Women's World Cup

[PineGroveBully]

I have really come to enjoy the World Cup starting in about 06 but I really pay no attention to the friendlies, qualifying, or the build up. For those that do pay attention to those intricacies, should our women have much trouble getting out of their group? If not what are their overall chances? Soccer is the one sport that I actually enjoy watching women play as much as men. Is Hope Solo still with the team and playing? If not and she just happens to read the pack then she is welcome to come kick my *** around whie we watch. Just wondered how so of you more in the know would handicap our chances.

 

[patdog]

The USA is in the group of death. #2 USA, #5 Sweden, #10 Australia and #33 Nigeria. The USA should advance and is probably the slight favorite to win the cup. But the USA has a history of losing the World Cup, even though they're almost always the favorite or co-favorite to win it and then coming back and winning the Olympics the next year.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

It wouldn't be the World Cup if a US soccer team wasn't in the group of death.

 

[esplanade91]

Germany is the favorite this go around, with USA #2.

The women have a lot more skill then the men. I know that people say the same thing for the WNBA and NBA, that women have fundamentals and the men are just more athletic, but with soccer it's on a whole different level. They see the field better. Which is why it's just as fun to watch.

 

[patdog]

Germany just recently moved past the USA into the #1 ranking, but they've lost 3 key players for the World Cup due to injury. With the injuries and the tournament being in North America, the USA is the favorite. But it's pretty wide open. Several teams have a legitimate chance to win it.

 

[patdog]

It wouldn't be the World Cup if a US soccer team wasn't in the group of death.

Very true. We couldn't get any worse draws if the brackets were rigged. And I'm not saying for certain they aren't.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

This times 80. It's not like FIFA is known for its transparency & fair play, either.

 

[patdog]

A couple of controversies for the Women's World Cup draw from Wikipedia.
[h=3]Controversies[edit][/h]

• Prior to the draw, the Organizing Committee placed the seeded teams in the following groups: Germany in Group B, Japan in Group C, United States in Group D, Brazil in Group E, and France in Group F; Canada were already in Group A as the tournament host.[SUP][31][/SUP] Not drawing the groups for the seeded teams has drawn some criticism.[SUP][32][/SUP][SUP][33][/SUP][SUP][34][/SUP]
• During the draw, Colombia was initially placed in Group E with Brazil, but the organizers realized their mistake and placed Colombia in Group F. Rather than return the Group E position to the bowl for a redraw, South Korea was placed in position E2 and will face Brazil in their opening match.[SUP][33][/SUP][SUP][35][/SUP]

[SUP]
That doesn't include that they seeded Brazil in the seeded pot, even though Sweden was ranked #5 and Brazil was ranked #6 (Canada went into that pot automatically since they host so only the top 5 went into the seeded pot even though there are 6 groups).

I will say, they just made a mistake with Colombia and later realized it and corrected it, but it just shows what a 17ed up organization they are when even I realized immediately Colombia couldn't play in that group and they went ahead with the draw and corrected it later.
[/SUP]

 

[BulldogBlitz]

Is Hope Solo still with the team and playing? If not and she just happens to read the pack then she is welcome to come kick my *** around whie we watch.

i thought she reserved love taps to relatives only.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

Germany is the favorite this go around, with USA #2.

The women have a lot more skill then the men. I know that people say the same thing for the WNBA and NBA, that women have fundamentals and the men are just more athletic, but with soccer it's on a whole different level. They see the field better. Which is why it's just as fun to watch.

i'm not so sure that they have more skill than the men. there's less competition on the women's side so the skill differential is greater.

i was at the US v. Mex game in san antonio in april and it's just plain ole scary how much more athletic mexico's C team was versus our B team. every ball sent up the field was won by a mexican who was able to jump at least a full head above our guys. all of our athletes are playing other sports. we are left with folks who really love the game, but other than that, wouldn't be on the field if the real thoroughbreds came to play.