Tag: Women’s World Cup 2015

Ok.  So I haven’t been very sanguine about Team USA’s prospects in the World Cup but in my defense though they came through the ‘Group of Death’ they didn’t look all that impressive against Colombia and China is what we Mets fans charitably call “rebuilding”.

And then they thumped Germany, the #1 team in the World.

Umm… that was a convincing victory, it convinced me.

We will beat Japan and avenge our loss in 2011.  They are committed to a ground/passing game and we have many more tools.  No 2 – 2 Penalty Shoot Out this time, we will crush them like bugs.

We know what we’re getting.

On the German side, they’re angry, though they have no reason to be.  Team USA outplayed them, it was their first really good game of the Tournament.  Germany did not break down, they played with discipline and heart.  Bad luck?  They rarely miss Penalty Kicks and Hope Solo was totally going the other way.  Team USA made their kick and you could argue that they wouldn’t have scored from the field if they were down or tied but they did score from the field and that is not a fluke, it is a fact.

England?  This is a game that was so headed to an extra period and a Shootout that I had TMC on the phone and had moved on to other projects.  Own Goal?  Well that’s embarrassing.

England is the epicenter of English speaking football and Trefor Lloyd-Hughes has done more to damage the Women’s game than 20 Laura Bassetts.

Today the odds are that Germany crushes England like a bug.  Germany is playing for redemption and is the #1 team in the World.  Lowly England is a bunch of Gals trying their best to hang on to a dream.  Root accordingly.

While I don’t think the U.S. Women’s Team looked quite as impressive as some people do they were certainly good enough to beat China who, as predicted, showed very little offensive spark indeed.  It was certainly Team USA’s best game of the Tournament so far.  The only score came 51 minutes in from Carli Lloyd, but the U.S. dominated shots on goal, 17 – 6, and possession time.

Tonight’s opponent, Germany, the Number One team in the world right now, looked incredibly vincible in their match against France.  They were only able to eke out a tie during regulation and extra time and scored their salvation goal with but 6 minutes to play.  Admittedly the French were much higher ranked than China, but winning on penalty kicks hardly cements Germany’s reputation.  You may hear a lot about their goal scoring prowess, well, 10 of those came in a devastating shutout of Ivory Coast. Likewise I’ve read some negative commentary that Hope Solo, the U.S. Keeper, has hardly been tested, yet her 11 saves are the most in the Tournament.

Against China, Team U.S. had to start substitutes for Lauren Holiday and Megan Rapinoe who were carded in the match against Colombia.  Tonight they are back at full strength and it’s entirely possible that they could win against Germany and advance to the Final against Japan (defending champion) or England (Cinderella).

Results of the Quarterfinals

Game start is at 7 pm ET on Fox.

Of the 8 teams left the U.S. Women’s Team is ranked only 4th.  It’s easy to see why this is.  Without the unexpected (but clear) Red Card foul by Colombia keeper Catalina Perez in the 47th minute the outcome of their first knockout match was in serious doubt as Colombia seemingly had them baffled with their ball control offense.

It was doubly significant because the ejection of Perez meant they had to use their last available substitute goalie who was under penalty but eligible.  This however caused a one player forfeit (the substitute was under penalty) and Colombia had to play all but 2 minutes of the second half 10 v. 11.

Also Abby Wambach proved ineffective on penalty kicks and they lost the services of Megan Rapinoe and Lauren Holiday to Yellow Cards.

Fortunately they’ll be facing China, the lowest ranked team remaining.  They play a tight defense but the U.S. does too (top rated defense of all the teams left in the tournament).  What Team USA has that China lacks is a wide variety of offensive options, though you wouldn’t know it from the Colombia game which seemed at times to be loft it to Wambach and hope for the best.  Also China is considered the slowest team still playing and their offense has shown no sparkle.

In short it should be winnable in which case the U.S. will advance to face either Germany (defending champions and, based on their dominant tournament play, the top ranked team in the world at the moment) or France (brilliant at times but inconsistent, currently ranked 5th) in the Semifinals on June 30th.

Win or lose in the Semis you would get to see the ladies play again either in the consolation game or the Championship.

Results of the Round of 16

The best print coverage is from The Guardian (of course).  Today’s matches will be on Fox, Germany v. France at 4 pm ET and USA v. China at 7:30 pm ET.  Tomorrow’s matches will be on Fox Sports One, Japan v. Austalia at 4 pm ET and England v. Canada at 7:30 pm ET.

I may or may not be available for liveblogging.

The U.S. Women’s Football team is currently ranked third in the world after Japan and Germany, the defending champions.

During the Group competition the U.S. advanced as expected, winning their Group which was considered the toughest, but while undefeated they didn’t win all their matches like the Japanese.  Also they’ve had difficulty scoring, converting only 4% of their chances (for comparison their team average is 11% and the average of all the remaining teams is 15%).

Starting with this round it is single elimination.  Ties will be decided in extra time or, if necessary, Shootouts.  If things go to plan Team USA will face Germany in the Semifinals June 30th and Japan in the Finals on July 5th.

Advancing so far in the Round of 16 are-

Tonight’s contest is against Columbia which they should win, but they take their football very seriously in South America and there aren’t many weak programs.  If they advance they will face China on June 26th.  China’s program is improving quite rapidly though they are not considered top contenders.

Television coverage is on Fox Sports One at 8 pm ET.