Women's Soccer (Football) Thread Soccer

Welcome new friends and old. This is a thread to discuss the beautiful game. Don't be afraid to say hello or ask questions. There is also a thread to discuss the Men's side of the game here.

 

Alex Morgan has been having one hell of a comeback year so far. I'm really looking forward to seeing her performance in the Olympics. As well as Crystal Dunn, who's been nothing short of incredible.

 

The SheBelieves Cup is on right now, England were knocked out last night after losing 2-1 to Germany in the last 15 minutes. I heard it was a controversial penalty that knocked them out but haven't seen it.

 

I don't have access to watch most of the games unfortunately. Which sucks because as someone who's new to the sport, I'd like to be able to watch and continue to better understand the game and start knowing players outside of the US.

I will say it's been amazing to see how the USWNT has grown since the world cup and how interest in women's soccer and this specific team in the US has started to increase. They were able to add another team to the US league for the upcoming season.

 

Haha this will probably sound weird but the best way to learn is probably buy FIFA 16! There are a number of women's countries in that and they play great.

 

1. Bad at video games
2. No video game console
3. $$$$

I'm doing pretty well though. I understand enough to follow the games on my own and to understand what's being said through the USWNT twitter play-by-plays.

 

I saw recently that the Japanese women's team have failed to qualify for the 2016 Olympics, which was a big shock considering how well they've done in the last few tournaments.

 

If you can follow a game on Twitter you're like 90% there anyway

 

I was surprised by that as well.

Also, speaking specifically of the Olympics: Canada was...intense in that match against the USA for the Olympic qualifiers. totally defies every Canadian stereotype there is haha

 

I mean they did get demolished in the World Cup final, but even still, yeah pretty surprising.

 

USWNT soccer history time! One of the most controversial games in women's soccer history was between the US and Canada in the London 2012 Olympics semifinals. Christine Sinclair scores a hat-trick. It's like the 84' and the US is down 3-2. Canada's goalkeeper gets called for time-wasting, which becomes an indirect freekick in the box. A handball is called on the resulting freekick (back to back calls RARELY IF EVER called) which gives Abby Wambach a penalty... she was never gonna miss. (This was the only year she won the Ballon d'Or.) Fast forward to 122' in extra time, mere seconds from going to penalty kicks and Alex Morgan (bae ) scores the latest goal in women's soccer history (edging out Abby's against Brazil in the quarterfinals of the 2011 World Cup -- another batshit amazing game if you've never watched it) sending the US to the gold medal match to face Japan in back to back world competition finals.

Ever since, the matches between us have been BRUTAL. One particular game in Canada, the entire crowd counted off the seconds Hope held onto the ball the entire game.

 

Yeah, back-to-back-to-back finalists in the last three major competitions. I think I saw Grant Wahl point it out on twitter, but the women's Olympic tournament is only 12 teams, while the men's is still 16. Granted, the WWC is still 8 teams less than the men's, so the ratio is right, but with how rapidly women's soccer is expanding, you'd think they'd at least be equal at 16 in this tournament.

 

Hi, my name is Garrett, and I'm ridiculously passionate about the US Women's National Team.

 

bah gawd garrett

 

That Canada game is top 3 most stressful sporting events of my life. (You may remember when I was lap swimming all the time? Right when I first came into the thread during Euro 2012?) I swam a mile and a half after that game to calm down and I took 8 minutes off my time I was so hyped up.

 

Are you watching this game vs Germany, @iplaydrums?

 

Ugh sadly no. I just got home. About to check the score and such now.

Also that 2012 Olympic game was insane. Absolutely insane. It's looking like Alex Morgan could have another stand out year and I'm pumped

 

Nice to see Krieger finally getting a start again. Also, I get Hope Solo is the top goalie, but it makes me nervous that Naeher and Harris have had virtually no play time.

 

You're in luck! It's just starting. :)

 

Yeah, thankfully they're both starters at their club teams. Hope truly is in a class of her own, though. Has been for about five years.

 

Absolutely. Ashlyn Harris is a total badass. I have faith either one of them could handle it, especially with the other defensive players we have (Becky Sauerbrunn alone is reason to never worry) but I still think especially during the victory tour they should've gotten in some minutes. They even did one of the games in Harris' hometown and she never stepped foot on the pitch during the game. Really messed up, in my opinion.

 

I think Harris played the second half of the game I went to, actually, on that tour (Chattanooga). I was pretty drunk, though, so I'm not totally sure on that.

Becky Sauerbrunn is most underrated player in women's soccer. Her exclusion from the World XI was downright laughable. (Then again, those lists always mess it up.)

 

She's incredible. Most of the articles about her exclusion and a lot of the players have said it's because she prevents the need for any huge monumental flashy save moments that people don't realize she's basically shutting things down before they even come up. I'm happy she's co-cap with Lloyd. I also love that Lloyd is from NJ.

 

In a lot of ways, she's very similar to Sergio Busquets in that she's completely overlooked for how important to the team she actually is. They just play in different positions, so it kinda breaks down the comparison. (Some days I'm of the opinion that Busquets is the best player on the planet without the last names Messi or Ronaldo, so this is pretty big praise for Becky coming from me.)

 

Yeah I know nothing about men's soccer/football, so I'm just gonna nod and say yes haha. I'm really excited about the US' young players, but I'm very much missing A-Rod, Cheney, and Sydney. I also still can't believe HAO didn't make the Olympic roster.