Arena Solo and the Gang - the Women's Soccer Thread

Dang, not only does the U.S. lose but Solo misses out on setting the Shut Out Record. Here's hoping we step up and pull off a miracle win against Brazil.

 

Bummer for the US, but when push comes to shove, if you want to win the whole thing, you have to be able to beat everyone. Bring on Marta.

And in breaking news, two NKor players tested positive for doping, now the whole team will get tested. I assume this was also a result of being hit by lightning.

 

Indubitably. Lighting has been known for some strange side effects.

 

Sadly this doesn't surprise me. There's gotta be a lot more doping in the soccer world than get's discovered. I mean the guy who was the mastermind behind the doping scandal discovered by Operación Puerto pretty much said the entire Spanish side was doping.

 

Interesting fact*:

The USA loss to Sweden was the first USWNT match in official FIFA play to not feature a former UNC Tar Heel.

*per Grant Wahl, and also per Grant Wahl, this is still being researched for full verification, but looks good.

 

Interesting, but I suppose it makes sense. Mia Hamm was a Tar Heel and they've had a strong program since before the Women's World Cup's been around.

 

I'm still in shock that Japan beat Germany. I was pulling for the Japanese, but I didn't expect them to win. That has to be a big frustration for Germany, especially since it was on home soil.

 

Wow, did not see that one coming. Too bad for Germany. This means if the U.S. lose tomorrow we'll have a first time winner of the World Cup (Though I'm still hoping the U.S. pull it together!)

 

I saw it coming. Once I put the German flag as my icon, they were doomed!

Seriously, though, Germany played one good match, against France, had no real flow or rhythm otherwise, and it showed quite badly. They're dangerous when they get the ball forward, but there was no real order established for getting the ball there. Very reminiscent of Argentina's men's team, with no linkage between the back and the front. Oh well, no threepeat. Now go USA!!!

 

Couldn't believe my Twitter news feed when I saw Germany had lost. Big, big upset. Again, though, upsets like that, just like when the US lost to Mexico at Gold Cup, are good for the women's game.

We're just about an hour from USA-Brazil. Winner of that game is the clear favorite to win it all now. Marta has never scored on Solo, so let's hope that continues.

 

Doubly whammy for Germany - with Sweden's victory today, the German team is out of the Olympic tournament, too. UEFA is apparently to cheap to stage a women's Olympic qualifying tournament.


I'm excited for the USWNT's match. They've got to click on all four cylinders from the start of the match.

 

What's the saying? Players win games. Coaches lose games. Referees destroy games. I am unbelievably stoked right now. Abby manages to pull off the most epic goal of the tournament and Solo makes a winning save. Now who's betting on a Sweden/U.S. rematch for the final?

 

Great vcomeback for the US, bummed I couldn't watch the et and pks. Reading the ticker, did the ref really let the first US kicker (Boxx) retake her kick? Wow.

 

Brazil with the epic fail.

 

Yeah, Boxx got a second kick. I admit that I'm completely bias but I agree with the ref's call on this. The Brazilian keeper took one or two steps out before Boxx kicked. It wasn't even like Solo's little lateral shuffle, she actually came off her line.

Poor quality, but you can see the kicks here.

 

The ref pretty much had to after Marta was allowed to retake hers for basically the same thing. Wambach's goal was epic. Really excited for the game against France.

 

USA was brilliant today against Brazil! And on the anniversary of the Women's team winning their first World Cup too! Today was a moment in history! I sat through the PKs shaking and in near tears! So excited for the semi-finals! I'm rooting for Japan as well, though hoping that US and Japan won't play in the Final because I'm rather fond of the Japanese team.

 

Could only watch the first ~30 minutes or so, but just watched a quick highlight reel via the espn3.com replay. Wow. What a game. Couple of thoughts?

I can see where the ref might have called that a Red card. If you're going to call it a penalty, that kind of play is pretty much going to be a red, as well. So, I can see it.

The yellow on Solo to rekick the PK, however, was awful. There's no way in hell you make that call. Ever. I'd call it the worst call I'd ever seen, except for the non-handball from earlier in the tournament. I also appreciated the blown call on the offsides on Brazil's goal in Extra Time.

And, while I loved the equalizer by the USA, it had nothing on Donovan vs. Algeria. I got goosebumps watching the replay, even knowing that it had happened, but it wasn't Donovan vs. Algeria.

Most importantly, this game has successfully established Hope Solo at the top of my "list".

 

Abby's goal was a few notches down from Donovan v. Algeria, but not much. Talk about snatching PKs from defeat. Donovan's was different because it was the winner. If this one had been a pure winner, instead of sending it to the PK, it would have been right there.

And should this thread be renamed the Hope Solo Crush Thread: The USWMNT/World Cup thread?

 

LOL. We might as well go ahead and rename it that! Hope Solo is hard not to love!