Futbol Anyone?

[Ruckus]

Based on your argument about the overtime ILB, the US wouldn't have beaten Brazil.

It was a great match and though Japan wasn't the better side yesterday for large chunks of time, they were the better side throughout the tournament.  They did win the possession battle 53% to 47% but as ILB said, I was surprised at how well the US controlled in the midfield and created chance after chance. 

It should be pointed out that a terrible offside call against Japan prevented what looked to be a breakaway one on one with the keeper.  The announcers acknowledged it for a seconds and never mentioned it again.  My American rooting friends acknowledged as much that it prevented a very likely goal. 

I'm just disgusted by so much of what I've heard on American news and sports talk radio.  Penalty kicks and OT's are dumb but they loved it against Brazil.  The better team didn't win yet conveniently forget the 1st 65 minutes against Brazil and most of the match against France.  It's soccer.  It happened.  The tournament had so much drama I actually enjoyed it more than the last men's World Cup.

In the end, I am not a fan of penalty kicks but it makes for great drama.  I'd be OK I think with a golden goal but unless they change substitution rules, it's no good having players running for 135 minutes in heat and humidity still on a 0-0 score.  I don't know what the solution is.

[Tracy 2112]

I'm just disgusted by so much of what I've heard on American news and sports talk radio.  Penalty kicks and OT's are dumb but they loved it against Brazil.  The better team didn't win yet conveniently forget the 1st 65 minutes against Brazil and most of the match against France.  It's soccer.  It happened.  The tournament had so much drama I actually enjoyed it more than the last men's World Cup.

The guys on sports talk here in Nashville prefaced their critque of the game with: I don't know a lot about soccer.

Soooo, let me give my opinion about something I know very little about. How American is that?  :-\

Everyone complaining about the US women "choking" got me to thinking of how America loves a winner and how we are basically a nation of losers, strictly speaking from a sports analogy front. Every member of the NBA who is not a Maverick is a loser; every member of the NFL who is not a member of the Packers is a loser, and so on and so on and so on. And just about every American is not the best at much of anything, yet we "demand" perfection from a group of women in a sport that we collectively don't understand.

I have never played 1 second of organized soccer, however, Alex Morgan is my hero.

[Ruckus]

I'm just disgusted by so much of what I've heard on American news and sports talk radio.  Penalty kicks and OT's are dumb but they loved it against Brazil.  The better team didn't win yet conveniently forget the 1st 65 minutes against Brazil and most of the match against France.  It's soccer.  It happened.  The tournament had so much drama I actually enjoyed it more than the last men's World Cup.

The guys on sports talk here in Nashville prefaced their critque of the game with: I don't know a lot about soccer.

Soooo, let me give my opinion about something I know very little about. How American is that?  :-\

Everyone complaining about the US women "choking" got me to thinking of how America loves a winner and how we are basically a nation of losers, strictly speaking from a sports analogy front. Every member of the NBA who is not a Maverick is a loser; every member of the NFL who is not a member of the Packers is a loser, and so on and so on and so on. And just about every American is not the best at much of anything, yet we "demand" perfection from a group of women in a sport that we collectively don't understand.

I have never played 1 second of organized soccer, however, Alex Morgan is my hero.

1st, you are right about Alex Morgan.  It was a wonder why Sundhage stuck with Amy Rodriguez so stubbornly and all we could surmise was that she had some type of strong loyalty to her that was not easily broken.  We agreed that Sundhage's moves to put Cheney up front instead of Rodriguez and starting Rapinoe made sense but it left them with less options for subs in the 2nd half outside of Morgan who sure did her job.  She's a hell of a soccer player too. ;)  My friend was upset when they announced the starting lineups that Sauerbrunn was pulled once Buehler served her one game suspension.  Who knows what would have happened had she not started but Buehler did unfortunately blunder the clearance in the box that led to the 1st Japanese equalizer.

As for your other point, I couldn't agree with you more.  It's not even the "if you're not 1st you're last" mentality.  It's more expectation of always being the best, the petulance when they don't succeed, and a general lack of appreciation for effort and class.  This American women's team was all class and effort.  It just didn't happen for them but they were still inspiring and a joy to watch.

When I think about my roots, I was born a citizen of a country of 1.2 billion people and I can't remember ever rooting for an Indian who had an opportunity at a gold medal in the summer Olympics.  Of course we make it up in Spelling Bees but... ;)  Similarly, I would have been happy with any successful run by the Japanese.  This was amazing!  They didn't have to win.  They did the Japanese proud either way and the Japanese people would not have had the reaction that many here have had they lost.

Maybe I'm in the minority here but I think women's soccer won big time here regardless of who won and all the while, both the American and Japanese sides were all class. :dankk2:

[iLikeBeer]

My friend was upset when they announced the starting lineups that Sauerbrunn was pulled once Buehler served her one game suspension.  Who knows what would have happened had she not started but Buehler did unfortunately blunder the clearance in the box that led to the 1st Japanese equalizer.

I too was disappointed in Buehler's inclusion back into the starting line-up on Sunday.  I thought Buehler struggled for the entire tournament on defense.  While here red card in that Brazil match was iffy at best, she always seemed out of position or a step behind in every match she played.

And not only did Buehler botch that clearance that led to Japan's first equalizer, it was Buehler who was out of position allowing Sawa to get open for the flick for her equalizer in OT.


I also am agreed on how unfair the media is being on the US women calling them chokers.  Yes, they failed to hold late leads twice in the match and their PK display in that shootout was pretty bad.  But it's not like Japan are a bunch of hacks?!  Japan is the 4th ranked team in the world?!  Instead of criticizing the Americans for not finishing, how about giving them a little credit for even getting to their first WC Final since they won in 1999?!

[Tracy 2112]

Hope Solo & Alex Morgan SportsNation Intro FAIL

[capt. scotty]

I also am agreed on how unfair the media is being on the US women calling them chokers.  Yes, they failed to hold late leads twice in the match and their PK display in that shootout was pretty bad.  But it's not like Japan are a bunch of hacks?!  Japan is the 4th ranked team in the world?!  Instead of criticizing the Americans for not finishing, how about giving them a little credit for even getting to their first WC Final since they won in 1999?!

Not like Ive been following every media outlet, but its seemed to me to be pretty split. That said, choking is choking. Of course the team is talented and should be commended for their performance and how far they went. And yes, there is a difference in choking if they didnt even make it out of pool play vs how they twice gave up late leads and looked like middle schoolers in the PK of the finals, but to some degree, they choked in that game.

[Tracy 2112]

I don't think I can even move my leg like this, much less kick a ball for a goal; incredible!

[HD] Alex Morgan Goal vs. Boston Breakers 07-24-2011

[Ruckus]

I don't think I can even move my leg like this, much less kick a ball for a goal; incredible!

[HD] Alex Morgan Goal vs. Boston Breakers 07-24-2011

Pretty brilliant!  It looks like even she couldn't quite believe she was going to make it but she's got instincts around the net for sure.  With that and her pace, I look forward to see here start for the national team in the near future.

[Jon T.]

I don't think I can even move my leg like this, much less kick a ball for a goal; incredible!

[HD] Alex Morgan Goal vs. Boston Breakers 07-24-2011

Pretty brilliant!  It looks like even she couldn't quite believe she was going to make it but she's got instincts around the net for sure.  With that and her pface, I look forward to see here start for the national team in the near future.

we all know this what you meant

[Ruckus]

What a visible difference in attitude and style by the Americans against Mexico last night under Klinsmann.  Whether that translates to more international wins in the long run is another question but it was great to see players having fun and a coach showing enthusiasm on the sideline.  A breath of fresh air compared to the stoicism of Bradley.

Bocanegra got lucky not getting red carded and then the US took some bad non calls late.

[Jon T.]

What a visible difference in attitude and style by the Americans against Mexico last night under Klinsmann.  Whether that translates to more international wins in the long run is another question but it was great to see players having fun and a coach showing enthusiasm on the sideline.  A breath of fresh air compared to the stoicism of Bradley.

Bocanegra got lucky not getting red carded and then the US took some bad non calls late.

I 100% agree.  I'm sure there will be some hiccups along the way, but I'm really happy with this move.

On another note, I knew Landon was fast, but that break away he had on one of the no calls you speak of - that burst was impressive.

[Hawkeye]

Speaking of futbol, anyone catch the ESPN 30 for 30 movie about the Colombian soccer team and Pablo Escobar?  I only caught part of it, but what I saw looked like it had potential.

http://30for30.espn.com/film/the-two-escobars.html

[Sticky Icky Green Stuff]

is this of any use to anybody?  not a big sports dude but thought it may be useful for you testosterone drive super freaks:

http://myp2p.eu/competition.php?competitionid=&part=sports&discipline=americanfootball

[Jaimoe]

is this of any use to anybody?  not a big sports dude but thought it may be useful for you testosterone drive super freaks:

http://myp2p.eu/competition.php?competitionid=&part=sports&discipline=americanfootball

Nice seeing CFL games on the site. 

[Ruckus]

Should be a dandy at Azteca Stadium tonight!  Can't wait!  It's so funny to see ESPN crank up the hype machine.  Looks like soccer viewership in the states continues to grow (thankfully) despite the relentless pathetic and played out jokes about soccer by domestic sports talking heads.

[iLikeBeer]

Should be a dandy at Azteca Stadium tonight!  Can't wait!  It's so funny to see ESPN crank up the hype machine.  Looks like soccer viewership in the states continues to grow (thankfully) despite the relentless pathetic and played out jokes about soccer by domestic sports talking heads.

Should be an interesting match.  I think the win on Friday was huge for the US coming into this game.  They are now sitting on 3 points and just a draw would be a great result for the Americans.  El Tri, on the other hand, is coming off of a horrible road draw where they blew a 2-0 lead and also a horrible (and lucky) draw at the Axteca vs. Jamaica so they will have all of the pressure to get a result tonight!

The US should be coming into this match loose, basically playing with house money and also having the confidence they can get a result at the Azteca based on their breakthrough win in their last visit!   

[Jon T.]

Should be a dandy at Azteca Stadium tonight!  Can't wait!  It's so funny to see ESPN crank up the hype machine.  Looks like soccer viewership in the states continues to grow (thankfully) despite the relentless pathetic and played out jokes about soccer by domestic sports talking heads.

Thanks for the reminder! I was thinking it was tomorrow. 
Should be a nice, cordial match in a friendly environment between two teams with nothing but love for each other.

[iLikeBeer]

Anyone watch the match last night?  I wouldn't normally qualify a 0-0 draw as a great result, but when that 0-0 draw comes at Azteca, where the US has only managed one point ever in their history of playing WC qualifiers there, I think you can qualify that as a great result for the US!    

I was kind of annoyed during the broadcast that they had to have former Venezuealan international Alejandro Moreno in the booth with Taylor Twelman and Ian Drake.  Alejandro seemed totally pro-Mexico calling for a penalty on Michael Bradley where it looked like he pushed Chicarito in the box but replay looked like Chicarito did a bit of embellishing to try to draw the penalty.  You could tell Twellman was getting a bit tired of his pro Mexico analysis as well.

I will say I think Mexico had a legitimate complaint for a penalty when Edu tackled Aquino, but it was tough to tell whether or not Edu actually got ball.  It was a tough call either way and I'm glad the ref opted on the side of the US! 

Too bad the US had to blow that match in Honduras or they'd be at the top of the tables right now.  But I'll take where they're at after playing 2 of their first 3 qualifiers on the road... 

[Jon T.]

I agree the end result was great.  Not a very entertaining game to watch, though.  I thought Mexico looked awful.  That could be in part to the US game plan.  We did a good job of disrupting just about everything they did, IMO.  Our D showed some potential, while our offense was non-existent save for last 20 or so of the first half.  We definitely caught a break with the no call on Edu, but that's part of the game and we're on the wrong side of that call more times than not.

I didn't have too much of a problem with Moreno's commentating.  As many Mexicans and Mexican fans we have in the states, ESPN isn't only broadcasting to us Americans. 

All of that being said, I have no expectations of our team at all in Brazil.  I know there is a little time left to start putting things together, but I have not seen too much to get excited about. 

[iLikeBeer]

I didn't have too much of a problem with Moreno's commentating.  As many Mexicans and Mexican fans we have in the states, ESPN isn't only broadcasting to us Americans. 

Isn't that what ESPN Deportes or Univision is for?