After the USMNT piss-poor collapse in the Gold Cup Finals, there'd been little to watch until the Women's World Cup began a couple weeks ago. As one would expect, it hasn't had quite the coverage as the Men's equivalent last summer. I wonder why that is... oh yeah, sexism. That said, the games have been pretty good. At the moment, I'm watching USA v France, & here we have the the biggest conundrum of the summer. These 2 women's teams are sort of opposite in my mind from their men's equivalents. What I mean is that the french Men's team has been really good for generations while the USA men's team has only recently been worth watching. On the other hand, the French women's team has never made it to the World Cup (at least I think that's the case... I could be wrong), & the US team has been one of the best for years & years.Watching these 2 teams, though, is tough. I think I would have preferred them to meet in the finals.I've been following the French Football Federation since the 1982 World Cup. As you know, they were robbed by the ref in the semi-finals then when the German goalie came out of the box, missed the ball entirely, & knocked the french player out cold... the ref said there was no foul.Italy went on the win the tournament which cemented a rivalry w/ our Italian neighbors... & cemented a place in my heart for FFF.
The French team is definitely looking better today, but the US goal was really nice. I gotta say, I haven't been nearly as impressed by Abby Wambach as the media would have me think I should be throughout this tournament. She's missed a few sitters & just looked a bit out of sorts. yes, she got the last gasp winner against Brazil, but in general, she's looked more like Bendtner than like RVP.
Speaking of Arsenal players, they had their 1st pre-season friendly this morning in Kuala Lampur against Malayasia XI. Arsenal won 4-0 w/ goals from Ramsey, Walcott, Vela & Rosicky. The good news (other than the decisive win) is that Nasri looked good & dedicated, Vermaelin was amazing, & Denielson's days look numbered. He subbed on @ halftime but was them taken off in the 61st minute. That can't bode well for his future. Of course, when he came off (along w/ a few other people), Nasri, RVP, Ashavin, & Sagna came on. It must have been rough for Malaysia XI to be down 3-0 & see that group of people waiting to come on.
The final tid-bit of soccer info today comes in the form of a Verde FC alert. We're playing in a tournament on Belle Isle on Sunday afternoon. Come on down, drink so beer, & cheer on you local 5th division team. It'll be your last chance to see me play until the 2nd fall match... I'll be serving a suspension during the first match this fall. I was handed a happy b-day red card last month. Perhaps you heard about that. It made all the papers, well, it made my facebook status & I think I blogged about it too. Shocking, I know.
1 comment:
Well, that was a nice goal from Wambach again. She seems to have turned it on in the last couple games.
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