Hooper and Nonen in WUSA final [R]

[DJT]

Founders Cup III (they call it in typically American fashion):

Washington 2 Atlanta 1 - AGGET

Just finished watching this game. Very entertaining.

Hooper and Nonen played the whole game for Atlanta. Hooper scored their lone goal on a PK at the end of the first half to tie the score, then got a yellow card later in the game for dissent.

Washington won it about 5 or 6 minutes into golden-goal extra time. Both Washington goals were by Abby Wambach.

[Elaine]

great game to watch.

although nonen looked a bit "off" from her usual self for at least the first part of the game ...

tough for the beat to be the most consistent team in the WUSA's three years of exsistence and coming up short all three times in playoffs.

elaine

[mattbin]

I saw most of the game and here are my thoughts. No, no one asked for them.

First, that Pohler is one great player. Easily the best player on the pitch. 8/10. Would've been higher if she'd scored or set up a goal. Some sweet runs and very, very smart touches.

A shame she was often fed by Sawa (sp?), who was the most conspicuously poor player on the pitch. I did not see a single Sawa ball hit the mark, and she was involved in a lot of the build-up for Atlanta. It doesn't help that the announcers tried to reach for "Sweet and Sawa". 3/10 for Sawa.

Ah, the announcers. They must NOT, and I don't care about their motives, refer to a player by her first name. "Mia" is not fair. Stop doing it. And in addition, make sure it is a player who is worth praising. And STOP THE SIDELINE INTERVIEWING. So Brandi Chastain ("Brandi") felt that Charmaine Hooper (note: NOT "Charmaine") should have celebrated more after converting her PK. Ha, and, I say again, ha. Shut up already. 0/10.

Okay. So back to Hamm ("Mia"). She was dangerous-ish, but certainly not at previous levels. First, her corner kicks were generally poor--surprising that Washington didn't score off a corner in 10 tries, but then they all seemed to be waist-high looping inswingers that a defence would have to be pretty poor to miss. Scurry was more than equal to everything the defence couldn't block. And then there was the constant whooping about Hamm's ("Mia's") ability to run back and defend. There was an incident late in the match where Hamm ("Mia") did thus, stripped the ball from her opponent, and promptly returned it to Atlanta for a chance on net (forcing a save if I remember correctly). The replay and resulting blather noted the wonderful job that Hamm ("Mia") did defending, but did not mention the obvious blunder that she ("Loser") made in passing to an opponent about 30 yards from net. We have crucified Bent and Hastings for doing the same, against more potent offences, under worse circumstances. So Hamm ("Mia") gets a reluctant 6/10 in my book.

And now, to the drawing and quartering of the evening: Cindy Parlow. Who let her on the pitch? Maybe she was contributing to the defence or something--Atlanta did begin to allow the Washington breaks after she left, but she was completely useless up front. She couldn't pass, threw away numerous chances, moved completely wrong, and was no threat whatsoever on her wing. She was lucky that Sawa was on the pitch, or otherwise she would get my lowest mark of the day (for players anyhow). A sterling 3.01/10 for her.

And Charmaine was quite good. The PK was not powerful, but it scored and that's all that matters (and against no slouch of a keeper at that). But she had some good chances on goal and seemed to hook up well with Pohlers. A strong 7/10 which would have been higher if she'd converted any of her good shots.

The ref was very reluctant to blow his whistle, which was annoying but at least annoying in an equivalent way. Not a bad show. 7/10. And that's only because the PK was undeserved but went to Atlanta.

Oh, I almost forgot Sharolta Nonen. She looked fabulous at times but was also exposed once or twice. She outran pretty much everyone but is was outsmarted at times. Still, looked pretty good. A biased 6/10.

Wambach gets a well-deserved 8/10, but loses a half-mark for being referred to as "Abby" all the time. I mean, really.

That's all I gots.