BTW: ESPN announced last week they are quitting production of its magazine
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 ...
I would not rate the US as the top favorite. France is the odds on favorite. Germany, England, Canada, Netherlands, and Australia are in the same tier as the US. Australia’s surprise loss to Italy was a blip. I expect them to advance to the knockout round. So far, France and Canada have looked the most impressive. Japan has work to do.
The US should destroy Thailand. Anything short of a blowout will be a disappointment.
Wow. Big news. Marozsan is one of their premier players.
A finger would be bad enough but a broken toe is worrisome, for Germany.
BTW: ESPN announced last week they are quitting production of its magazine
Nobody cares about women’s soccer.
More accurately, nobody cares about soccer.
Whoa Ho Whoa Ho Whoa Ho Ho!
Netherlands score 92nd minute 1-0
Wow I was ready to be shocked that New Zealand Held Netherlands to 0-0
Congratulations Netherlands!
New Zealand W 0-1 Netherlands W - Roord 90+2’
https://streamja.com/nwVM
But that can be said of all the top teams. On any given day ….
The challenge for all the top contenders is that to win, they will have to beat four peer-level opponents in a row. So there are three elements to winning the tournament: you have to be very good, you have to be consistent, and you have to get lucky at the right time.
France has defeated the U.S. in two of the last three matchups, but Ellis was monkeying around with new players, new positions and new lineups in each of those games. Head to head in the World Cup? It's a coin flip. Wendie Renard is a matchup problem for every opponent; the only solution to Wendie is to not give up set pieces. France will have the home field advantage. And France has the advantage of so many of their players all playing for the same club team, so they have terrific cohesion.
France is certainly one of the favorites, but again, their inconsistency is a problem. And the injury to the German player is likely only the first of many. The U.S. likes to think that it has better depth than most of the other elite teams. I hope we don't have to put that to the test. This tournament is wide open.
My concern with the US is the back line and goalkeeper. I have watched almost all of the team’s games over the past two years. We appear to be very vulnerable at the back. Lots of mental mistakes and slow. The rock is Sauerbrunn. If O’Hara is healthy and Dunn plays a disciplined game the defense can hold. Dahlkemper is a question. I still like Krieger for her experience and intelligence.
I would add to your list of three depth. Injuries and conditioning will play a role as the competition heats up. The US could play France in the quarters, which means one will definitely not win a medal.
The back line has been a question mark for some time. Part of the problem is that Kelley O'Hara missed so much time with injuries. Tierna Davidson also seemed to have nailed down a starting spot, but then she went down with an ACL tear in a college game. She's now back, but appears to be a reserve, at least for now. (I think she's part of the future whatever happens in this World Cup.) Ellis kept experimenting, and as late as January of this year she was still shuffling players and trying players in new positions.
On my optimistic days, I think the back line will be fine now that all the experimentation is over and they've settled on everyone's role. If it's looked shaky over the last two years, it's partly because it's been rare to have the same players out there from one game to the next. I hope that doesn't come back to burn us now.
lol. Thanks for getting me up to date. Now I remember why I could care less about the women’s soccer team.
0-0 at halftime is looking good for USA because we play Sweden in our 3rd game.
Finally rain delay in 72nd minute
Been raining very hard for a while.
Still 0-0
Was fun to watch though
I think that rain is coming to Berlin tonight.
The Weather Girls
https://youtu.be/l5aZJBLAu1E
Any heteros on the team?
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