Despite putting in the third and fourth goals by accident, the United States fully deserved its 4-2 victory over Japan in the semifinals. The game obviously didn't start off that well with Japan scoring first, but two goals in three minutes at the end of the first half put the US in good shape to take the game over in the second half.
Of course the final two goals were accidents - bad crosses that turned into great shots. Unless Heather O'Reilly meant to volley the ball inside the far post from out on the wing, and unless Ang Hucles meant to chip the keeper with side spin from the endline, then the US was definitely the beneficiary of a couple of lucky plays. Those two goals became meaningful when Japan willed the ball into the goal in the closing seconds, but you would have to think that the US would have been playing differently if they were sitting on a one-goal lead.
O'Reilly was solid as always and Hucles has gone from non-existent in the opening games to a solid contributor which makes sense when you consider that she's more accustomed to playing as central midfielder and not a front-runner. Chalupny's shot was perfect - the textbook example of a flank player cutting inside and ripping a shot. She has to be the best left back in all of women's soccer.
While making the final is a great accomplishment for a US team that was written off after the opening-game loss to Norway, the Americans will have to gear up a few more notches in the final against Brazil or risk getting stomped on like last year in the World Cup. Except for the opening 15 minutes or so, the Brazilians were on fire against Germany. They made one of the best teams in the world look foolish and at times it looked as if there was nothing Germany could do to stop Brazil.
The former Sky Blue player Formiga's goal was total class - Cristiane megging the defender in the corner, Marta keeping the ball moving across the box, and Formiga with the finish. The other goals were just as nice - Marta setting up Christiane perfectly off the quick counter attack, Marta single-handedly making the German defense look foolish capped by a perfect toe poke, and Cristiane blowing through and over the entire German defense with one quick run. Germany hadn't allowed a goal in a major tournament since the 2004 Olympics and, like I said, it looked like there was nothing Germany could do to stop Brazil.
While I applaud the commentary of my fellow blogger Patric (see below), I am compelled to point out that on the same day as the USA vs. Japan game, other fantastic displays of "cultural heritage" soccer were evident in games which included Brazil, Germany, North Korea and Nigeria. In addition to the fact that such players as Sawa of Japan made a case for being desireable drafts in WPS, the other players on these various teams displayed the type of skill and technical knowledge which we can only admire. And yes, learn from. (If you haven't tuned it, it is definitely worth it. The memory of Marta (Brazil) scoring a wonderful goal makes clear why she is FIFA Player of the Year.).
I do agree with Patric. The result is what counts. But I also feel it is unreasonable with the state of the women's soccer world as it is to continue to pounce on the USA if they don't get the "golden result." Let's learn from the "clinic." And let's get excited for the future of INTERNATIONAL women's soccer. That's what the Olympics is about. That's what WPS will be about.
That being said, I am equally proud of our NJ Olympians as my fellow blogger Thomas Hofstetter. Visiting the WPS headquarters in my hometown San Francisco, while a wonderful place, made me feel even prouder of the enormously rich soccer environment of my adopted Garden State.
SBS Blogger
The Damallsvenskan Newsblog has a short editorial piece about the future of the WPS including comments about WPS coaches Ian Sawyers and Denise Reddy. The post also includes a brief financial comparison between the WPS and the Damallsvenskan and an analysis of the prospects of Swedish players migrating to the WPS.
CLICK HERE: http://dandal.webblogg.se/1205790026_scouting_at_algarve.html
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