Musings

So, I watched a lot of soccer yesterday. By a lot, I mean a shit ton. I have the good fortune to work as a bartender, which means that on slow days (like yesterday), I may be poorly paid, but I get to watch whatever sport I want all day. I was able to watch both Womens World Cup semi-finals and both Copa America matches, along with the New England Revolution against Manchester United in a friendly. A quick aside before some thoughts however. I watched the Seattle-Portland match from last weekend, and I have to say, as a normal detractor of MLS, the match was fucking awesome. It was a nail-biter with passion flowing forth from every inch of the pitch. Just completely revolutionized my idea of what the league is and where the league is going. Onto the games:

USA 3 France 1
Whats there to say? This is probably the only game of the five that was widely watched (of the five I watched that is) and the only one I watched completely front to finish (I was at home for this one). I have to say, France were definitely the better team in the first 2/3 of the game, it was just down to goalkeeping for why the US won. Simply put, you need an elite keeper to win a tournament. I don't care what tournament, if you have a better keeper than everyone else, you've got a hell of a shot to win. Howard's dominance (this year notwithstanding) has been the difference for the USMNT to dominate CONCACAF and Hope Solo is why the women's team is still in the tournament. She is way better than whoever was in goal for the French team, who really should have down better with both the second and third goals. The second goal was simply timid goalkeeping, while the third one was poor positioning. Either way, very much looking forward to the final.

Japan 3 Sweden 1
In all honesty, saying I watched this is somewhat of a fiction. I was opening and had some business so I really watched the highlights. Both teams had one cracking goal while Japan also had 2 shit ones. We lost to Sweden so I guess it's good we face Japan? or we're doubly screwed. I really know nothing about the relative strength of the world's female teams.

Paraguay 3 Venezuela 3
HOLY SHIT. I still cannot believe Paraguay blew this. Venezuela outplayed them pretty solidly in the first half and scored off an inexplicable defensive meltdown. I realize one is afraid of passes that lead to someone being alone on goal, but why would you let someone be alone on goal by leaving them to defend the pass? The defender LEFT the main with the ball on the 18 and Venezuela duly capitalized. I thought Paraguay settled and had a somewhat flattering scoreline (but a deserved lead) but then all hell broke loose and Venezuela just annihilated them in injury time. If you didn't hear about the game, Paraguay was up 3 1 going into the final 3 minutes of injury time when Venezuela scored twice and tied the match (and in turn won the group). Paraguay had completely checked out and were duly punished.

Brazil 4 Ecuador 2
First things first, how the hell did Brazil let this happen? A must-win group stage match in a tournament where only one THIRD-placed team gets eliminated at the group stage? Unbelievable. Anyways, Ecuador got two very-against-the-run-of-play equalizers at 1 1 and 2 2 which made me salivate over the idea of what the tiebreaker would be if Brazil tied 3 3 (giving them the same points, goal differential, goals scored, goals allowed as Paraguay). However, Brazil was much better and Pato is really good, and Ecuador is really quite shit, so it was just a matter of time. And it was. Neymar and Ganso impressed as well so even though this appears to be one of the weakest Brazil teams ever fielded, the front 3 of Pato Neymar and Ganso is going to haunt everyone's dreams for the next decade. By the way, I looked up the tiebreaker. For FIFA (and presumably CONEMBOL) they....draw out of a hat. Yes, yes they do. That would have been FANTASTIC.

Manchester United 4 New England Revolution 1
What is there to say? Of course they fucking won. Micky Owen scored a goal but fuck him anyways. Ashley Young looked pretty good but Robbie Rogers looks pretty good against the Revs too so I'll say the jury is still out.