Now I must admit that I did not watch a kick of any FIFA women's World Cup soccer games except for that one featuring China that I mentioned here before. I kept up with the U.S. women's run, but I never knew when any of the games were on, so I relied on the Internet to give me my updates. The only problem with the World Cup is that they they have some unwritten rule that they have to show the games live, even when the games are being held in China like this year. That means it's coming on at some hour of the morning when I'm either asleep or still hitting the snooze button.
I actually kind of like watching soccer, so I wish I had seen a few games so I could have something meaningful to say other than that they made it to the semifinals where they got they got crushed by Brazil, 4-0. I did see the scores of a lot of the games, so to not only score no goals, but to have 4 scored on you is not a great thing in the world's biggest championship for your sport.
Apparently, the coach made a last minute change in goalies, which some people are saying cost the U.S. the game. The story goes that the usual starting goalie, Hope Solo (great name), had multiple shutouts through the quarterfinals, but the U.S. coach, Greg Ryan, decided to go with his veteran, Brianna Scurry, who had previously helped the U.S. defeat Brazil in the 2004 Olympic gold medal game.
Well, Scurry made quite a few errors that may well have cost the U.S. the game. And as you can imagine, Hope Solo (gotta say the whole name) was not too happy about the coach's decision to give her the hook:
"It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that," Solo said. "There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves. … You can't live by big names. You can't live in the past."
Man, Hope. Tell us how you really feel.
Ok, now I know goalies are important and a good one is great to have, but my thing about games that have goalies is this: what's up with all the shots on goal that got past the defenders? It seems that on a good night for the team, your goalie doesn't have too many saves.
And I'm going to speak totally outside of my knowledge of soccer right now, but if you know and you're a fan, please let me know. Is it just me or is there an epidemic across all sports that no one wants to play defense anymore? People are so focused on the QB and being the scorer that great defense is thought of as something you do only because you're not good at offense. I know it's sexy to be the one scoring all the points, but here's a newsflash: If you score 100 points, and your opponent scores 101, you still lose. Ask Carson Palmer.
I think the focus on offense is just a reflection of our society, where we honor the guy or girl who puts up the "points," in every place from the workplace to the home. Now don't get me wrong, some offense is necessary. Just ask Ben Wallace. (Oooooh) But defense is just as important, especially when it comes down to the semi-finals and finals of any sporting event you can name. Both teams can have great offense, but in the end, it's the team who can get the defensive stop at the end who usually takes the crown.
So back to the U.S. women's soccer team. I'm going to guess you had a little problem with defense and offense, but keep in mind that it's just one game. And hopefully wherever they decide to play the next World Cup, it will be in a time zone where I don't have to set an alarm to see it.
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