Posted on 06/11/2019 4:41:50 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
REIMS, France — The U.S. and Thailand will be the last two teams to make their 2019 Women's World Cup debuts when they meet here on Tuesday (3 p.m. ET, FOX, Telemundo), and you could tell on Monday that U.S. star Alex Morgan has been ready to start for a while now.
“We’re feeling quite left out that we’re the last ones,” she joked at a loose pregame press conference with coach Jill Ellis (who for her part showed off some impressive French language skills).
The defending champion Americans didn’t appear to be overlooking Thailand—a wise call, considering 2011 champ Japan’s 0-0 tie against supposed also-ran Argentina on Monday—but the fact remains that the U.S. beat Thailand 9-0 in 2016 and could put up another eye-popping scoreline on Tuesday. The U.S. has drawn by far its easiest group ever at a Women’s World Cup, and the first two games against Thailand and Chile could get ugly before the group finale against Sweden.
(Excerpt) Read more at si.com ...
Tuesday, June 11
New Zealand vs. Netherlands, 9 a.m. (FS1)
Chile vs. Sweden, 12 p.m. (FS1)
United States vs. Thailand, 3 p.m. (Fox)
I'd rate the U.S. as a very thin favorite against Germany, England and Australia, and probably dead even against France, especially since France has the home field advantage and Wendie Renard. Renard is a very, very good player. She's also 6'2" and is generally a head taller than anyone else on the field. She is a scoring machine on set pieces. All a defense can do is surround her with its tallest players, block her without fouling her, and hope the service is a bit off target. She's like Wilt Chamberlain or Lew Alcindor back in the day when they were the only seven footers around.
In any sport, the top ranked team comes into a tournament with a bullseye on its back. (How often does the regular season #1 win the NCAA men's basketball tournament?) Germany is the only team to have repeated as a WWC champion. I'd love to see the U.S. win. But the odds are not with them. It would be a tremendous achievement to play through.
Women's soccer is much healthier internationally than men's soccer (on the field, not financially or in terms of fan support). Men's soccer is pretty much all Europe with an honorable but increasingly dated argument from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Women's soccer is much more diversified, with a lot of terrific teams in Europe, a solid representation from Asia, plus Canada and the U.S. in the Americas.
The U.S. is the top program in terms of historical results, but parity is the reality today. Go USA.
We’ll know much better how we stand after Sweden.
Till then I hope we don’t score too many goals because I am a big Law of Averages type of person.
The U.S. players all seem to be healthy at this point. That surprised me; at least half a dozen of them have been battling longstanding injuries over the last year. Some considerable credit is due to Jill Ellis and her staff for careful player management. But that can change in an instant on the field.
I would hang a poster of Trump in the locker rooms to make sure they are not too relaxed (I went there.)
Looking forward to these matches :)
I'll get nervous very fast if either Health or Rapinoe go down; they're irreplaceable. Or if anyone on the back line goes down; we're thin there. Sam Mewes has come on very strong recently so that's good insurance in the midfield.
LOL. A picture of Trump? Let’s not push Rapinoe over the edge again so soon, please. Her politics are still out there, but she’s dialed it down considerably. Obviously she got a stern lecture about not creating distractions. This is still a team recovering from the Hope Solo drama queen era.
Meet The 7 Openly Gay Players of the National Women’s Soccer League
Isn’t the women’s team mostly comprised of communist feminazis?
Damn. I left out lesbos.
2019 Women’s World Cup debuts . . . Can’t wait . . . Sorry, but I have to watch the grass grow and paint dry.
Seriously.
I wonder if they’ll wear their “gay pride” uniforms. You know, the one the Christian player refused to wear which led to her becoming a non-person.
I hope they lose 5-0 to Thailand or whatever craphole country they play next.
Screw ‘em.
New Zealand Doing very well
0-0 Halftime
Dutch girls are probably the tallest team of the tournament.
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