US Soccer matches

[sam_gordon]

I have said multiple times on the Disboards, that once European and South American countries take women's soccer seriously, the USA will no longer win a WC again. Soccer isn't the number one sport yet in North America, and that will hinder the team's chances of winning in the future for years to come.

Honestly, I don't know that it ever will be. If it is, it will still be a long time in coming.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Honestly, I don't know that it ever will be. If it is, it will still be a long time in coming.

The year is 3,500 A.D. and the FIFA World Cup is being held on Mars with the USMNT representing the USA, where the sport is now the number one sport in the country. *Buzz watches from heaven smiling*

 

[Kennywood]

Anyone is free to support whatever social causes they wish, just as long as it's not on "company time" and doesn't interfere with their work performance at all.

But do NOT expect me to show respect to anyone who uses their "bully pulpit" to show blatant disrespect to causes and/or the country I respect and hold dear.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

It’s interesting that being such a dominant team in the women’s World Cup for years wasn’t good enough for any of these male fans. Trying to improve the sporting conditions for future players on the women’s national team is apparently worthy of derision— the lawsuit wasn’t just about equal pay (though the fact that people will tie themselves in knots to argue that it isn’t deserved), but also better playing and practicing conditions.

These women fight against misogyny at every turn with every game they play and move they make. It’s so disgusting how people will come on here and other sites and just pile on with their venom for these women at the top of their sport. These fans who hide behind screen names on every news article and post are too cowardly to say they hate women and queer people but it comes through loud and clear when those are their only comments about women’s soccer.

Show me anyone that wants their team to lose and I'll show you a loser. Gotta love one of the most stupid statements in history that I heard in the media. They lost because they're woke. Yeah, as if when they dominated the sport they were "good and proper" women who always walked 2 steps behind their men and when not playing soccer were barefoot and preggers? Come on. They didn't suddenly catch a disease between 4 years ago and now. OH NOES, IT'S THE WOKE!!! IT'S CATCHING. HAHAHA yeah right. Then again stupidity isn't a disease either but it sure spreads like one. I have a thought. Newly formed. Maybe, just maybe, Rapinoe is on the decline like many athletes at the elite level in their sport are because she's 38 now instead of 34? Or maybe it was because she was injured most of the spring and was very rusty. BTW she didn't play all that much to be honest. Maybe it's because we had so many newbs. The reality is the women played very well until they generated a scoring chance. It was there things broke down and they just didn't convert them.

Which brings me to another of the most stupid statements in history I heard in the media. The coach played favorites. My answer. Well of course he did. Every coach in every sport does including me. Want to know who my favorites are? Same as any other coach. The players I think give us the best chance to win. Go to any youth event and THAT PARENT will always say crap like that. But he or she has no clue who it is that should have been playing, other than his kid or his kid's best bud.

I think many "fans" were more focused on all the 'non soccer stuff' than the games and were actually happy to see them lose. Heck, just reading this thread shows that. USA Today had an opinion piece on it today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...iots-cheer-womens-world-cup-loss/70539945007/. Careful, it could be triggering for some people.

I repeat. Show me anyone that wants their team to lose and I'll show you a loser.

Anyway, Megan's got world cups, the high point trophy, player of the year, An Olympic Gold medal.... She's pretty much done everything there is to do in womens soccer. She's one of the most impactful womens soccer players ever. Certainly one of the greatest players of all time. Yes she whiffed one. We lost. But she's done quite a bit of winning. What do the clowns depicted in that article have? A world championship in anything? Nope.

 

[sam_gordon]

Anyway, Megan's got world cups, the high point trophy, player of the year, An Olympic Gold medal.... She's pretty much done everything there is to do in womens soccer. She's one of the most impactful womens soccer players ever. Certainly one of the greatest players of all time. Yes she whiffed one. We lost. But she's done quite a bit of winning. What do the clowns depicted in that article have? A world championship in anything? Nope.

Personally I don't think there's anything wrong in saying a player had a bad game. And I think, against Sweden, she had a bad game. It wasn't just the PK. I wasn't impressed with ANY of her corners or field play. I think she's an outstanding player who was past her prime. Did she cost us the game? Emphatically, "no". No single player can cost a team a game in soccer.

Now, regarding the article, I agree. People were/are using their disagreements with the beliefs of the team (or at least some of the players) to look down upon them.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I lost a lot of respect for them when they won that time and acted like jerks. I didn't see that game so i don't know if it was a dirty game but I lost respect for their actions.
As for Woke, they deserve equal pay if not better as they crush the success of the men's US team and I would think bring in way more money.

What I could never figure out was at least in Olympics and last world cup, the team seemed so heavily white I can't understand why there was no one saying anything.

Oh and as for this recent game, Sweden's goalie was on fire.

 

[soccerdad72]

I lost a lot of respect for them when they won that time and acted like jerks. I didn't see that game so i don't know if it was a dirty game but I lost respect for their actions.
As for Woke, they deserve equal pay if not better as they crush the success of the men's US team and I would think bring in way more money.
What I could never figure out was at least in Olympics and last world cup, the team seemed so heavily white I can't understand why there was no one saying anything.

Heavily white? What?

 

[SirDuff]

Did Sweden also knock the US out of the Olympics (2016, I think)? I seem to recall a lot of sour grapes after that loss (something about complaining about the type of game (maybe defensive?) that Sweden has played).

 

[soccerdad72]

Did Sweden also knock the US out of the Olympics (2016, I think)? I seem to recall a lot of sour grapes after that loss (something about complaining about the type of game (maybe defensive?) that Sweden has played).

Yeah, 2016 Olympics. Sweden played a very defensive game (in soccer lingo - they "parked the bus"), essentially hoping to get to penalty kicks. It worked and Sweden won in PKs. Hope Solo famously blasted (and got pretty hammered in public opinion as sounding like sour grapes) for calling the Swedish team a "bunch of cowards" for their game plan.

 

[Lumpy1106]

It’s interesting that being such a dominant team in the women’s World Cup for years wasn’t good enough for any of these male fans. Trying to improve the sporting conditions for future players on the women’s national team is apparently worthy of derision— the lawsuit wasn’t just about equal pay (though the fact that people will tie themselves in knots to argue that it isn’t deserved), but also better playing and practicing conditions.

These women fight against misogyny at every turn with every game they play and move they make. It’s so disgusting how people will come on here and other sites and just pile on with their venom for these women at the top of their sport. These fans who hide behind screen names on every news article and post are too cowardly to say they hate women and queer people but it comes through loud and clear when those are their only comments about women’s soccer.

That's not what is happening at all. I have been a supporter of the women's team getting the pay they deserve since forever. They have been the bigger draw than the men's team but this WC did it - not anymore. The mens professional leagues world-wide are a much bigger draw than any of the womens professional leagues. The USWNT draws a huge following at the world cup, but the other teams? Not as much by a long shot. The USMNT is a lesser draw than the other men's teams, but still you'd be hard pressed to find an empty seat in the stadium when they play in the WC. More interest means more direct revenue and more TV revenue. The women get paid less because there is less money - that's it. There is no discrimination taking place. The USWNT gets a bigger piece of the pie than the other national teams (outside of guaranteed money for where they place in the tournament) and they have better facilities and are taken more seriously than any other team in the world - and yet Rapinoe is leading a protest during the US national anthem? Why is that?

Another thing that is being ignored is the national team, every single player, came up through very expensive club programs. They've been paying to travel all over the country, and eventually all over the world to play since they were in grammar school. These women did not come from poverty. It's nearly impossible to make a HIGH SCHOOL team without club experience, and you don't have to look hard to hear story after story of self-centered, entitled players ruining the experience for everyone else, both at the high school and college level. I am sure it starts even before that. I can only imagine how much worse it is once you get to the national team.

 

[sam_gordon]

It's nearly impossible to make a HIGH SCHOOL team without club experience,

Wouldn't that be true of most any sport? The "better" players are generally the ones who have been playing for years. Someone who started swinging a bat at age 6 (and continued doing so) is going to have a better chance at making the HS team than someone who just started playing their 8th grade year.

There are also players who have a decade of club experience but just aren't good enough to make HS Varsity level. A lot also depends on the school/community.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

I have said multiple times on the Disboards, that once European and South American countries take women's soccer seriously, the USA will no longer win a WC again. Soccer isn't the number one sport yet in North America, and that will hinder the team's chances of winning in the future for years to come.

It probably is for women's sports though. I would say at most colleges women's basketball and women's soccer are by far the most popular women's sports. The best female athletes in my area of the country play soccer or basketball.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Heavily white? What?

Maybe I'm wrong but I just googled 2019 us female soccer team. And the pictures of players don't look so diverse to me at least to what the make up of Country. Especially to such a diverse sport. 18 of 21 I am assuming are white.

 

[sam_gordon]

It probably is for women's sports though. I would say at most colleges women's basketball and women's soccer are by far the most popular women's sports. The best female athletes in my area of the country play soccer or basketball.

Compared to what though? My state HS organization lists the following women's sports...
Basketball
Field Hockey (VERY limited number of schools)
Soccer
Softball
Volleyball

I know there is also Track/Field, Cross Country, Gymnastics, Golf, and Swim/Diving.

And I guess it comes down to how do you define "popular".

 

[jrmasm]

That's not what is happening at all. I have been a supporter of the women's team getting the pay they deserve since forever. They have been the bigger draw than the men's team but this WC did it - not anymore. The mens professional leagues world-wide are a much bigger draw than any of the womens professional leagues. The USWNT draws a huge following at the world cup, but the other teams? Not as much by a long shot. The USMNT is a lesser draw than the other men's teams, but still you'd be hard pressed to find an empty seat in the stadium when they play in the WC. More interest means more direct revenue and more TV revenue. The women get paid less because there is less money - that's it. There is no discrimination taking place. The USWNT gets a bigger piece of the pie than the other national teams (outside of guaranteed money for where they place in the tournament) and they have better facilities and are taken more seriously than any other team in the world - and yet Rapinoe is leading a protest during the US national anthem? Why is that?

Another thing that is being ignored is the national team, every single player, came up through very expensive club programs. They've been paying to travel all over the country, and eventually all over the world to play since they were in grammar school. These women did not come from poverty. It's nearly impossible to make a HIGH SCHOOL team without club experience, and you don't have to look hard to hear story after story of self-centered, entitled players ruining the experience for everyone else, both at the high school and college level. I am sure it starts even before that. I can only imagine how much worse it is once you get to the national team.

Who knew that women's soccer had a monopoly on "self-centered, entitled players".

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Soccer and Basketball have pro leagues in the US, so they seem to be what the best female athletes gravitate towards. Several college women's basketball programs can pack a stadium, my niece played college soccer at a SEC school and played in front of a few thousand fans most every game. No other women's sports in my area draw that level of support, but it may be different in other areas of the country.

Popular to me means fans buying tickets and people paying to stream the games......that's my definition of fan popularity when it comes to sports.

For example at my kids high school the most talented female athletes play:

1) Basketball
2) Soccer


3) Volleyball
4) Dance / Cheer
5) Tennis
6) Golf
7) Archery

 

[bcla]

Yeah, 2016 Olympics. Sweden played a very defensive game (in soccer lingo - they "parked the bus"), essentially hoping to get to penalty kicks. It worked and Sweden won in PKs. Hope Solo famously blasted (and got pretty hammered in public opinion as sounding like sour grapes) for calling the Swedish team a "bunch of cowards" for their game plan.

Wasn't just that. Sweden's head coach was previously the USWNT head coach.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Who knew that women's soccer had a monopoly on "self-centered, entitled players".

They don't, but the USWNT just happens to be getting called out for it. It's deserved, it's not misogynistic. The "pay to play" culture has been roundly criticized since forever when it comes to player development in the US - both USMNT and USWNT.

 

[soccerdad72]

Maybe I'm wrong but I just googled 2019 us female soccer team. And the pictures of players don't look so diverse to me at least to what the make up of Country. Especially to such a diverse sport. 18 of 21 I am assuming are white.

This was this year's WC roster:

https://www.ussoccer.com/wwc-roster

 

[Lumpy1106]

Yeah, 2016 Olympics. Sweden played a very defensive game (in soccer lingo - they "parked the bus"), essentially hoping to get to penalty kicks. It worked and Sweden won in PKs. Hope Solo famously blasted (and got pretty hammered in public opinion as sounding like sour grapes) for calling the Swedish team a "bunch of cowards" for their game plan.

Aren't all the WC games being played on turf? Personal experience, it's really hard to score a goal off of turf from outside the penalty box. It's just too predictable and the goalie can see it too well. The most successful teams this year have all "parked the bus". Watch a game with Japan - they have 9 players back. Yes, the other teams are setting up in their end but so what? They can't get in to the penalty box let alone get a shot off. The Japan counter attack is phenomenal - that's how they are putting the games away before PKs.