POLL: Who is the best striker in the women's game?

Landon Donovan.

 

Abby Wambach.

She's got speed, size, strength and agility. Her workrate is tireless. She plays both sides of the ball. She can finish with both feet and her head.

Along with being a fabulous striker, she has the ability and the foresight to lay the ball off if she sees someone with a clear shot.

 

LOL

 

Ljungberg, because she is sexy.

 

1. Pichon - If she played for a traditional soccer power, there'd be no doubt
2. Prinz - Absolute force of nature, the WUSA polished her game
3. Svensson - Ljungberg gets the hype, but Svensson is the real deal
4. Wambach - In a couple of years she could easily top this list

It'll be interesting to see how Marta and the young Canadians develop.

 

I doubt it, the reason is because when those other three play soccer and improving themself in their prof leagues, Aby will find herself working 8 hrs a day job, unless the WUSA back to the business.

 

You can't possibly be that stupid.

 

I posted this on another thread that had digressed to the same topic.

"Depends on your priorities. I like strikers who put the ball in the net. Here are a few more (besides the usual suspects mentioned already)

Fotop - USWNT missed the boat with her because recruiting-wise they avoided weaknesses rather than capitalizing on strengths (big mistake IMO). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Fotop is the top NCAA Div.1 scorer of all-time and was all-time top WUSA scorer before the ACL injury. Was a late/special addition (by the WUSA Commissioner) to the USA All-Stars for the 2003 WUSA All-star game and then proved the Commissioner's point by scoring one of the USA's 2 goals against the World All-Stars. Note: Don't know if she has recovered from her ACL injury or if she even plans to continue playing soccer.

Dominguez - Injury sidetracked her from tearing up WUSA worse than she did in her rookie year. Top scorer in the 2004 CONCACAF Olympic trials. Scored both Mexico's goals to eliminate Canada and then burned the USWNT for 2 more.

Sinclair - Top scorer in the 2002 U19 world championships. Led Portland to a 2002 College Cup and along the way broke Hamm's 1993 NCAA postseason record of 16 points. Her final tally set the new mark at 21 points. Scored more goals against Germany in the 2003 WWC than the entire USWNT

Aysha Jamani - One to keep an eye on, the Canadian high schooler has 8 international caps with the senior team and 7 goals. With only 3 prior senior caps (and one U19 cap), Jamani scored more points than Wambach, Hamm, Sinclair, Latham (2003 WUSA Rookie-of the-Year), etc. enroute to 2'nd top scorer in the 2004 CONCACAF Olympic trials. Most recently, scored 2 goals against Germany's U19 squad. [note: Jamani has since scored 4 of Canada's 11 goals so far in the CONCACAF U19 World Championship qualifications]

Pichon - Probably tops on many people's lists, Pichon is as good a striker as anyone. She didn't score but set up 2 goals for the FIFA All-Stars in the recent game vs. Germany. Was the most dominant offensive player in the game.

Mellgren - Another top striker who would be picked number #1 by many. Lots of accomplishments, but most notably burned the USA on a golden goal in Norway's 2000 Olympic victory. [Note: I understand she's also recovering from ACL injury]"

 

the race is open: wambach, ljungberg, prinz, pichon, sinclair

 

Spare me on this one. Fotop is the idiot-savante of Women's soccer. All the talent and none of the brains. And the USWNT didn't miss the boat. She was on the 1999 World Cup team if you recall. I watched her up close and personal during all three WUSA seasons.

And anyone that uses an All-Star game to make a point, needs to get real. She was added to the team because the game was played in front of her home fans.

Birgit Prinz's arrival made Fotop a better player, but she just didn't have the intensity to be an elite striker - NCAA record or no. I like to think that Wambach is the combination of Parlow's desire and Fotop's talent. Abby is the complete package, Fotop is just a mindboggling mess of frustration.

 

I agree on Pichon if for no other reason than she passes the ball in the box obnoxiously well. No look passes. Outside of the foot. It boggles the mind.

Prinz can be handled if she's man-marked, but it's hard to do that in the international game when there are so many other great players on a team. I agree that the WUSA polished her game.

Svensson, in my opinion, is much better than Ljungberg. She breaks better on long balls and finishes better. With a little luck she could have earned Sweden the World Cup last year, but it wasn't to be.

You think it'll be a couple of years for Wambach? Hell, she's already exponentially better this year than she was last year. If the USA is going to bring home gold from Athens they're going to need to her continue playing like she's been playing.

 

The fact is, Prinz is getting better, too. Prinz learned to take the punishment in the WUSA. When she got here, it was astonishing how unprepared she was for contact. Without the WUSA, Germany doesn't win the World Cup - but that's for another thread

Wambach needs to find a team after the Olympics. She needs games. The occaisonal camp/game nature of the WNT isn't enough, and playing the college girls in the W-League/WPSL isn't the answer, either. The lack of week-in, week-out competitive play will make it harder for her to close the gap on Prinz.

 

Just wanted to add a few:

1. Dagny Mellgren (NOR/Boston Breakers) - her speed, her vision, and her ability to put the ball in the back of the net more times than not.

2. Marianne Pettersen (NOR) - her ability to stay calm in all situations, her amazing touch, and the fact that she always appears to be in the right place at the right time.

Mind you, both women had a mostly miserable World Cup due to a pretty flat and ineffective Norwegian midfield.

I also have to add Maren Meinert to this mix despite the fact that she's retired from women's football.

 

Let's see the business plan, first. The lack of hype regarding the Festivals, and the departure of Joe "It's the W.U.S.A. not woosa" Cummings don't make me too hopeful regarding WUSA 2.0.

The Courage had already lined up Norway's Solveig Gulbrandsen for this year.

I'm not really sure either Ljungberg or Svensson would've made the switch. Umea is one of the few non-WUSA clubs that could've offered a fully professional environment.

The new business plan certainly isn't going to involve throwing money at foreign players.

 

Getting back to the Swedes, the one that really intrigues me is the youngster, Josefine Öqvist, who buried the shot - after the Ljungberg couldn't reach Svensson's pass - that broke Canada's heart.

Josefine litterly was worthless for a few minutes after scoring the goal, she was so overcome with shock and emotion. Svensson almost had to slap her back to reality:

 

Andy, I can understand your frustration and idiot savante reference to Fotop. She was one dimensional to be sure. Sort of like a heavyweight boxer with a knockout punch. Don't know when the blow might land but it can and does happen. Fotop didn't fit the USWNT mold but my values are different. I like my strikers to score lots of goals and could care less how intense or interested or smart they look in the process. Looking good doesn't count on the scoreboard. Goals do. Fotop fits my criteria.

Although shunned by the USWNT, Fotop was unquestionably one of the elite WUSA strikers. That says a lot considering most of the world's best strikers also played in WUSA. Her non-selection to the 2003 WUSA All Star game was met by wide reaching disgust (not just with Carolina fans). People didn't like the idea that the top scorer in 2003, 2'nd top scorer in 2002 and one of the top 3 all-time didn't even make the alternate list for the USA All Stars. Something didn't smell right. In the end the Commissioner did his part to fix things and Fotop did what Abby and Mia didn't. She scored yet another goal. The USA All Stars lost the game in no small part due to the brilliant play of Maren Meinert. A foreshadow of things to come, but that's another story.

 

But Fotop didn't help win games. To me that's the value of a striker - goals that help win. Fotop was oblivious. It was painful. There's a reason she wasn't in the mix, pre-injury, for WC03, and a good one at that.

 

The naming of Öqvist to the Sweden squad for WC03 was heavily criticized because experts claimed she wasn't the type of player who would step up and take charge when the heat was on in the finals, and that it was a mistake to choose her over the more experienced player she replaced. Perhaps the minutes of uselessness was an example of that.

 

True. But the fact is that she did get the job done. Her goal put Sweden in the final. And since then she's scored some big goals for Sweden, notably in the 4NT. All's Well That Ends Well.

 

I would agree with Andy's list and would add Maren Meinert. That woman can be amazing. Unfortunately, she has retired to focus on marriage and family. But look out for future mini-Marens!

 

Right before the WC final, Sweden coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors said that the German player she feared the most was also her all time favourite player, Maren Meinert. This because of her excellent eye for the game and brilliant passing as well as her ability to score. For Sweden it's great that she has retired. That will make daunting task of claiming the European Championship trophy less impossible.

 

Hello secretcode. I agree that Ljungberg was aggressively marked, but I don't think Svensson's scoring is any type of fluke. She has been the top scorer in Damallsvenskan three times: 1998, 2001, and 2003. Some people are finally paying attention to her. She has been great for Swedish league.