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2012 Olympics-Women's Football
Topic Started: Jul 3 2012, 09:06 AM (2,133 Views)
hobbes
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I think there should be some very good QFs. The Swedes are tough to score on and pack the midfield. And they've been fairly lethal in finishing their chances. Meanwhile the French have an awful lot of skill, but maybe not the overall quality and experience the Swedes do.

I think Brazil and Japan could be a great open match by two of the most skillful teams in the tournament.

Team GB will be favoured to beat Canada to be sure, but I do think that it could be a pretty good contest. The backline is a shambles due to injuries, but if we play like we did against Sweden I think we're in with a shot.

cheers,
hobbes
Saskatchewan for the CPL: multis e gentibus vires
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shelsoccer
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I saw some of the US game today; more of the Britain-Brazil game. I thought GB was brilliant -- good goalkeeping, organized, bottled up Marta, had enough possession and threats to keep Brazil honest. As I said earlier and as Yogi believes, I think Brazil has lost some lustre.

I expect NZ to give the US a difficult time, but I have a hard time seeing the US losing. I'd rate Canada 50-50 or better on a neutral field, but I think the home crowd carries Britain. Japan over Brazil. France-Sweden is the toughest to predict. I'll give Sweden an edge based on experience.
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Merlin
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I was talking to guys in my pick up game Sunday about the women's field and all of these young sports want to say that Brazil is the favorite. Mind you, this was before GB undressed the myth. It is as if everyone is in love with the name "Brazil." In the women's game, Brazil have won nothing...ever. And now their stars are old, and they are not being replaced in the way the men's side is always reloading. I told them US, France and Japan with GB on home psych was the way to bet. They did not agree....

Which is why I turn up here to discuss football where more sense is evident.

I was most interested that NBC took Brandi Chastain off the US game. One has to wonder if the Hope Solo tweet, that NBC gave air time, was a factor, or whether it was just her turn to take a day off. Unfortunately, as gross as Hope's behavior was, she has a point. I find Chastain to be irritating and not up to the job. She has very little to offer tactically, and wants to harp on the "mental" side of the game. As a color person, one who was on so many great sides of years past, you would think she could run out an anecdote or two from time to time to alter her usual run of drivel. We'll see if she makes a return during the knockout rounds to the US broadcasts.

Finally, I must say that the IOC finally got one right with the suspension of the Lady of Columbia. She actually claimed it was an accident. Sort of like Ali accidentally jabbed Frasier...a lot. The IOC has miles to go make up for lost ground, but they have to receive some credit for getting this one right.
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shelsoccer
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Merlin, it was FIFA, not the IOC, that handed down the suspension.
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Johnbuildr
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shelsoccer,Jul 31 2012
10:36 PM
Merlin, it was FIFA, not the IOC, that handed down the suspension.

Yes, as someone correctly pointed out earlier in this thread, in the case of soccer, it is up to the governing body, FIFA, to continue to police the conduct on the field problems, not the IOC.
Not sure how it would be handled if there were flagrant fouls in other sports that did not have a FIFA like organization overseeing the sport. I assume in basketball, it would be up to the head of officials to look at it after the fact if a flagrant foul was missed during the game.
Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum



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shelsoccer
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John, every sport has an international governing body and the rules are no different. It's up to that respective body to establish the rules and enforce them.






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hobbes
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I agree with Shel that GB was brilliant. I don’t want to take anything away from the way they’re playing. They are very organized and have not given up a whole lot in the games I’ve seen. That being said they have five goals in three matches and four of them are from defenders.

If Canada can get Chapman back (they dropped Gayle and Zurrer from the tournament roster and added Marie-Eve Nault and Mel Booth — both outside backs), I think that will help tremendously, though GB has lost Scottish central defender Ifeoma Dieke which is a big blow going forward.

I wonder if the wave of momentum the Brits are riding is to their benefit. I think Hope Powell is possibly the best women’s manager in the game and she should have them focused, but the hype in the media and watching the British broadcast of the Brazil game made it seem like winning that game at Wembley in front of the big crowd was their Olympic moment. Considering England has a history of great opening rounds and losing in the quarters, that doesn’t seem like a good sign.

Or maybe I’m just being hopeful that Canada can spring an upset.

I also really hope LeBlanc starts in goal. I don’t usually think there’s much difference between them, but McLeod has made a pair of mistakes that led to goals, while LeBlanc had little to do against South Africa.

I think the U.S. will get an early enough goal that they won’t be too troubled by New Zealand. They’re a scrappy side and I like them, but I imagine the U.S. will earn a 2-0 or 3-0 win.

The other two should both be excellent. I think Japan will win. I agree that Brazil does look a little long in tooth, but I also think their mental approach has always been part of their undoing in the big moments. They seem to get rattled and frustrated if things aren’t going their way.

I’m still not sure about Sweden-France. I think the French will find a way to score a couple of goals and advance, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Swedes bottle them up.

cheers,
hobbes
Saskatchewan for the CPL: multis e gentibus vires
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raconteur
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The quarterfinals start on Friday:

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

I don't follow the woman's game as closely as others here do but these look on paper like some really good matchups. Maybe the US-NZ game is the only one with a big favorite, the other 3 matchups seem to me at least to be very evenly matched. Hopefully that sets up some entertaining games.
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carioca
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Quarterfinal results:
USA 2x0 New Zealand
Great Britain 0x2 Canada
Brazil 0x2 Japan
France 2x1 Sweden

A couple of mild surprises in the quarters with canada getting 2 first half goals to defeat the hosts while France held on and defeated sweden in a match between Europe's current top two women's teams. I am not too surprised to see Brazil go down to the world champions from Japan. As others already discussed, this Brazilian women's team is past its best. The US' win over New Zealand was naturally expected.

So this sets up these semifinals:

USA x Canada
Japan x France

My money is on a repeat of last year's World Cup Final.
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Onslow
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Deserved win for Canada, two goals within the first 30 minutes sealed the win over Great Britain. A nice volley by Filigno and then a free kick by Sinclair. Not a bad free kick but also aided by a poor wall and bad positioning by GB's goalie. I was really impressed by Matheson and Scott who played in front of Canada's defence. They won everything and took Great Britain out of their game.

I am not sure how well Canada will now do in the semis against their great rivals from the US but if they play with the determination they showed today against GB, they will have a chance at the upset.
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Merlin
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OK, I've been educated about the discipline. So, who assigns the referees for the tournament?

The quarters pretty much went to form in my mind. The only mild surprise was not that Canada defeated GB, but that GB didn't seem to ever get into the game. Canada completely smothered GB and were deserving winners.

I won't comment further on Brazil. I am pleased to see that Japan won.

The France/Sweden game was very entertaining, though waking up that early was not....

The referee in the US game deserves some discussion. First, the keeper taking down Alex Morgan with her face is a foul and arguably a red card in my mind. Morgan attempted to avoid her and failed. The keeper took down the player, was the last defender in a clear goal scoring opportunity. That's a red card foul in my mind. I matters none that her face was the part of her body that made contact. Explain why I'm wrong....
Then, to compound the error, the referee failed to award NZ with a penalty while the game was still 1-0.
Both calls were wrong and two wrongs do not balance; two wrongs only make the referee twice as bad as one wrong.

A great day of football.
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shelsoccer
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The international governing body in each sport dictates what goes on in the field of play, be it qualifying procedures, rules, discipline, referree assignment. The local organizing committee handles everything outside the field of play (venue management, transportation, security, etc.).

The IOC? Basically, it snaps the whip and pontificates.

Speaking of discipline, it was interesting to see the badmiton federation disqualify eight athletes for intentionally losing to get a better knock-out round match-up, while FIFA took no action against Japan, which confessed to intentionally tying S. Africa to stay in Cardiff and avoid traveling to Glasgow.

Like Merlin, I was surprised by Canada's domination today. Team GB may have been feeling the home-team pressure. I didn't see the second half of the Sweden-France game. My impression of the first half was that it was a 50-50 game.
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hobbes
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shelsoccer,Aug 3 2012
06:50 PM
Speaking of discipline, it was interesting to see the badmiton federation disqualify eight athletes for intentionally losing to get a better knock-out round match-up, while FIFA took no action against Japan, which confessed to intentionally tying S. Africa to stay in Cardiff and avoid traveling to Glasgow.

I was going to bring this up as well. I didn’t see the Japan-South Africa match, but it makes sense that they wanted to stay in Cardiff and avoid the travel if they could. And Brazil might have been an easier game than France. Though there’s probably not a huge difference.

In 2006 Sweden admitted they tanked their final group game in hockey to avoid Canada or the Czechs and instead got Switzerland who had unexpectedly had a good opening round. Sweden won the gold at those Olympics.

From what I’ve read about the badminton, it was the change from a double-knockout tournament (similar to tennis) that was a main culprit, plus in some games, both teams were tanking. If two soccer teams knocked it around the back for 90 minutes and made no attempt to score having already advanced to the knockout stage I’m sure FIFA would have something to say about it. Going through the motions against an over-matched team who is trying? Maybe less so . . .

cheers,
hobbes
Saskatchewan for the CPL: multis e gentibus vires
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hobbes
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I was very cautiously optimistic going into the Canada-GB match, despite how well GB had been playing. Going from beating Brazil in front of 70,000 at Wembley to trying to beat Canada in front of 30,000 in Coventry takes a bit of an adjustment and I thought GB came out flat. Canada came out much in the same way they did against Sweden, but managed to strike first thanks to a great piece of technique from Jonelle Foligno.

As much as GB has looked tidy in the games I've watched they didn't always look likely to tear a team to ribbons. I wasn't that scared of their attack, but I was worried about our patchwork backline and our ability to deal with crosses. I thought Nault (who hasn't played much at all recently) was solid. McLeod was much, much more composed in goal and as much as it wasn't always confident, the back four knocked the ball around and made GB chase after it very well. I'm not sure why GB kept trying to pressure the backs when it's Scott and Kyle that are prone to turnovers. Under Morace we tried to turn players with some touch into defenders, so our backline sometimes doesn't defend very well, but they can usually pass their way out of trouble — which makes sense since so many of them are converted midfielders.

I agree with Onslow. I am a huge Scott fan. She wins so many balls and so many 1v1 battles in front of the back four. I would kill for a male version of her for the men's national side. Matheson has played the two best games I've ever seen from her and she's been a favourite of mine for years. She wasn't quite as incisive as she was against Sweden, but she was superb. Playing Sinclair deeper seems to have made a huge difference as well.

I thought the GB wall was pitiful on the second goal and I'm going to give Karen Bardsley the benefit of the doubt and say she didn't see the ball until it was too late. Though she didn't look very good in how she played that one.

I did think we got some breaks. I wasn't sure the foul on Scott that led to Sinclair's goal was a foul and GB deserved a penalty late on when Wilkinson fouled Aluko. That being said I felt we were the better team. It was a scrappy final 45, but we did a nice job of killing it off and gave away few quality chances. Karen Carney's header that she flashed wide midway through the first half was the only real clear cut chance GB generated.

I wish I had seen the France-Sweden game, but I couldn't get up that early. I thought Japan was smart, if not overly impressive, in putting away Brazil.

I think the U.S. will be too much for us, but I do think we're playing better than we were when we met a few weeks ago at Rio Tinto and that one went down to the wire. I'd still love to get Chapman back, but if we play like we have been the last two games I will have zero complaints no matter the result.

cheers,
hobbes
Saskatchewan for the CPL: multis e gentibus vires
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Yogi
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Plenty of excitement in the women's semifinals, France misses a late penalty and goes down 2-1 to Japan. In the other semi, into added time at end of 90 minutes, 3-3 between the US and Canada. Christine Sinclair with a hat trick, Megan Rapinoe with 2 goals, including one directly from a corner, for the US, Wambach with the other via penalty.
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