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USWNT with a big game tonight

Darryl Steight

Darryl Steight

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Maybe I should've put OT in the header because of all the soccer haters, but I for one love our country, so 17 it. As with State, I want us to win in everything, tiddlywinks and womens' soccer included.

I'm interested in seeing the women in a huge game against Netherlands tonight. NED is very good, and it's a rematch of the last World Cup final, so this could be the US' biggest test until late in the tournament.



See, we can discuss women's sports on SPS without even mentioning Alex Morgan, Sophia Smith, Ashley Sanchez or Julie Ertz.**
 
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patdog

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This could be the game this team gets exposed. Netherlands is missing their best striker (USA is missing a few top players too as are most teams) and has struggled lately. But they're still mostly the same team that made the finals 4 years ago. And they play in the top European leagues, which have passed NWSL, so they see a lot more top competition all year than the US team does.
 
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NukeDogg

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How are the opening round groups chosen? Seems like having a finals rematch so early the next year would have been something to avoid...

Watched the last game vs. Vietnam with my daughter - she's grown up watching football (State, Saints, Cowboys bc Dak) and baseball (State, Braves) but this was the first true women's game we've sat and watched and she was just fascinated (she's 7). Once they won she was super disappointed that the next game wouldn't be for several days, so we've been looking forward to this NED matchup the last couple days.
 
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patdog

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How are the opening round groups chosen? Seems like having a finals rematch so early the next year would have been something to avoid...
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It's a seeded draw. Netherlands is ranked #9 by FIFA, so they fell to a #2 seed. This is by ranking the toughest group in the tournament.
 
mcdawg22

mcdawg22

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Darryl Steight said:
Maybe I should've put OT in the header because of all the soccer haters, but I for one love our country, so 17 it. As with State, I want us to win in everything, tiddlywinks and womens' soccer included.

I'm interested in seeing the women in a huge game against Netherlands tonight. NED is very good, and it's a rematch of the last World Cup final, so this could be the US' biggest test until late in the tournament.



See, we can discuss women's sports on SPS without even mentioning Alex Morgan, Sophia Smith, Ashley Sanchez or Julie Ertz.**
Click to expand...
1690385924571.jpeg
 
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patdog

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vicksburg said:
Spain is kicking azz this year... IF we get by the Dutch women, we better eat our Wheaties when our eventual matchup with Spain comes....
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For me, Germany, England & Spain are the favorites. US is overrated. But there’s about 6 other teams that could legitimately potentially win it & US is in that group.
 
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Seinfeld

Seinfeld

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Not a soccer hater by any means, but one thing I realized last Friday night was that there are some matches that are exciting to watch and then others that are boring as hell. And I get it, you could say that about pretty much any sport aside from women's beach volleyball

Our whole family sat down to watch the matches last Friday, though, and our plan was to focus on the women's game since our daughter is the only soccer player in the family. We got through about ten minutes, and then she ended up being the one to ask if we could turn to the Messi match. We flipped over to that game, and he didn't even get subbed in until somewhere around the 40 minute mark I think, but it was like a switch flipped. Both teams were getting behind the defense, getting scoring opportunities, and it was a lot of fun to watch. Maybe it was some really crappy defense, but I guess my point is that soccer definitely has the ability to entertain
 
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patdog

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Seinfeld said:
Not a soccer hater by any means, but one thing I realized last Friday night was that there are some matches that are exciting to watch and then others that are boring as hell. And I get it, you could say that about pretty much any sport aside from women's beach volleyball

Our whole family sat down to watch the matches last Friday, though, and our plan was to focus on the women's game since our daughter is the only soccer player in the family. We got through about ten minutes, and then she ended up being the one to ask if we could turn to the Messi match. We flipped over to that game, and he didn't even get subbed in until somewhere around the 40 minute mark I think, but it was like a switch flipped. Both teams were getting behind the defense, getting scoring opportunities, and it was a lot of fun to watch. Maybe it was some really crappy defense, but I guess my point is that soccer definitely has the ability to entertain
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No doubt there are some games that are like watching grass grow, & some that are exciting end to end action. Also, the gap between the women’s game & the men’s is huge (just like in mist sports). If you want to see really good soccer, watch a couple of the top Premier League teams play.
 
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Irondawg

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This US team has some serious holes - moving Ertz into cooks spot helped plug one but I’d rather her be playing Sullivan’s spot.

We are a little limited on offense as well outside of Smith as she’s the only natural scorer. Morgan has started to fade although is still solid.
 
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Podgy

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Dennis Rodman's daughter is on the team. That's kind of a cool story. Morgan is still attractive and so is Sophia Huerta. Mallory Swanson is another cutie but she didn't make the team. Not sure about the talent on The Netherlands. I hope they go to a coffeeshop and show up stoned. Anyway, I expected a much easier game against Vietnam but the gals put up only 3 with a clean sheet. Sophia Smith with the winner tonight. Book it. The match is in New Zealand
 
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patdog

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Irondawg said:
This US team has some serious holes - moving Ertz into cooks spot helped plug one but I’d rather her be playing Sullivan’s spot.

We are a little limited on offense as well outside of Smith as she’s the only natural scorer. Morgan has started to fade although is still solid.
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Yep. Almost all of the best players are with past their prime years, haven’t hit their prime years, or coming off injury & haven’t played much (Ertz & Lavelle). We’re missing the 24-28 year old generation.
 
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dog99walker

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21 mph wind favoring the Dutch in the first half. Hate to play against a powerful wind. It will help in the second half.
 
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patdog

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Irondawg said:
Our biggest weakness - Andi Sullivan got beat badly on the goal we gave up
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She’s horrible. If Saurbrun hadn’t been injured, we could have played Ertz in that role. But we’ve got no one else at center back, so we’ve played her in a position she hasn’t played in 6 years.
 
ckDOG

ckDOG

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Really crisp passing right now. Just need to connect.
 
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Irondawg

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Good enough result that hopefully gets us first place in the group.

I still don’t see us winning this tournament though
 
Dawgg

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The Cooterpoot said:
I'm glad I hate soccer. I wouldn't pull for us.
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Obama Reaction GIF
 
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af102

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patdog said:
Yep. Almost all of the best players are with past their prime years, haven’t hit their prime years, or coming off injury & haven’t played much (Ertz & Lavelle). We’re missing the 24-28 year old generation.
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The injuries to key players are really showing this tournament, and that is because the rest of the world is catching up quickly when it comes to women’s soccer infrastructure. The US’s depth used to just steamroll teams because the subs coming on were so much better than subs for other teams. That just isn’t true anymore for other teams in the top 10-15.

The missing “prime age” players are some pretty big holes to fill- Mal Swanson (Pugh) is 25 with 33 goals in 88 games; Sam Mewis (30) started the WC final last cycle and has 24g in 83 games; Catarina Macario (23) has 8g in 17 games and would have been the backup to Alex Morgan.

Julie Ertz is one of the best defensive midfielders of her generation, but she is having to play out of position at CB because Becky Sauerbrunn (the captain with more US appearances than the other CB’s combined) is out hurt.

Rose Lavelle has been injured for a while, and she is still getting match fit. Hopefully she starts against Portugal after playing 45 mins against the Dutch.
 
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Seinfeld

Seinfeld

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BulldogBlitz said:
What's this ref looking at in the game? All this ******** pulling down by Ned and zero cards.
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I was going to ask about that. I’ve seen plenty of fouls called in soccer over the year, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen as many intentional pull downs from behind as last night, and I was wondering when a yellow card was going to come out. I mean, by the 5th one in just the first half, should a card not have come out?
 
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patdog

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af102 said:
The injuries to key players are really showing this tournament, and that is because the rest of the world is catching up quickly when it comes to women’s soccer infrastructure. The US’s depth used to just steamroll teams because the subs coming on were so much better than subs for other teams. That just isn’t true anymore for other teams in the top 10-15.

The missing “prime age” players are some pretty big holes to fill- Mal Swanson (Pugh) is 25 with 33 goals in 88 games; Sam Mewis (30) started the WC final last cycle and has 24g in 83 games; Catarina Macario (23) has 8g in 17 games and would have been the backup to Alex Morgan.

Julie Ertz is one of the best defensive midfielders of her generation, but she is having to play out of position at CB because Becky Sauerbrunn (the captain with more US appearances than the other CB’s combined) is out hurt.

Rose Lavelle has been injured for a while, and she is still getting match fit. Hopefully she starts against Portugal after playing 45 mins against the Dutch.
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The rest of the world isn't catching up quickly. It's caught up and is passing the USA. Pugh, Mewis, Macario and Saurbrun would make a huge difference with this team. Everyone has at least 1 star player out with injury (Netherlands was missing one of the best strikers in the world), but I don't think anyone is missing 4 players of that caliber. Thank God Ertz came back. Hasn't played at all in over 2 years and hasn't played CB in 6, and she steps right in and plays at a high level.
 
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FlotownDawg

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ronpolk said:
There was one other post last night that got locked wanting the US team to lose. Not trying to ruin this thread, but what is the deal with that?
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For me, the reason I haven’t gotten all warm and fuzzy with the women’s team is because they operated as a political organization that played sports. Whether it was Rapinoe kneeling for the national anthem to the gay pride stuff to the equal pay controversy which was basically a war against the men’s team, it really gets on my nerves. Also, idiots in the media would be like “The women’s team is better than the men’s team, and deserve lots more money.” When the truth is the reason they are dominant is because women in most countries are oppressed and don’t have the rights women here do to play soccer at a high level. But most of the old guard who I couldn’t stand has either retired or is about to. Rapinoe is retiring at the end of the season and she probably won’t play much in this tournament. The moment she is gone, I’ll start liking the women’s team a whole lot more.
 
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