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2012 Olympics-Women's Football
Topic Started: Jul 3 2012, 09:06 AM (2,134 Views)
Merengue
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North Korea is refusing to take the field against Colombia at Hampden Park in Glasgow because the scoreboard is showing South Korea's flag and not North Korea's!

https://twitter.com/jamescrossan/status/228...5991169/photo/1

The first oops moment of these games.
http://twitter.com/#!/SocrFutbolForum
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shelsoccer
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A major faux pas, which I have personal experience with. I worked on the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle. Remember those? Ted Turner's version of the Olympics.

At any rate, we played the S. Korean anthem at a judo medal ceremony for a N. Korean athlete. Didn't go over well.
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Sporting
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A faux pas, yes, but I can't help feeling that the best response would have been to have a laugh at the mistake, make a discreet complaint behind the scenes, and then get on with playing the game. Surely they can't have imagined that any apparent insult to their country was deliberate?
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hobbes
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Congrats to the U.S. That is how you respond to adversity. Canada was stunned by two early French goals at the World Cup and crumbled. The U.S. was on the ropes and struck back brilliantly.

I have no idea what it is about major tournaments, but I thought Canada was terrible again today. I was very disappointed in the way they played. I thought they played better against Germany in their opener at the World Cup and that tournament was a disaster.

They looked very loose and like they were having fun in the pre-game and then they couldn't settle down. Japan was hardly taking the game to us, but we couldn't hit a pass. Some of it was tidy, but they were over-hitting through balls by 25-30 yards. I thought the matchup between Sawa and Canada's tiny destroyer Desiree Scott was going to be critical, but Japan was happy to hit pinpoint 40-60 yard passes and switch the attack from side-to-side and stretched us that way. When Sawa did get the ball she made a great chip over the top to Ohno who back-heeled to Kawasumi who finished well from a tight angle.

Right before half time keeper Erin McLeod (in for a mildly injured Karina LeBlanc) came charging out past the penalty spot, missed her punch and Miyama out-jumped Lauren Sesselman (which should never happen) to take a 2-0 lead.

Sesselman made up for it by making a great clearance off the line to keep it 2-0 early in the second half.

Japan was finding all sorts of room on their left attacking Wilkinson. And the midfielder on that side was Diana Matheson, (and I've been a big fan of hers for years, but halfway through the half I was trying to remember who was playing over there) was not playing very well. However, Matheson made a great move to beat her defender and then sent Wilkinson away down the flank and her cross was very nicely tapped home by Meslissa Tancredi who did very well to get in front of her defender.

That gave Canada some life, but we rarely threatened at all. Despite being the world champions, I don't really consider Japan to be the favourites. I thought they played well today, but they're hardly overwhelming. I guess their best attribute is their spirit and their lack of any real weaknesses, but I think a great team could overwhelm them.

Canada looks to have lost starting central defender Candace Chapman which would be a huge loss for us. She hurt her knee in a non-contact kind of play and it didn't look good at all. That left us with 10 players for the final 10 minutes or so, but I'm not sure it would have mattered.

Japan (and Mizuho Sakaguchi in particular, the no. 6) did a nice job of bottling up Sinclair. She just didn't get enough of the ball. I might have thrown another forward on there and dropped Sinclair deeper, but I'm not sure it would have mattered a lot.

North Korea's 2-0 win over Colombia is pretty impressive and will go a long way to getting them through.

The crowd at Coventry was awful. It was fairly empty and there were no neutrals there. I know women's football may not be the biggest draw, but I would have thought surely more than a few thousand people in Coventry would want to go see one of the only Olympic events taking place in their city.

cheers,
hobbes

P.S. I remember the Goodwill Games well. :) If a U.S. Marine flies the Canadian flag upside down by mistake, you accept the apology and move on. Putting South Korea's flap up in place of North Korea's flag at the Olympics is a whole other level. I'm sure it was unintentional, but that is a pretty offensive mistake. And North Korea doesn't strike me as the kind of country that has a very good sense of humour about these sorts of things.
Saskatchewan for the CPL: multis e gentibus vires
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Rufus T. Firefly
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I wonder if they'll show the North Korean flag tomorrow when South Korea plays Mexico in the men's tournament? :P

A pretty major blunder but I am guessing Sebastian Coe doesn't have his "A" team working women's football at Hampden Park in Glasgow!

I too remember the Goodwill Games, one of Ted Turner's ideas in an era after consecutive western and eastern boycotts of the 1980 and 1984 Olympics. Have any other good stories from your Goodwill Games days shelsoccer?

As hobbes wrote North Korea beat Colombia 2-0, looks like they and France will be battling out to see which finishes 2nd behind the US in the group.

Brazil also won, defeating Cameroon 5-0 and Sweden beat South Africa 4-1.
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shelsoccer
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Rufus:

Aside from some memorable trips to the Soviet Union, I remember the opening day of the '90 Goodwill Games in Seattle.

The men's marathon was actually staged before the opening ceremonies at Husky Stadium. I was the vice-president for sports, meaning my department was in charge of what went on "between the lines." The venue management team was in charge of the rest of the facility.

At any rate, the venue management department failed to have a clean-up crew after the marathon finished in the parking lot of Husky Stadium. Along with some other members of my department, we were sweeping up cups, Gatorade bottles and other assorted trash until 5 a.m. A case of Bud Light helped.

I then had a shift at the info desk in the athlete village that morning with other first-day events to follow. I don't think I slept for almost 48 hours.
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Johnbuildr
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Interesting story Shel, for sure.

I have always kind of wondered how many unsung heroes are behind the scenes working their asses off to make these once-in-a-while huge international events come off with few glitches....and here we have one in our very midst!
It certainlyu takes great organization, but also emergency action when things don't go as planned or are forgotten to be planned.
Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum



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raconteur
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Merlin wrote the following in the thread on the men's tournament but I think it is appropriate to our discussions here too on the women's:

Quote:
 
Another day and another test for the credibility of the Olympics.

I can understand missing the play, but this one needs an after the fact red card. Abby Wambach was punched from behind, while running behind the play. The defend closed on her and literally punched her in the eye. It was more flagrant than the ZZ head butt in 2006 WC.

Credibility. IOC has none. There absolutely must be a red card and suspension issued before Tuesday's matches.


That was BTW a punch by the wrongly named Lady Andrade of Colombia. She was anything but ladylike!

Hopefully there will be retroactive punishment for this brutal attack. I do think it is each sport's ruling body, in this case FIFA, who decide what are the rules for the sport, not the IOC. If so then Andrade should be suspended. Probably does not matter for this tournament as Colombia, after 2 losses, are going home after their next game but the tournament soud have a way to punish violent behavior not seen by the referee.
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Rufus T. Firefly
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I enjoyed the Goodwill Games stories shelsoccer.

Here are Saturday's results in an increaisngly stratified women's tournament (so much for parity coming into the women's game?)

Great Britain 3-0 Cameroon
New Zealand 0-1 Brazil
Japan 0-0 Sweden
Canada 3-0 South Africa
United States 3-0 Colombia
France 5-0 North Korea

I think the shock of the day was France's convincing win over North Korea. You wonder what awaits the North Koreans when they return home? I for one sure did not expect that score in a game I beforehand thought could have gone either way.

I'll let hobbes describe Canada's expected win over South Africa but does the 0-0 tie between Japan and Sweden (next to the US probably the top two etams in the competition) help the Canadians?

Brazil are winning but not really impressing, are they doing an Italy in holding their ebst for the knockout rounds or are they losing some of their previous power?
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shelsoccer
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This is an extremely young N. Korean team -- the youngest in the tournament. But, like all N. Korean teams you know almost nothing about them beforehand. Except for qualifying games, they rarely play. Very few of their players play outside the country (none on the women's side that I know of). The proverbial mystery wrapped in an enigma.

It took France a half to figure them out and, unlike Colombia, the French had the talent to rip them apart.

Moving on to the US game, Wambach gets well deserved praise. Morgan is a rising star. But Rapinoe may be the most interesting US women's player I've seen and certainly a key for the US. For as long as I can remember, the US women's teams have had hussle and bussle, athletic midfielders. Rapinoe can go goal line to goal line, but she has flair, vision and creativity unlike her predecessors, plus she can play on either wing. She's just plain fun to watch and a good interview (did you catch her post-game interview?).

Japan should've beaten Sweden, but Sweden did have opportunities to steal points. Like their men's team -- and seems the same for a lot of Asian teams -- Japan has trouble finishing.

I think Brazil is on the downswing. Marta seems to have lost a step; Formiga maybe more. I don't think they're well conditioned. I also think they go into games with an undeserved swagger when they really haven't won anything. Unlike the Brazilian men, their women don't strike fear into their opponents. Maybe a healthy respect, but I don't think teams like the US, Germany (absent in these Games) and Sweden lineup thinking about anything less that three points vs. Brazil. France, England and Canada may think the same way. Even the Kiwis weren't intimidated.

Btw, what has happened to Norwegian women's soccer?
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hobbes
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I thought Canada was okay against South Africa. It wasn't a great performance, but an early goal took the pressure off. They lacked a little urgency in the first half, but they came out hard in the second. They scored two more, but hit the bar three times, so it could have been worse.

The real issue is that Robin Gayle got hurt. She's filling in for the injured Candace Champman at centre back. And Emily Zurrer (a more natural replacement) is also hurt. As it is Carmelina Moscato is also playing in the middle and she's a converted d-mid. They moved LB Sesselmen inside and put in the other outside back, but we are scrambling for players. The squad of 18 isn't very forgiving. It's possible we'll call in one of our reserve players. That's what the commentators were saying. I'm not entirely sure how that works, but they need some cover. Otherwise they're going to play Sweden with only three subs on the bench potentially.

Sinclair scored twice after getting some criticism for her quiet play.

I'm not too worried about what Japan and Sweden do. If we beat Sweden we finish second and likely get Great Britain which could be tricky. I'm more worried about the best third place teams and right now we're in good shape there, but I would like a point on Tuesday to be sure.

I've always liked Megan Rapinoe and I'm glad she's becoming a star on this team.

When France is on form, they can score in bundles. They could be a force in a few years. As far as Norway, I think their athletic, kick and chase style has been surpassed. You have to adapt or peril. Canada is trying to adapt, I think the US is too and is doing a good job.

cheers,
hobbes
Saskatchewan for the CPL: multis e gentibus vires
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Merengue
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raconteur,Jul 28 2012
01:21 PM
Merlin wrote the following in the thread on the men's tournament but I think it is appropriate to our discussions here too on the women's:

Quote:
 
Another day and another test for the credibility of the Olympics.

I can understand missing the play, but this one needs an after the fact red card. Abby Wambach was punched from behind, while running behind the play. The defend closed on her and literally punched her in the eye. It was more flagrant than the ZZ head butt in 2006 WC.

Credibility. IOC has none. There absolutely must be a red card and suspension issued before Tuesday's matches.


That was BTW a punch by the wrongly named Lady Andrade of Colombia. She was anything but ladylike!

Hopefully there will be retroactive punishment for this brutal attack. I do think it is each sport's ruling body, in this case FIFA, who decide what are the rules for the sport, not the IOC. If so then Andrade should be suspended. Probably does not matter for this tournament as Colombia, after 2 losses, are going home after their next game but the tournament soud have a way to punish violent behavior not seen by the referee.

FIFA gives unLady-like Andrade a two game suspension for her punch against Abby Wambach.

Sometimes the system does work!
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Johnbuildr
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Just to pick a nit, from the article Merengue posted: "The U.S. team did not file a formal complaint against Andrade, but it did contact FIFA."

So, inquiring minds want to know why the US would "contact" FIFA but not make a complaint. Huh??
So, it went somehting like this, " Um, you might wanta kinda take a look at the replay when this crazy woman sucker punches our player cause it sorta kinda looked like a maybe dirty play, but we wouldn't want to go so far as to make an actual complaint...." ???

(edit: well, then, it is possible that FIFA told the US they were already about to take action when the US contacted them I suppose, but the article could have said as much....)
Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum



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hobbes
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That was the best game I've seen out of Canada in a long, long time. We took it too Sweden early and dominated. We created three very good early chances and failed to score. Than out of nowhere Sweden scored . . . McLeod fumbled a long range shot out for a corner and on the same sequence Sweden scored on a cross. A minute later Wilkinson pinched to try to break up a chance and got caught. The Swedes exploited the space and sent in a cross that McLeod flapped at (second time she's come and missed) and Sweden were up 2-0.

I was stunned, but to their credit, the Canadians didn't panic. They kept dominating possession and creating chances. We played a 4-3-2-1 and Sinclair was deeper and it helped. Also Matheson had a brilliant game picking the Swedish defence apart. Finally a gorgeous eight-pass move was finished by Tancredi just before half.

Foligno had two chances cleared off of the line, but a nice Sinclair cross was headed home by Tancredi to tie the score in the 82nd. We slowed down for a few minutes, but then went after the winner. Our commentators were talking about how it was job done and we were now into the quarters, but I was thinking "if we score again we could win the group!" And we would have since Japan shockingly tied South Africa 0-0.

Looking at it, if New Zealand can hang on (1-0 at the half), we would get the Brazil/GB winner. Personally I'd probably take that rather than play France (who we would have played if we had won the group . . .). So maybe third isn't so bad.

The Brits will be tough, they seem very inspired by the home crowd, but I don't think they're in the same class as the U.S. or Japan.

cheers,
hobbes
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Yogi
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After Tuesday's games these are how the quarterfinals shape up:

USA-New Zealand
Great Britain-Canada
Brazil-Japan
France-Sweden

The USA/NZ winner faces GB/Can winner in semifinal, so there will be an English speaking country in the final.

GB beat Brazil today 1-0 in front of a good crowd at Wembley, the women's GB team has made a lot of strides in recent years. And I get the sense this Brazilian team is just a little past it's best, still Japan will have to beware of them in the quarters.
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