USWNT vs Canada

My prediction is US 3 - Canada 1

Is the game time temperature really going to be in the 60s on the last day of January. Wow, that sure beats the temp the last time the team came to Frisco.

Anyone know if Morgan will be playing? Last I heard she was injured.

See article link below

"With the exceptions of forward Alex Morgan and midfielder Tobin Heath, both of whom are still recovering from injuries, the USA will bring its full complement of regulars into these first matches of the year."

roster is listed at the bottom

http://www.socceramerica.com/article/55969/uclas-mewis-gets-first-call-up.html

Not at 8pm. It will be cooler and in the 50's. Look for Canada to play well, they are capable of being a worthy opponent. Should be fun. And yes, much warmer than the last visit.

is anyone going to the open practice today?

golgolgol wrote:is anyone going to the open practice today?

from the chatter i hear, is anyone not?

did anyone go to the practice? I was there but had to leave just as it started. I noticed they let fans down on the field behind the signs, I thought that was cool. Hopefully the team came around and signed autographs and stuff.

I picked up my 'ticket' for the game:

I wish I had locker room access....

Also got up close during team interviews:




took a few more pics until just before practice started:



Looking forward to the game tonight. I'll put a link to all the pictures from the game when I get them uploaded if anyone is interested in them.

Practice was good to watch, we showed up 10 minutes into the start. People/kids down on the field behind barriers were ones with wrist bands gained either thru use of coin or free if members of US Soccer. Players were friendly and provided autographs and pictures after practice. My DD was right next to Sydney and next in line for an autograph, when she had to stop to get into her getaway vehicle. Oh the heart break. But she has stories! LOL team did spend a lot of time with the kids. I did see a few dads take pictures with Sydney for some reason...

Other things that were impressive was
* the amount of power on their driving shots at goal. I would not want to be in front of those!
* The drills were very familiar to my DD "Hey we do that at...."
* goalies get some very good workouts when they are training with the best the US has to offer.
* Abby, Hope, and Sydney are rock stars.
* the newer players are very generous with their time and will be great ambassadors for US soccer as they become more household names.

here are all my pics from the game if anyone wants to check them out:

http://www.marchophoto.com/uswnt-can

http://www.marchophoto.com/uswnt-can/h4b2fa26

This is my favorite picture. You caught all the gorey details.

Sorry to bust everyone's enamoration bubble - but I have seen 03's girls play better soccer than that. Megan Rapinoe played the only skill of the entire game. The rest was brut force, ram it down your throat, good ol' fashioned kick it long over the top US Women's Soccer.

But hey, they did beat Canada 1-0...

IMO, Rapinoe was terrible in that game. No service to the forwards and free kicks were awful. How many corners did she mis-hit? All of them??? I mean, she dribbled around the defender at the midfield/touchline intersection pretty good with her back to the goal... if that's what you like.

herradura wrote:Sorry to bust everyone's enamoration bubble - but I have seen 03's girls play better soccer than that. Megan Rapinoe played the only skill of the entire game. The rest was brut force, ram it down your throat, good ol' fashioned kick it long over the top US Women's Soccer.

But hey, they did beat Canada 1-0...

I actually agree with this 100%

I used it as a lesson to show my daughter that every touch can't always be "perfect" and to not get down on herself when she's having a bad day. I pointed out that even the best players in the world can have very bad touches. And there were quite a few of them in the game.

Coach&Ref, indeed it was a great lesson for my DD and her teammate on how not to play. Trapping was very poor and many passes looked intended for no one. Rapinoe did have a lot of hustle though.

I was trying out a new soccer stats app I downloaded that track time of possession, connected passes, shots, etc,,. After using it about 10 minutes in which I might have been using it wrong, I only had like 3 connected passes. Lots of direct play IMO.

herradura wrote:Sorry to bust everyone's enamoration bubble - but I have seen 03's girls play better soccer than that. Megan Rapinoe played the only skill of the entire game. The rest was brut force, ram it down your throat, good ol' fashioned kick it long over the top US Women's Soccer.

But hey, they did beat Canada 1-0...

well this statement goes right in line with what is taught in North Texas.... at young ages, skill and possession are the key ingredients to teaching the game. But when the kids get older, size and raw athleticism takes over and the game changes. Listen at any game in NTX for the younger kids and you'll hear it.... "be aggressive!" It's yelled over and over by the parents. The girls are small, and they have to play harder to maintain possession, and stay on their feet, and over time that "be aggressive" gets rewarded instead of the possession style of play.

Wait until those 03's are 16 years old and see how they play. Very few of them retain that style of play. Individuals may have the skill, but the team as a whole is coached in a different way for many teams. I'm not saying ALL teams play with brute force long ball when they get older, but many of them do. You may still see flashes of those wonderful passes here and there during the game, but eventually the overly hard tackles and long balls come out.

While we all love watching a beautiful possession game, eventually as they get older, it's winning that matters and if the brute force is what does it, then that's what they fall back on.

I think I've mentioned it on this forum before, or maybe it was Turfmonster, but I have personally been told by NTX coaches that winning games is all that matters to them because they want to keep their job. They all give the sales pitch in May/June, but come contract time, their job is on the line and they only care about wins. We've all seen those games where the lesser team gets a break and takes a lead and then the game is ugly from that point on.... physical play, kicking the ball to the parking lot, etc. All in the name of keeping that win.

twotone wrote:IMO, Rapinoe was terrible in that game. No service to the forwards and free kicks were awful. How many corners did she mis-hit? All of them??? I mean, she dribbled around the defender at the midfield/touchline intersection pretty good with her back to the goal... if that's what you like.

You obviously watched the game between beers and saw one play. She was the only one who actually crossed the ball the entire game - unless you call crossing the ball sending it 40 yards north or south - oh, it get it -  that is what "service to forwards" means… geez..

The entire team was bad - even Solo was passing the ball out to the other team in front of the goal - Rapinoe was just the best of the bad IMO