USWNT vs Canada Olympic Semi Final Game Thread

[Red Reign]

FYI I watched the game last night on my dvd recorder....Tancredi stomps Lloyd on the head in minute 54....I really hope the US reported this to FIFA as they the Columbian who cheap shoted Wambach....Tancredi needs to get a ban for that....no place in the game for it....

[NS Husker]

Canada will always have a tough time catching the US because of the numbers game. With the US. Having ten times the population it will always have the advantage. If the Team Canada bus goes off a cliff the program is toast, if the US bus goes off a cliff they fill up another bus. Hyperbole yes but very much a contributing factor. Sinclair would be one of the few Canadians with name recognition while the US has had Hamm, Chastain, Wambeck, Scurry et al.

Problem is we are trying to keep up in all sports and fail at the numbers game. In the case of hockey, the US is probably starting to come close to matching the number of Canadians playing hockey, hence the success along with some supports and initiatives from USA hockey.

The other factor that favors Canada in soccer and the US in hockey is that there can only be one national team and only twenty players can represent each side regardless of depth.

The problem I have with the six second call was there was no intent to delay the game. She caught the , waved at a teammate and made her way to the top of the box. The tell tale sign was the announcers had no idea why the play was whistled. It was like the end of the Texas game, traditionally a second or two runs after each play and then all of a sudden they got picky. Same thing yesterday.

My final thought on this game.....the Canadian woman need to ask themselves how they were leading not once, not twice but three times and lost the game....it was not one call or the ref that lost this game as the teeth knashing is about north of the border....they lacked the composure to hold a lead....championships are won or built on that being able to close out a foe....not collapsing when a call fair or not goes against you and gets in your head....if you want to reach the level of the USWNT you have out work them, have mental toughness and overcome bad calls etc....heck just look where US Hockey has come since 1980....because we pulled our socks up, work hard, got better and are arguably as good as Canada now....and in some minds perhaps a bit better....having three teams in MLS.....is only going to help grow the sport in Canada....now its time for the Federation to step up and invest in and develop the game...how many more De ro's and Sinclair's are out there? And it will be good for the USA to have a tough foe from up North and vica versa....because like it or not the two countries are joined at the hip in every sport except football...and I for one love that....where else do you see that in the world?

Heck of a game yesterday....hope Canada builds on it and grows...and learns from a hard loss....the sport needs them and the USA needs them to get better and better...

Sometimes out of adversity comes some good...IF you don't drop the ball.....

I will be rooting for Canada against France...who out played Japan....yet lost...so both teams are coming off tough losses....I think it will show allot about the character of the team up North how they respond on Thursday....

Canada 'Hey, Ho...Lets Go'....

[Red Reign]

I can understand the issue with the six second delay...that is fair enough....where I and others on here have a problem is Tancredi getting away with stomping on a fellow player and I have not read one word about that in the papers in Canada and she has been one of the biggest whinners....had she been sent off in minute 54 it would have changed the game totally....and frankly she deserves a ban from FIFA for that and her WWF hit on another American later.....bottom line is folks in Canada and some here in the USA have turned a blind eye to her very unsportsmanlike behavior....because the six second dealy/PK is a better story line....and the women from Canada are whinning hard about it...and Lloyd nor any of her teammates have done so in reverse...

I understand the population issue....and feel for you....yet England does it with pretty much the same population...

Last I read Canada has 50% of the NHL and the USA is around 45% with rest from Europe....quite a change from 1980 when Canada had 90% + in the league....

I have read the frustration of players like De Ro and Sinclair because the Federation has pretty much done nothing to promote the national team or grow the game...and ironey of ironey it may be MLS and American soccer league that does just that with Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver now in the league.....


Good discussion by the way...

Canada will always have a tough time catching the US because of the numbers game. With the US. Having ten times the population it will always have the advantage. If the Team Canada bus goes off a cliff the program is toast, if the US bus goes off a cliff they fill up another bus. Hyperbole yes but very much a contributing factor. Sinclair would be one of the few Canadians with name recognition while the US has had Hamm, Chastain, Wambeck, Scurry et al.

Problem is we are trying to keep up in all sports and fail at the numbers game. In the case of hockey, the US is probably starting to come close to matching the number of Canadians playing hockey, hence the success along with some supports and initiatives from USA hockey.

The other factor that favors Canada in soccer and the US in hockey is that there can only be one national team and only twenty players can represent each side regardless of depth.

The problem I have with the six second call was there was no intent to delay the game. She caught the , waved at a teammate and made her way to the top of the box. The tell tale sign was the announcers had no idea why the play was whistled. It was like the end of the Texas game, traditionally a second or two runs after each play and then all of a sudden they got picky. Same thing yesterday.

[BGRed]

In the woman's game the Olympics and World Cup are considered equal and always have been since its addition in the mid-90's....not so in the men's game....where its pretty much a U-23 competition these days....mainly because of the overload of fixtures at both club and international level.....

So in that sense I still disagree....

Chastain is a commentator/color person....nothing more and nothing less....she is not the only one to ever get caught up in hyperbole...I just don't get all the hate for her in some circles...for the most part she knows the game very well.....sometimes she needs to stop and take a breath...its unfortunate that a player like Solo is able to define her like she has and get away with it....especially a player who has a history like Solo does....who has burned allot of bridges with her unfortunate and ill-timed comments about the classy Braina Scurry...who she will never match her in class or as a goal keeper....not to mention Solo nearly got herself banned from this Olympics for taking a substance that is not approved by the IIOC or FIFA....without consulting with the national teams doctors....

Chastain because of her posititon is not able to say what she thinks...so Solo gets a free pass to run her mouth like she does....I'm not a fan and have not been since her comments about Scurry....

As my daughter who is an avid soccer fan and player said yesterday 'I'd take Chastain any day over Solo....she was a 91er (my daughter respects that great group of players) and a great player and teammate....Solo is out for herself and a bad teammate'.....pretty much says it all for me too.....

Petty good points and I can't really disagree with you on most of those points. Not a big fan of Solo myself...

I think your daughters thoughts about the 91ers is fine - I think I just feel like Chastain comes across as overly critical because she was one of those players. She may make some good points as a commentator and I certainly don't want a complete homer... but, for some reason it just comes across to me like she has a general feeling that none of these players could be on the same field with her on the other 91ers.

On the other main topic of the thread (officiating)- I agree that Tancredi is the last one who should be complaining, she's lucky to have still been on the field at the end in my opinion. The 6 second call was a bit strange; but, maybe offset by several take downs in the box on attacks that should have resulted in a PK anyway.

[BGRed]

Anyone think Tancredi shouldn't have been red carded? I thought she should have been carded for a second yellow - I hadn't seen the replay of this until reading above and doing some searching. The second link has the fairly obvious slow motion replay.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/soc...oyds-face.html

http://olympics.yardbarker.com/blog/...video/11399464

[Red Reign]

Thanks for posting that....interesting how she looks around quickly to see who is looking before she stomps Lloyd on the head....I suspect the USA has reported this to FIFA as they did the incident when Wambach was cheap shoted by the Columbian player....

And to me what is even worst was she was perhaps the worst whinner after the game....no class or integrity what-so-ever....

Anyone think Tancredi shouldn't have been red carded? I thought she should have been carded for a second yellow - I hadn't seen the replay of this until reading above and doing some searching. The second link has the fairly obvious slow motion replay.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/soc...oyds-face.html

http://olympics.yardbarker.com/blog/...video/11399464