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FIFA: U.S. women preach defence, on and off the field
Ken Warren, Ottawa Citizen
More from Ken Warren, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: June 25, 2015 | Last Updated: June 25, 2015 12:20 PM EDT
Before we get to the Hope Solo saga and the Abby Wamback whines, let’s put some Hockey Country perspective on the state of the American women’s World Cup soccer team, which will take the Lansdowne Stadium field against China Friday.
Just as the powerhouse Canadian Olympic men’s hockey team advanced, somewhat unimpressively, through their opening games at Sochi last year, USA’s soccer squad is being roundly criticized for its opening four games at the World Cup.
As was the case with the Canadian hockey team at the outset of the Olympics, the heat is on the American women for a lack of offensive firepower.
They outscored their opponents by a combined 4-1 while posting two victories and a draw in group play and defeated Colombia 2-0 Monday to advance to Friday’s quarterfinal against China. They haven’t yielded a goal in 333 minutes.
Yet winning ugly hasn’t won them much praise. A Deadspin article referred to the squad as “the greatest broken team in the world,” following the victory over Colombia.
“People see us in friendly matches, winning 6-0, 7-0, but it’s a lot harder in the World Cup, it’s not going to be easy,” midfielder Carli Lloyd said before Wednesday’s workout at Algonquin College. “We all know we’re not playing our best football, but we’re still finding ways to win. I think that’s the history of this team. No matter if it’s good, bad … we still find a way to get it done. We have faith that we’ll eventually find our rhythm.”
Pardon our cynicism. We don’t believe it when player after player says they’ve been able to maintain a “bubble” against the outside noise and negative opinions.
The spotlight was trained on the team long before the tournament began.
Solo, the star goaltender with the Hollywood marquee name and the reputation for excessive partying, was in the headlines for reasons that had nothing to do with her shot-stopping abilities.
Last June, Solo was arrested for punching her nephew in the face and smashing his head against cement, as well as punching her half-sister in the face, during a family dispute. Those domestic assault charges were dismissed in court in January.
Later that month, though, her husband, former NFL receiver Jeremy Stevens, was arrested for driving under the influence while driving a team van during a national soccer team training camp.
That’s pretty much exactly how you spell distraction. When the World Cup began, players and coaches from Germany and Norway were among those asked for their opinions on the life and times of Solo.
During the tournament, Solo has kept quiet off the field. Thanks to the solid play in front of her, she has been quiet on the field, as well.
On Wednesday, though, U.S. players were forced to talk about controversial words from another player — veteran striker Abby Wamback. After midfielders Megan Rapinoe and Lauren Holiday were suspended for Friday’s game after receiving yellow cards against Colombia, Wamback ripped into the officiating.
“It seemed like (the referee) was purposefully giving those yellows to the players she knew were sitting on yellows,” Wamback said. “I don’t know if it was just a psychological thing. Who knows?”
Wamback has since backpedalled, saying “I was a little bit wrong” and that “I have the utmost respect for the referees who are refereeing these games,” lines which appear designed to avoid a suspension. Wamback’s teammates are steering clear of the officiating controversy, insisting the words are history.
“It’s not something we need to discuss,” said defender Meghan Klingenberger. “That’s just Abby having her teammates’ backs.”
Perhaps it’s only appropriate that the Americans were practicing off-field defence on Wednesday. Despite all the turmoil surrounding the team, they’re still alive because of their defence.
“You can call them deficiencies,” Klingenberger said of the team’s limited offence. “But we’ve gotten the results we’ve needed to get in every single game that we’ve played. If we keep teams to zero goals and only score one per game, I wouldn’t say that’s a deficiency. I would say that’s winning.”
Ken Warren, Ottawa CitizenMore from Ken Warren, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: June 25, 2015 | Last Updated: June 25, 2015 12:20 PM EDT
Before we get to the Hope Solo saga and the Abby Wamback whines, let’s put some Hockey Country perspective on the state of the American women’s World Cup soccer team, which will take the Lansdowne Stadium field against China Friday.
Just as the powerhouse Canadian Olympic men’s hockey team advanced, somewhat unimpressively, through their opening games at Sochi last year, USA’s soccer squad is being roundly criticized for its opening four games at the World Cup.
As was the case with the Canadian hockey team at the outset of the Olympics, the heat is on the American women for a lack of offensive firepower.
They outscored their opponents by a combined 4-1 while posting two victories and a draw in group play and defeated Colombia 2-0 Monday to advance to Friday’s quarterfinal against China. They haven’t yielded a goal in 333 minutes.
Yet winning ugly hasn’t won them much praise. A Deadspin article referred to the squad as “the greatest broken team in the world,” following the victory over Colombia.
“People see us in friendly matches, winning 6-0, 7-0, but it’s a lot harder in the World Cup, it’s not going to be easy,” midfielder Carli Lloyd said before Wednesday’s workout at Algonquin College. “We all know we’re not playing our best football, but we’re still finding ways to win. I think that’s the history of this team. No matter if it’s good, bad … we still find a way to get it done. We have faith that we’ll eventually find our rhythm.”
Pardon our cynicism. We don’t believe it when player after player says they’ve been able to maintain a “bubble” against the outside noise and negative opinions.
The spotlight was trained on the team long before the tournament began.
Solo, the star goaltender with the Hollywood marquee name and the reputation for excessive partying, was in the headlines for reasons that had nothing to do with her shot-stopping abilities.
Last June, Solo was arrested for punching her nephew in the face and smashing his head against cement, as well as punching her half-sister in the face, during a family dispute. Those domestic assault charges were dismissed in court in January.
Later that month, though, her husband, former NFL receiver Jeremy Stevens, was arrested for driving under the influence while driving a team van during a national soccer team training camp.
That’s pretty much exactly how you spell distraction. When the World Cup began, players and coaches from Germany and Norway were among those asked for their opinions on the life and times of Solo.
During the tournament, Solo has kept quiet off the field. Thanks to the solid play in front of her, she has been quiet on the field, as well.
On Wednesday, though, U.S. players were forced to talk about controversial words from another player — veteran striker Abby Wamback. After midfielders Megan Rapinoe and Lauren Holiday were suspended for Friday’s game after receiving yellow cards against Colombia, Wamback ripped into the officiating.
“It seemed like (the referee) was purposefully giving those yellows to the players she knew were sitting on yellows,” Wamback said. “I don’t know if it was just a psychological thing. Who knows?”
Wamback has since backpedalled, saying “I was a little bit wrong” and that “I have the utmost respect for the referees who are refereeing these games,” lines which appear designed to avoid a suspension. Wamback’s teammates are steering clear of the officiating controversy, insisting the words are history.
“It’s not something we need to discuss,” said defender Meghan Klingenberger. “That’s just Abby having her teammates’ backs.”
Perhaps it’s only appropriate that the Americans were practicing off-field defence on Wednesday. Despite all the turmoil surrounding the team, they’re still alive because of their defence.
“You can call them deficiencies,” Klingenberger said of the team’s limited offence. “But we’ve gotten the results we’ve needed to get in every single game that we’ve played. If we keep teams to zero goals and only score one per game, I wouldn’t say that’s a deficiency. I would say that’s winning.”
