by Tiffany Weimer
Over the past few days, there has been a lot of player movement throughout the world. Some of the more interesting moves have been players who were thought to be definite in the NWSL, but are starting 2013 playing in Europe. Read more
By Tiffany Weimer
This past year saw what might have been the most North Americans across the pond in the history of women’s soccer. There could be lots of reasons for this, with the obvious being the lack of a professional league in the United States. Another reason could be the rise in quality in leagues in Germany and Sweden. It’s also easier than ever to find good situations through connections with players, coaches and agents. Read more
Dear Our Game Readers,
After more than two years as the sole global women’s soccer English-language print magazine in the world, it is with great excitement and anticipation that we confirm changes for 2013. Read more
by Tiffany Weimer
In my previous post about the France vs. Japan game I stated that it was one of the most intense women’s soccer games in the history of life.
Little did I know that I would actually watch the most intense women’s soccer game in the history of life not long after I typed those words.
The U.S. Canada game was one for the history books and I’m not just talking about women’s soccer, but soccer in general. (Yeah, I said it).
The U.S. ended up winning the game 4-3 in a game that resembled a heavyweight bout that seemed to be over multiple times before another seemingly knock out punch was delivered.
Although the U.S. seemed to have the run of play in the opening part of the half, Christine Sinclair scored her first of three in the 22nd minute after Melissa Tancredi controlled a Marie-Eve Nault entry pass and delivered a ball into the path of Sinclair. Canada’s all-time leading scorer took two touches past the American defenders and struck the ball authoritatively past a helpless Hope Solo. The goal seemed to ignite the Canadians, and swing the balance of play.
The Canadians went into the half up 1-0 over the Americans.
The beginning of the second half showed again a determined Canadian side that the U.S. were struggling to break down, until the 55th minute. With a Canadian defender abandoning the front post to defend the two players the U.S. had at the corner, Megan Rapinoe took advantage and whipped the ball in near post. In a mess of players, the ball caromed past a stunned Canadian side, leveling the game at 1.
Yet Sinclair seemed intent on making the night hers. She struck brilliantly in the 67th minute off of a Diana Matheson corner kick, out-jumping the U.S. defenders and heading the ball into the top corner.
Rapinoe replied again with a brilliant strike from outside of the 18-yard box. She was given just an inch and she took it, hitting the ball off the far post and in at the 70th minute.
Three minutes later, it was Sinclair again. Yes, again.
In the 73rd minute she headed home a cross from strike partner Tancredi, past Solo to put the Canadians up 3-2.
In the 78th minute, a free kick was awarded inside the Canadian’s 18-yard box after goalkeeper Erin McLeod was called for holding the ball more than six seconds.
The six-second rule states that the goalkeeper must release the ball after holding it in her hands for six seconds, a call that is not made often.
That very free kick led to a Canadian handball in the box and a penalty kick to the U.S.
In the 80th minute, Wambach placed her penalty kick calmly into the corner, sending it past McLeod and putting the U.S. level with the Canadians for the third time in the game.
The score remained 3-3 as the final whistle blew, sending the game into overtime.
The overtime was much of the same, with chance after chance for both teams.
It only seemed fitting that the game would finish in the last seconds of overtime, as it seemed destined for penalty kicks. A Heather O’Reilly cross was met by the head of Alex Morgan, who had disappeared from the score sheet since the U.S.’ first game against France, and in the 123rd minute of the game, the U.S. put the final dagger in the Canadians.
Pia Sundhage’s side came out on top of one of the most gruelling, intense games the soccer world has ever seen, and it is safe to say that an old rivalry has been renewed. Canada looks to be a shadow of the side that was hammered 4-0 in front of a home crowd in the CONCACAF final just a few short months ago, and one now capable of going toe-to-toe with the best teams in the world.
The U.S. will face Japan in the Gold Medal game while the Canadians will play France in the Bronze Medal game.
Thursday August 9th
8am ET: Canada vs. France
2:45pm ET: United States vs. Japan
by Tiffany Weimer
In what can go down as arguably one of the most intense women’s soccer games in the history of life (dramatic, I know), Japan just barely pulled out a 2-1 win over France in the first semifinal match of the day.
The first half was a battle of two very technical teams. The French had more chances, but Japan were able to capitalize first.
A mistake by French goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi in the 32nd minute would change the course of the game. After a free kick was played into the box Bouhaddi got her hands to it, but was unable to keep it as Yuki Ogmi put it away.
Japan went into the second half up 1-0 with the gold medal game in their reach. Just minutes after the break, Japan extended their lead in the 49th minute off a Mizuho Sakaguchi goal. A poor giveaway in the back, followed by a foul to try to make up for it led to an Aya Miyami free kick.
A perfectly placed ball, was met by the head of Sagakuchi as she redirected it to the far post, over the outstretched arms of Bouhaddi.
At 2-0, the game seemed to be in the hands of Japan.
But then a spark was lit in the form of Louisa Necib. Necib cranked it up a notch and her team followed suit, a great example of what one player can do for a team.
France was the more dangerous team in the last 25 minutes of the match as players pushed forward, pressured the Japanese defense and created several good scoring opportunities.
In the 76th minute it paid off. Marie-Laure Delie played Elodie Thomis down the right side and with a touch to the end line, cut the ball back to the penalty spot where Le Sommer was waiting to get her hips around the ball, sending it straight down the middle, out of the reach of goalkeeper Miho Fukomoto.
Three minutes later, it was Le Sommer again, cutting up defenders in the box, making the Japanese defense look unorganized, and drawing a penalty kick with a foul committed by Sakaguchi, the goal scorer.
Captain Elise Bussaglia stepped up for her country to take control of what was to be the most important moment in her team’s history.
As she approached the ball and opened her hips to strike, goalkeeper Fukomoto was already beat to her left, but Bussaglia’s shot missed just wide to the right as everyone watching held their breath for just a few seconds.
Still 2-1 in Japan’s favor, France did not give up. Japan’s defense would bend time and time again, but did not break. Fukomoto came up huge for her team, making save after save.
Japan will go on to the Gold Medal game to take on the winner of Canada vs. the U.S.
France will play in the Bronze Medal game.
by Tiffany Weimer
France vs. Sweden
Quarterfinals
In the first quarterfinal match of the day, France and Sweden played a rematch of the third place game of the 2011 World Cup. This time though, France would be on the favorable end of the 2-1 final score line.
An 18th minute corner kick was shouldered home by Nilla Fischer to give the Swedes a promising start.
With a slick surface and the French playing a more direct attack, Sweden didn’t give away many dangerous opportunities in the first half. Sweden even had more of the possession for the first 30 minutes of the game.
In the 29th minute, a corner kick created a scramble in the box and Laura Georges was able to put it in the back of the net for the first French goal of the game and her second of the tournament.
With the scored tied at 1-1, the French started to get numbers forward more and with a free kick outside the box in the 39th minute and questionable goalkeeping from Hedvig Lindahl, Wendie Renard put France up 2-1 going into the half.
The second half saw more play through the midfield for each team as Caroline Seger for Sweden and Louisa Necib for France both got more touches going forward. Once France settled down, they were the more dangerous team.
Playing against the majority of her club team from Lyon, Sweden’s star forward Lotta Schelin wasn’t as impactful as she had been in the past.
In the end, France held on to their 2-1 lead from the first half and booked their ticket to the semifinals and a chance for a medal.
For Sweden, the loss of two starters before the Olympic games even began could have been the difference for them. An inexperienced backline and trouble marking on set pieces hurt them today.
France will face the winner of Brazil and Japan in the semifinals.
by Tiffany Weimer
Day three concluded group play for all teams and determined exactly what the quarterfinals would look like. Here’s a recap of what happened:
If world rankings had anything to do with the outcome of matches, a 0-0 draw between Japan (3) and South Africa (61) would never happen.
But as we found out later in the day, there was a plan behind Japan’s lack of scoring:
According to the Associated Press:
“It was the coach’s instruction that we wanted to stay in Cardiff and come second in the group, so I knew that the bench were getting information about the other match and I had been told,” Japan defender Azusa Iwashimizu said. “It is something we needed to do in order to get a medal.”
That would explain why seven of the 11 starters from the previous game were on the bench and why they were lobbing balls in from the flanks as if they were a bigtime aerial team all of a sudden.
Disheartening to say the least. Japan was hoping to avoid France, but with an unexpected turn of events, Brazil lost to Great Britain and now Japan will face Brazil in the quarterfinals.
Nevertheless, South Africa stuck to their game plan and did everything they could to not allow Japan to score.
In doing so, South Africa will go home with their first-ever Olympic point.
My opinion: regardless if Japan were trying to score or not, I don’t think that’s something a coach or a player should admit to the press. South Africa needed that tie for much more than to play a less difficult team and to stay in the same city and my hope is that it doesn’t affect the support they receive once they return home.
In another chippy match for the U.S., North Korea came out looking to clinch their place in the next round, while the U.S. had already advanced. A 25th minute goal by Abby Wambach ensured the U.S. would go undefeated in group play for the first time since the 2003 World Cup.
Alex Morgan received a chipped ball in the box that she was able to take out of the air, then split two defenders to find an open Wambach who had time to easily slot the ball in the side netting.
North Korea brought the intensity against the U.S. though. Of the three teams the U.S. faced in group play, the North Koreans seemed to be the most fit, able to last a full 90 at what seemed to be 100 miles an hour.
Aside from an 81st minute red card to North Korea’s Mi Gyong Choe, and a handful of unnecessary fouls, I would say it was a good showing for a very young team.
For the U.S., it was refreshing to see how comfortable left back Kelly O’Hara looked. She won tackles on the flank and got forward when she was able to. She looked like a natural.
The U.S. attack didn’t look as dangerous as it has in the past. For the next few matches, they’ll need to find that rhythm again and play more 1 and 2 touch soccer in the final third.
Canada vs. Sweden: By Ciara McCormack
Great Britain vs. Brazil: By Eleri Earnshaw
France vs. Colombia: By Matteo Marzoli
New Zealand vs. Cameroon: By JJ Duke
Friday August 3rd
by Tiffany Weimer
Luckily for the athletes, today’s games weren’t overshadowed by anything going on off the field, so here are some of the things that happened on the field:
Abby Wambach was on the receiving end of a sucker punch by Colombia’s Lady Andrade, which occurred away from the run of play.
While Twitter provided many jokes about how Lady wasn’t very lady-like, I look at it as a sign of things to come.
As Ireland’s Katie Taylor (5x World Champion boxer) has shown, soccer and boxing go together like … lamb and tuna fish… or perhaps you’d prefer spaghetti and meatballs?
Lady Andrade, you’re not fooling anyone. We know what’s next for you.
Anyway, the U.S. beat Colombia 3-0 with goals from Megan Rapinoe, Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd. However, the Colombians were impressive. It is rare to see a team play confident, fearless soccer against the U.S. these days.
The U.S. stepped up their game when it mattered. With a different starting lineup from the game against France, Heather O’Reilly and Heather Mitts made their first starts of the tournament.
The luxury the U.S. team has over most others is the extreme depth of their bench. There aren’t many teams that can toy with their lineup and still come out with a win.
Megan Rapinoe scored the first goal of the match in the 33rd minute off a well-placed shot over goalkeeper Sandra Sepulveda who was a bit out of position.
Not allowing that goal in the 33rd minute definitely would have changed things for Colombia, especially because it was the result of a bad giveaway in the back.
The U.S. didn’t get on the board again until the 73rd minute when Wambach combined with substitute Tobin Heath to get the ball between two Colombia defenders. Armed with pure determination, she slid to get the ball far post before anyone else could touch it, giving the U.S. a 2-0 lead.
The final goal of the match, one of the best of the tournament, came off some great off the ball running by Lloyd. The U.S. was playing one and two touch soccer as Lloyd started the play and got on the receiving end of a perfectly timed through ball from Rapinoe to add her second goal of the tournament in the 77th minute.
With the win, the U.S. are now through to the quarterfinals and Colombia are unable to advance. The next game for Colombia will be purely for pride.
Canada vs. South Africa
Written by Ciara McCormack
With Cristiane starting, most were probably expecting a ton of goals, regardless of what New Zealand brought to the table. The surprise was that New Zealand did everything in their power to not let Brazil cruise and it worked for most of the game.
There were times when New Zealand tried to attack with numbers but found them selves getting caught in transition by an extremely speedy Brazil side. Fabiana was as dangerous as I’ve seen her in recent years.
Aside from substitute Thais saving one of Marta’s shots and the announcer claiming that Bruna played for FC Gold Pride, I’d say it wasn’t as eventful as it should have been.
The lone goal of the game came in the 85th minute as Cristiane put away her second goal of the tournament (12 all-time in Olympic Games). The ball popped out to her and with a clean right-footed lob over the keeper, she secured the win for her side.
Interesting enough, the Brazilian side that have been known to be unorganized and lack focus for 90 minutes have only allowed 2 goals in the last 6 tournament matches they’ve played (2 goals to the U.S. in the 2011 WWC quarterfinals).
One of the more entertaining games for soccer fans (zzzzs for most American sports fans) the Sweden/Japan game displayed some of the more enjoyable soccer on the day.
With very few balls over the top (I actually counted in the first 20 minutes there were only about 2-3 for each team) the ball stayed on the ground for the majority of the match. And unlike the U.S. vs. Colombia game, the players kept it clean and classy.
It wasn’t until the last 10 minutes of the match that Sweden resorted to a long ball over the top. Mostly because Japan did a good job of shutting down Lotta Schelin, who is the key to Sweden’s attack.
Although Japan are still one of the most dangerous teams in the tournament, they could possibly still be a little stiff from flying economy to London and that’s why there haven’t been as many goals. But one might never know.
I was impressed with Sweden’s captain Sara Thunebro and how much she got involved in the attack from her left back position.
Both teams will need to figure out a way to put the ball in the back of the net for their next matches. Sweden will have a tough challenge against Canada. The last time these two teams met was in a friendly in Sweden earlier this year and although Sweden dominated, Canada is a different team from then and Sweden have lost two starters to ACL injuries since that time.
Japan shouldn’t have a problem with South Africa.
France found them selves in a must-win situation against Korea DPR today. Leaving Camile Abily on the bench, one wouldn’t think that would be the case.
The French came out slow and as though they were lacking confidence. Was the 4-2 loss to the U.S. a bit much to get over in just two days?
The very young DPR team held the ball well in spells, but counted on transitioning with a long ball over the top as their sole weapon in attack. Still, they looked to be giving France problems.
In the 44th minute France got the jolt they needed. A Louisa Necib corner kick found the head of an onrushing Laura Georges that the DPR goalkeeper could do nothing about except watch it zip past her to the back of the net.
If DPR could have prevented that last-minute goal in the first half, the second half might have looked different for them.
Once substitutes Thomis and Catala came on, the game went from a slow ballroom dance to a movie-like break dance competition.
In the last 20 minutes of the game, France scored four goals to bring the final score to 5-0. Thomis was instrumental in three of the four goals, setting up two and scoring one herself. Catala capped off the night by getting on the end of a great cross from Thomis.
With Thomis, Delie, Necib and others, this French team is capable of more than what they showed against the U.S. Thomis is extremely dangerous on the right side and in their next game against Colombia, this is weapon that must be utilized.
The only negative to take away from today is a poor decision to yellow card Sonia Bompastor for what was said to be a dive, but after watching several replays, definitely was not.
Glad she was able to laugh it off… as most of us did.
I was only able to watch bits and pieces of this game but what I saw was impressive from Great Britain and promising from Cameroon.
Goals from Casey Stoney, Jill Scott and Stephanie Houghton paved the way for their 3-0 victory over the African side.
For Houghton to track down a ball that was heading out of bounds in the dying minutes of the match, while already up 2-0, shows that this team might be more than we thought.
Alex Scott continues to impress as one of the best defenders in the tournament. And her pony tail looks nice.
by Tiffany Weimer
When you think of England what usually comes to mind is the changing of the guards, and not necessarily the changing of the flags. Right?
Maybe not now?
Dear Future Organizers of the major world events: Google is a very helpful tool. Furthermore if you are going to mess up a flag, perhaps choose two countries that have not been embittered towards each other for the last 60 years. In addition, did ya think they wouldn’t notice?
Despite the exciting football that was on display in day one of the Olympics, day one will be remembered most, not for fantastic goals or almost-upsets, but for a screw up of epic proportions when Olympic event organizers displayed the South Korean flag next to a North Korean player. North Korea promptly did not take the field in protest, causing their game versus Colombia to be delayed by over an hour.
Notes for 2016: Get correct flags.
So what else happened yesterday?
Here is our game recap for New Zealand vs. Great Britain
And video highlights
With what likely shocked everyone but no one, France went up early on the U.S. after scoring two goals in the first ten minutes. The first a rocket from about 20 yards out by Gaetane Thiney and the second a strike from inside the 18-yard-box by Marie-Laure Delie.
It was hard to tell if the French were surprised by their own two goals or if they were just nervous about what was to come.
Scoring two early goals against the U.S. is like waking a bear.
After losing Shannon Boxx to injury (seems to be a hamstring injury) a more offensive Carli Lloyd stepped on and the game changed. The bear was awoken. In the 16th minute Abby Wambach got on the end of a Megan Rapinoe corner kick and without a solid man mark, headed the U.S a goal back.
France then realized they had woken the bear and it would be an uphill battle from there.
In the 30th minute, a punted ball from Hope Solo just barely missed the head of Wambach as she tried to flick it on to Alex Morgan who was streaking through the French defense. The ball got through untouched allowing Morgan to stay onside and side foot it over goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi’s head to tie the game at two.
The second half started in similar fashion as the U.S. kept attacking with numbers, this time getting their flanks more involved, including lots more touches for players like Rapinoe and Tobin Heath.
A Rapinoe square ball set up one of Lloyd’s famous long-range shots that hit the back of the net from outside the 18-yard-box. The goal put the U.S. up 3-2 in the 55th minute.
Lazy defending by the French allowed Heath in behind on the left side from a mint through ball by Rapinoe. Heath took the ball end line and with a little toe poke, sent the ball across the goal where a sliding Wambach made a near post run that dragged her defender, allowing Morgan an easy tap-in goal at the back post in the 65th minute. That was a mouthful. But such an eventful goal.
Morgan’s second goal of the game would be the last of the match as the final whistle blew. The final score stood at 4-2 and although France had a dream start, they couldn’t be happier for that whistle to blow at the end.
Francielle started the game off with a brilliant free kick, followed by a corner kick that found the head of Renata Costa to give Brazil an early 2-0 lead on Cameroon.
Giving up two set piece goals in the first 10 minutes and going into the half with a 2-0 deficit to Brazil was pretty darn good for Cameroon.
That would be good for most teams against Brazil.
The second half would tell a different story and that would be where Marta and Cristiane would come in. After a Marta penalty kick, the rest would be downhill for Cameroon. I do think they were more impressive than most thought, especially with this being their first major event and playing against one of the best teams in the world. I wouldn’t count Cameroon out of getting points this tournament.
The positives for Brazil? They didn’t let up a goal. In the past there have been defensive lapses in their games, so a clean sheet to start the tournament could be a sign of things to come.
Despite the delay, which was quite a big deal, the North Koreans went on to beat Colombia 2-0 from goals by Kim Song Hui.
After going off with an injury though, it’s in North Korea’s best interests to do everything they can to get her ready for the next match.
Fitness seemed to be a concern for both teams throughout and it just makes me wonder what teams do when they go into their preparation camps. If they were to watch any game film on the U.S. or Japan they would see how fitness is such a major factor, especially in a short tournament like the Olympics.
Colombia need a change if they’re to claim any points in this tournament. And North Korea will be hopeful that their correct flag appears in their next showing.
This was the one game I was unable to watch. Disappointing to say the least as one of my favorite players was on the pitch for Sweden in Lotta Schelin. Here is a link to the game report provided by Ray Curren at All White Kit. And the one from The Equalizer.
