Group G (USA, FRA, COL, PRK) [R]

USA and France

 

Agreed also North Korea might qualify as one of best 3rd place team. Big question is who will finish first USA or France. USA are favorite but there might be a surprise in Glasgow next Wednesday.

 

Yes there might be a surprise in the group.. After today's 0-0 tie with team GB, who you said was going downhill, what are your thoughts on how France played?

 

We did play ok against Japan, a lot of work to do defensively as we made mistakes, some positioning is wrong in midfield as well and we were not much clinical upfront. Also very obvious that long balling to Le Sommer is not working as the poor girl will not beat anyone in a physical contest.

Everybody knows the US team is a lot more physical compared to ours and if we don't match that physical side, the USA will simply steamroll us. Win one on one, be there for second balls is a basic but against superior athletes well. The preparation will hopefully bring some results.

The combo Wambach Morgan is really hard to defend with that mix of power, speed and strength in the air. Basically offering all the tactical variation to the other players and doing everything well. I could bet that the USA will score at least 1 or 2 goals and the question is how many will we able to score as being clinical has been our problem for 5/6 years. There are some weaker area in the US defensive system and we will look to exploit those.

 

I was asking about France's progress. You said France was getting better and GB was getting worse, and I pointed out team GB is an unknown. You have explained GB well, but has France demonstrated they are ready for the Cup after the result against GB?

And why did you switch threads on my question?

 

Because Team GB plays in group E not in group so comment on GB should go in relevant thread. If you make a reference to Team GB, I will reply to it obviously...

 

Put it this way, I can't see any correlation between GB drawing with Sweden and judging France's form.

 

Predictions:
25.07.12 USA - France (France wins 2-1)
25.07.12 Colombia - Korea DPR (Colombia and North Korea draw 1-1)

28.07.12 USA - Colombia (USA wins 5-0)
28.07.12 France - Korea DPR (France wins 3-1)

31.07.12 USA - Korea DPR (USA wins 1-0)
31.07.12 France - Colombia (France wins 4-0)

Standings
1.) France (9 points, Goal diff: +7)
2.) USA (6 points, Goal diff: +5)
3.) North Korea (1 point, Goal diff: -3)
4.) Colombia (1 point, Goal diff: -9)

France and USA move on

 

Therefore, these are the seedings after all the groups (teams advancing to the Quarterfinals).

1.) Brazil (#1 from Group E, 9 points, +8 goal diff.)
2.) France (#1 from Group G, 9 points, +7 goal diff.)
3.) Sweden (#1 from Group F, 7 points, +4 goal diff.)
4.) USA (#2 from Group G, 6 points, +5 goal diff.)
5.) Japan (#2 from Group F, 6 points, +3 goal diff.)
6.) Great Britain (#2 from Group E, 4 points, goal diff: even, aka +0)
7.) Canada (#3 from Group F, 4 points, goal diff: +1)
8.) New Zealand (#3 from Group E, 4 points, goal diff: -2)

Quarterfinals
#1 Brazil vs. #7 Canada (Brazil not eligible to play team from their same group in Quarterfinal)
#2 France vs. #8 New Zealand (this causes France to play New Zealand instead of Canada)
#3 Sweden vs. #6 Great Britain (an interesting all-Euro Quarterfinal)
#4 USA vs. #5 Japan (the rematch, this time in the Quarterfinal)

Actually, they would be in brackets like this...

#1 Brazil vs. #7 Canada (would play the winner of USA vs. Japan)
#4 USA vs. #5 Japan (would play the winner of Brazil vs. Canada)
#2 France vs. #8 New Zealand (would play the winner of Sweden vs. Great Britain)
#3 Sweden vs. #6 Great Britain (would play the winner of France vs. New Zealand)

Brazil, USA, France, and Sweden win their Quarterfinal match

Semifinals
#1 Brazil vs. #4 USA (USA wins in penalty kicks, 2-2 draw, penalty kicks: 4-3)
#2 France vs. #3 Sweden (Sweden wins 2-1 in extra time)

Bronze Medal match
Brazil vs. France (Brazil wins 4-1) (Brazil has one of those matches where they are "clicking")

Gold Medal match
USA vs. Sweden (USA wins 2-1 in extra time, Abby Wambach header in 119th minute)

*Marta gets hat trick in Bronze medal match, and wins the award for most goals scored throughout this entire tournament.

 

This will be a tough tournament for the USA.
They will give everything they have, and feel completely physically drained after the Gold Medal match. They will feel exhilaration for winning the Gold.
Once it's over, they will go out and celebrate by getting some "American" style (burnt crust) pizza.

 

I would have prefered a draw against Japan , to be sure that our girls will not be carry away by over confidence.....however, i am satisfied like that .
Our first game will be crucial , if we beat USA we will reach the final , i am pretty sure about it .Seriously, i dont think Sweden will beat us again, sonia and the girls are still pretty angry with what happened last year........thats mean....... REVENGE !.h
Team USA has got no secret , we all know their strength and weakness, if we can match them physically ,power and athletism, i dont think they could beat us in other sector of the game.
Our key role will be Necib playing between Boxx and Lloyd (Cheney) in a free role, if Louisa is inspired and deliver assist instead of trying her tricks all the time like in the previous game between the two teams .........it will be hard for the americans to stop us.

 

USA wins game one vs France, probably with a late Sydney sub. Baby Horse and Syndey will be fighting French defenders for 90 mins over balls coming over the top, so something will get thru late. Plus France would need one game under their belt against this type of attack to make real adjustments. Like I said, it's hard to beat the USA twice in the same tournment. Also, it will be a good deal for France to drop a game early and end their little 15 or 16-0 steak. I see France having no problems with Colombia or NK, none at all.

Sweden has been horrible since the WC. They won't see the finals. And if they do play Brasil, I'm guessing Bruna will be the starter. She actually gives them some solid play on the backline since Simone. They won't give up a cheap goal against Sweden, and with Formiga more in the mix with the forwards and Marta vs getting caught up at the 50, Brasil is just too much for Sweden.

Like them or not, it's probably USA for the gold, or France if they can get them in a rematch after losing group to them.

 

I'm kind of in love with this post. That is all.

 

Why so serious?

 

Well that's true there is no seeding.

 

I know, right. Using facts ought to be a crime

 

if you go by their ranking, u.s.vs france is the big game in this group.

my prediction? uswnt 2: france 1

i'm going with my belief that the u.s. is a higher level than france has been playing in the past 17 games, and they will not be able to stroke the ball around as easily and smoothly as they like. the speed with which the opponent closes you down plays havoc with your game.

so even tho i always prepare myself for a uswnt loss in these big games, (because i believe it is inevitable in the growth of the women's game that either the other team is better or we play better but miss a lot of opportunities like we did in the first half last year against japan), i'm predicting a uswnt win.

2:1 uswnt!

 

Play better? They give you the same thing. Rampone will clean up the backline errors. Boy, if she was gone, their backline would look like Brasil's backline pre-Bruna. On a side note, I'd like to see them now with her in the lineup, given she plays head steady like Simone, just had one noticeable error in 3 starts. Secondly, the mid-field is clumsy. I agree with users on other boards. if the ref lets the usa's mid-field along wth abby dropping back mug necib and crew, the way they did formiga in the WC, it will be a long day for france. lastly, it's ball over the top, have an eratic fight for possession with baby horse or sydney and see if they can run a defender over or knock them down. then again, abby, the walking header, is even better at running defenders over. and people on here cried about marta knocking one defender down in a game in the wc.

i have the usa taking the game, don't think france will get good spacing in this game and pia will mark delie and force the game on tomis or le sommer, which equals doom for france. they have long strikers in the mid-field but it's hard to get those types of shots past solo. you are lucky if you can get one on her.

 

What's with all the mugging you're going on about lately? Saying the US mugged Brazil in the World Cup is just silly. And regarding your current obsession with Formiga, I'm not saying she isn't a good player, but the only thing mugging her in this Olympics will be Father Time. At 34, she's no spring chicken in soccer years.

Anyway, I think France is a great test and it's better to start against good opposition than some powder puff. I hope luvdagame is correct!

 

you're telling me boxx and company are aesthetically pleasing to watch with their great footwork and ball skills. i've been watching france and japan too much. the real skilled football leaders are SC USWNT. i don't know what you call a televised shot of abby laying on top of formiga in the mid-field. oh, she just tripped and ran up her back. and boxx looks so energetic and fluent on the pitch.

they are a basically deep, the most well funded and paid female squad in the world, and an athletic soccer team with access to the best of everything year around, but their PURE football skills across the board blow. they muscle up on the backline, push the ball anyway they can thru the mid-field and fling it forward to baby horse or sydney to duke it out with defenders, nothing pretty or creative to watch. oh, they do have the trick of connecting with abby and letting her flick it off her head to a charging morgan.

i'm not hating them, calling them what they are when i watch them.

i can't hate, because i have them winning the match today, but it wont be a great football game like the france/japan match.

good thing they aren't on usa soil in front of a sold out crowd, or france might be a victim of a new zealand type finish. you have to send those 22,000 paying customers home with a win instead of a well deserved draw for new zealand.

 

This whole conversation is silly. Each team has their strengths and weaknesses. I'll be the first to admit that I wish our midfield had the same skill set as Necib and company. Same thing with our defense (especially Lepeilbet or Buehler). However, I wouldn't trade our forwards or goalkeeper for anyone else in the world. Also, when the U.S. play well their style of football is just as beautiful as anyone elses. I can't imagine anyone watching the first 70 minutes of the US game against Japan and saying that the only thing these girls knew how to do is out muscle and outrun their opponents.

Newsouth is living in his own little world and wants to cover all angles so other people on this forum won't say I told you so. Since his team Brazil is going through tough times, he's latched on to an up and coming team like France (and Delie). If France beats the U.S. then he'll gloat and say I told you so. If they lose, then he'll just say who cares this is just the first game, it's only the Olympics not the World Cup, the U.S. was too physical and the refs let them get away with it, Nike bribed the federation because they didn't want to lose their meager $200,000 contract with Morgan (otherwise their company would fold), their style of football isn't fun to watch, or Brazil will win the world cup in 2023, so who cares what happns until then. I personally feel sorry for French fans since they have someone like him latch on to their really good team because he's only doing it out of dislike for the U.S. team.

As far as this game is concerned, I think it'll be an extremely tough match for both teams. The French have the advantage in midfield, but the U.S. have the more reliable forwards and goalkeeper. May the best team win.

 

we already know the best team will win one way or another, but it doesn't hurt to debate their strengths and weaknesses. oh forgot, we're suppose to thoroughly research all aspects of the game by pulling up stats from 10 years ago.

i have always been a marta, delie and press (remember, based on comments on this board, i'm looking for this one but i've never seen her play, and we are in different countries. . it doesn't get any funnier than that from some of the individuals on this board.) fan. they're my favorite three in any order, so when you play them, of course, i'm going to have an one-sided opinion, so to say, but that's how the "fan favorite" game is played.

Go Delie and Bruno!

 

So will you still cheer for Press when she makes her debut for the U.S. team after the Olympics, or is this just another excuse to pile on Morgan and the U.S. team?