This is painfull to watch. I could never tell by this first half that the USA is world cup champions.
i missed the first half so i guess i didnt miss much. the us just overpowered the costa rican's in the second, they had no answer for parlow who was what seemed like a foot taller than any of their players. we just dominated the second half and from what i could tell from max breto's commentary is that we couldnt finish in the first half, which was certainly made up for with two beautiful shots in the final minutes from macmillan and lilly. one thing; aly wagner, if you have the ball inside the 18 yard box and there is nobody around you, which tends to happen often against these minnows...please consider shooting on-goal, you are allowed to take a few shots.
On a side note, do you think it was right to sit Mia for so long? I don't know how she's doing injury-wise, but maybe at some point it's more important to keep up her rhythm and sharpen her finishing than to rest her. She did play a little today but never got a chance to really get into the flow of the game, and she's sat out most of the last two games. But then again, she's a professional and I'm sure she can turn it on when needed.
She was definitely hesitating. Sometimes she would take a couple of touches and allow the defenders to converge on her instead of one-timing it. I don't think this was her best game. There were a lot of bright moments but also some passes that got picked off or went out. Lilly was great again. That one girl was right on her back on the left flank all night and Lilly kept working it around her. It was nice for her to get that goal after her last couple of volley attempts were way high.
I was surprised that Mia got in the game at all, she must have told coach that she needed some time on the field. What if she had taken another whack on the ankle/shin that had been deeply bruised? Then she would have been out for the final. If finishing in the first half had been better, or the CR keeper not had such a good game, there would have been at least as many goals as in the second half. Mac hit a post, Joy's header hit the cross bar, Joy's volley went high, Mac missed another chance, Julie miss-hit a header - the Spirit players alone could have had 3-6 goals during the first 45 minutes! I saw Heather O'Reilly on the bench during one of the few times that the camera was aimed that way, and never saw Abby. I wondered what happened? Costa Rica spent more time in a bunker than they did against Canada, and they also hit long clearances a lot more than they tried against Canada. That was part of the reason that the US had a difficult time of getting really good chances early on.
Check the 'Wambach called up' thread in this forum, and over in FC&M, the CR PbP thread. Both should explain what happened.
Small AP writeup: http://sports.yahoo.com/m/sow/news/ap/20021107/ap-costarica-us.html Writeup on the USSF site: http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=23974 10,079....5000 off my prediction but still a tremendous turnout for a weeknight. Like I said before...Seattleites probably ain't cheap bastards like other locales . Wah wah wah. How come Mia is quoted throughout this article and she hardly played nor made an impact in the match?
Why Mia? Because it is always Mia The second game was better, though Mexico deserved to win. LaBlanc's kickboxing move should have had her thrown out of the game. I wish Mexico had won...nothing against Hooper....who am I kidding?
Mia made an impact eventhough she was just seating on the bench, her present made all the difference.
I missed the game Who was right midfield for the game? Foudy (hope she was dmid) or TR/Hucles? Was Sobrero just getting a rest and will we see her back vs. Canada? Thanks!
Actually, the midfield switched up pretty often. I think I remember Lilly actually starting on the right with Foudy and Hucles both spending time there at certain points. TR spent most of the 1st half half in the D-Mid slot with Foudy taking over that spot in the second. I have been enjoying seeing the midfielders roaming and switching—they're clearly getting more used to it and it adds flexibility.
Was anyone else frustrated by the starting line-up for the US in this game. Why TR and Macmillan started I do not know. Unless Milbrett's injury was more serious than reported she should have been on the field. Hamm also should have started having Lilly drop back to midfield and pull TR out and Macmillan out. Unless we are trying to "build for the future" the substitution patterns in this game were confusing.