages, MLS/SUM would be giddy if the group stage would have USA-CAN. FIFA would be more than happy to rig the draw.
well, USA wants nothing to do with Canada in group play!!... given the anticpated fix, april prefers russia, argentina, ghana.. The old rules with LIKE confeds, barring UEFA, not being in the same group are still in play?? woody-99 list norway sources and USA,China,Norway, Germany as #1... so Brazil, North Korea (despite 1999) France, Sweden would be teams heinrichs wouldn't mind NOT seeing in group play... if USA players keep dropping like flies, who knows, USA might not even win their group... Macmillian is important due to her mobility....Wambach and Parlow are NOT nearly as mobile, and it's the mobility which is the USA biggest edge over most other team... a lilly, wagner, foudy, hamm midfield would be what I'd expect in september... milbrett and (wambach or parlow)?? or does Hamm move up top??
US would fear a possession team like Brazil whose players will keep the ball like Arsenal can. It would just frustrate the US. An unknown team like North Korea. Can't get more isolated than them. But I've seen them play and they are solid. There will also be a good amount of pressure on both teams in that one. And a French team which has the most dangerous striker in the WUSA, one of the top five all-out wingers in the WUSA, and several other players who are starters on the top teams in Europe including one from FFC Frankfurt, a team who has had most of their top players play in the WUSA. And since we probably won't be getting Brazil in our group, a rough team like Nigeria or a Russia, would be trouble as well. "given the anticpated fix, april prefers russia, argentina, ghana.." That would be an easy group but I imagine those teams would start to put a hurt on the US players. Anyway, I see nothing that would be necessarily a fix to make the groups harder. Attendance is another thing. Anyway, US, Mexico and Canada can't be in the same group so that's 3 groups right there.
To beat USA, having wing play is a must...that's why China with Zhao will be difficult... USA edge is the superior athletes. Teams who can control possession, and still match the athletic physical quality of USA players are those with a chance. Watched the ireland match for about 20 minutes...unless you have the physical quality you just lose out... turn the battle into more technical and tactical and you have a chance... Wagner will be the key, here emergence in September would be the force for USA to win...
"To beat USA, having wing play is a must...that's why China with Zhao will be difficult..." And France for that matter. Strength and conditioning are the keys to a US victory. Frustrate them. Get a player like Mary-Frances Monroe. Have a couple of them like her in the midfield.
In the past, USA had a conditioning edge over almost everyone. In 2003, most of the qualifiers will be in equitable shape. France, with their national training center has incorporated the conditioning edge into their regimen. Pichon is in better shape this year. against San diego, she just ran all day, with NO indication of fatigue... so techinical ability and tactics become more important.. for me, lorrie fair is the poster child of usa soccer...but the day of succeeding that way have past...
"In the past, USA had a conditioning edge over almost everyone. In 2003, most of the qualifiers will be in equitable shape." True. Things are getting closer on a lot of levels. "France, with their national training center has incorporated the conditioning edge into their regimen." Well, that is true too. Getting the CNFE up and going as been the best thing to happen to women's soccer in France." "Pichon is in better shape this year. against San diego, she just ran all day, with NO indication of fatigue..." Yes but you know how I feel about the Charge's offense and Pichon playing the whole game.
Unless the Charge fall out of the play-off hunt, Pichon will play almost every minute, except when they're ahead by 3 goals or behind by 3 goals... Kelly Smith ius supposed to be back for the last 7 matches, but I don't see how this changes Pichon playing huge minutes... once wusa season ends, she'll probably take a week off to vacation, then join France... She has so much energy, even when off the field, it's difficult to ever imagine her wearing out... last match, she came over to the north stands to visit, then on her way back, she almost got run over by the truck taking down the sign boards... she didn't see it coming and it just missed her
"last match, she came over to the north stands to visit, then on her way back, she almost got run over by the truck taking down the sign boards... she didn't see it coming and it just missed her' Good grief. Well, anyway, this is similar to what I and others thought about after the Spirit game. Give her some rest. Now what is this I see? I finally went back to the Charge board and I discover that Pichon won't be playing in the all-star game. Clipped early in the game, and then plays the rest of the game. Well, it's unfortunate.
Well, I think Pichon missing the all star is more to get rest than a significant injury... just let the soreness from the bruise heal.. remember the France-Germany friendly Pichon skipped due to a cold... Pichon is very dedicated to the Charge doing well
Pichon is a wonderful player. It was a master-stroke to sign her. I hope she's better by Sunday. Though she deserves to be in an all-star game, and playing in attack with Birgit would have been interesting.
yes, prinz and pichon would make an ideal pairing on any team... pichon injury is listed as a thigh bruise, I would think a week rest would sufficiently heal that sort injury