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Canada-Argentina result thread (R)


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you know watching this game (and the world cup in general) it has become clear how pathetic the women's game is to everyone except little girls.

a)the style of play is abominable. any good quality british columbia u17-u18 metro league team could manhandle the canadian women's national team. probably the chinese, germans, and americans too.

b)how seriously can anyone possibly be taking the women's game when in the penultimate tournament - the world cup - their are still american football lines left on the field. how seriously can anyone take it when it was scheduled for china, they couldn't have it, so it goes to the most powerful nation instead of their neighbours or a european country with a chance to win like norway or germany.

c)the players wear those ridiculous headbands.

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quote:Originally posted by Andrew W

I was going to ask because I've never seen one before, but what the hell are those freaky headbands? Are they supposed to help protect the head?

I'm all for protecting yourself, but holy s*** they're are ugly. [:0]

Yeah, I agree with all that you guys are saying. But let's face it, our team is not being chosen on the basis of looks.

Note: Before that is taken to be a pejorative comment I will add, for those on this board who have never met me, that I'm not getting anywhere on looks myself (it's all charm, baby). I sometimes wonder about the American team, though, as about 60% of their newer players seem to pretty blonde women named Tiffany. Maybe it's just me.

I kinda wonder why the keepers wear them, too--they don't typically head the ball, unless they are a particularly good (or bad) keeper. Maybe in case they get a hard shot off the melon or something? Dunno.

Allez les Rouges,

M@

P.S. This would be a lot easier with a footnote function. Mods, when are we going to have a board that allows us to create footnotes? I never got an answer on the facetiousness smiley, either.

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quote:Originally posted by Andrew W

Coming purely from a fan's point of view, this game was an absolute horror to watch. [xx(]

Funny... When I labelled the women's game as "crap" on these boards a month ago I got bombarded with people disagreeing with me. Boy am I glad I watched the Boca Juniors game last night instead (not that I was ever really debating it)!

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Regarding the headbands:

Yes, they are meant to protect against head injuries (obviously). But the main cause of these injuries is not heading the ball. Read the following article.

VANCOUVER - Soccer, a fast-growing sport that is widely believed to be safer than football or hockey, is causing many head injuries, a Montreal doctor says.

And that's one reason that many players in the Women's World Cup tournament that began in the United States Saturday will be wearing a padded headband.

Canada lost to Germany 4-1 Saturday in the first round.

RELATED: Germans dump Canada at women's World Cup

"What many people are surprised to learn is that concussions in soccer are just as prevalent in what people consider more violent sports such as football and ice hockey," said Dr. Scott Delaney of McGill University.

In a medical paper, he reported that more than 60 per cent of university soccer players had symptoms of concussion – headaches, nausea, amnesia, sensitivity to light – in a single season.

Reports suggest it's not so much heading the ball that causes problems as incidental contact, when players hit each other, the ground or a goal post.

That's led some players to adopt protective headgear.

Charmaine Hooper, considered to be the best player Canada has ever produced, is among them. "This is helping me to play longer and if it does then I'll wear it."

But traditionalists like national coach Even Pellerud said he's not convinced soccer players even need head protection.

"If somebody can prove it, I will consider it but we haven't seen the proof yet. At the moment it's more business than proof," he said.

Kelsea Mavety would disagree. The 19-year-old can barely walk, let alone run, because she has pounding headaches, blurred vision and balance problems brought on by a series of concussions she suffered playing soccer.

She'll never play soccer – or any other sport – again

Since the main cause is running into other players and running into the post, I think goalkeepers might have as much or more use for these headbands as outfield players.

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Don't judge women's soccer by one game. That game was the worst possible advertisement for the sport that I could imagine. Sad because I've seen the Canadian WNT play so much better. It's like they've saved their worst games for the most important tournament. Same thing happened in the last WWC.

Of course the women aren't as good as the men. So what? Criticising women's soccer on that basis is like criticising the World Track and Field championship because humans don't run as fast as horses.

By the way, the USA didn't get the tournament because they're the most powerful nation on earth, they got it because they hosted the previous WWC and therefore had the all infrastructure and facilities in place. There's nothing unusual about an event's previous host being the backup when an emergency forces it to be relocated at the last minute.

I love this team, but they're playing like crap right now.

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quote:

Funny... When I labelled the women's game as "crap" on these boards a month ago I got bombarded with people disagreeing with me. Boy am I glad I watched the Boca Juniors game last night instead (not that I was ever really debating it)!

A Canadian game is still a Canadian game tho A-MAC.... support canadian soccer any way possible

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quote:Originally posted by Chet

Don't judge women's soccer by one game. That game was the worst possible advertisement for the sport that I could imagine. Sad because I've seen the Canadian WNT play so much better. It's like they've saved their worst games for the most important tournament. Same thing happened in the last WWC.

Of course the women aren't as good as the men. So what? Criticising women's soccer on that basis is like criticising the World Track and Field championship because humans don't run as fast as horses.

By the way, the USA didn't get the tournament because they're the most powerful nation on earth, they got it because they hosted the previous WWC and therefore had the all infrastructure and facilities in place. There's nothing unusual about an event's previous host being the backup when an emergency forces it to be relocated at the last minute.

I love this team, but they're playing like crap right now.

Gotta love your post!

Well written.

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I didn't think we needed to 'win big'. In fact I wasn't fancying us scoring seven goals unless Argentina went down a woman again. With that in mind, a 5-0 win or a tie left the same result - us needing to beat Japan.

I know we didn't look good, but I'm with mattbin here, we won a World Cup game 3-0. I think sucking is better for us going into Japan then rolling over Argentina would have been. We know we have serious work to do and hopefully Even is realizing that a few of these experiments didn't work.

I also thought Swiatek played well, it wasn't her form that worried me, but rather the idea that we could afford to give LeBlanc the night off, which to me looked like we were taking the Argies lightly. Maybe that's not true, but given the final friendlies and the first game, LeBlanc seemed to be the established No. 1, so to deviate from that worried me. I don't think there's much to choose between our three keepers, though I would start LeBlanc Saturday.

Last night's game was ugly. Does that mean women's soccer is by definition ugly? Not really. I thought the Sweden v US game was pretty good. It's a different game from the men's so I don't see why people consistently compare them.

cheers,

matthew

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quote:Originally posted by matthew

Last night's game was ugly. Does that mean women's soccer is by definition ugly? Not really. I thought the Sweden v US game was pretty good. It's a different game from the men's so I don't see why people consistently compare them.

I must say I never bought the "its a different game" argument for women's soccer. I see the different style of play when comparing women's and men's tennis or NBA with WNBA (even though I barely watch any of that stuff), but not with women's soccer. How is the style different??

That being said I'm glad there is a WWC. More chicks are at the soccer pub these days. As long as at least 80% of the TV's are showing men's soccer, I'm happy!! :)

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It seems as if the ladies have lost their passion. That, IMO, is why they were playing so well in the summer. They scored in routs against poor teams, and had come-from-behind wins against good teams. Now, we get to the WC and they play like crap. They play like they're expecting to lose. Too hesitant going for the ball. Giving up to much. All they need to do saturday is get that passion back, score goals, and bodycheck the hell outta those little japanese players.

If we lose, it'll be a disappointment, but won't really seem like it cause we're playing so poorly all of a sudden. If we win, no biggie. I'll be happy that we made it to the quarters, but it was expected of us. I'll become ecstatic if we win the quarters, especially against china.

But I also know that if we lose the quarters, everyone will start blaming the coach, bashing the women's game, and continue to critisize canadian soccer, even though it was never likely of us to reach the semis, most had too high expectations.

And i know that April Heinrichs said she doesn't want to schedule the americans for a lot of games over the summer in prep. for the WC, because last time she did that, the players became to stressed and lost their passion. Only irony there is that if we didn't play during the summer, we would have the attitude but not the skill. So what's more important, skill or passion?...

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I think I said that the game was a horror to watch. I never said women's soccer was crap. I rather enjoy watching the women play. I've seen them live several times in Edmonton. It's not the men's game and I don't expect the men's game, but I do expect a level of passion, hustle and technique. We saw none of the three, especially the latter. It was embarrassing watching us hoof the ball away.[V]

Anyhoooo, let's hope for a step up on Saturday or they're coming home and planning for '07.

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How is Women's soccer different? Let me count the ways:

1) Women are slower than men, therefore the game is slower, there should be more time on the ball so a skilled team has more of an advantage than in the men's game.

2) Women aren't a strong as men. Those beautiful crosses that men put over with pinpoint accuracy are more difficult for women because they have to kick the ball relatively much harder to get the distance and this has an effect on control. Further, blistering shots from 30 yards out are not a common sight.

3) Women are smaller than men. Player may have skill but giving up 9 inches (Matheson vs Sinclair) is difficult to overcome with skill in an aerial crossing game.

4) Because of the above, throw ins are much less of a factor in a game because the distance of most throws is limited. Free kicks can be more deadly because a team with a height advantage can more easily take advantage of crosses into the box.

All that and more make the women's game very different. If you ask women to play tennis like men you will get a good laugh. But then again, 20 years ago men's tennis was great and women were laughable. Now men's tennis is serve, two returns, ace, ace , boring.. Women's tennis is much more enjoyable to watch and that's not even taking Anna Kournikova into account[:I]

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Earthquake in Japan. I wonder if that will affect their performance on the field. It reminds me of a past men's WC when Peru was in it and they had a bad one in their home country. Anyone knows or remember how it affected them if at all?

And about our two games. We had the goods, but did not deliver them. Our delivery driver Pellerud took the wrong turn and is still lost. Typical of us men never asking for directions. Hope our own women under Chairmaine's direction will take the bull by the horns and show the rest how it is done.

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there's a good chance we won't even be playing China in the quarters. They tied Australia?! Russia's in first with 6pts and China second with 4. Their last game is against eachother...a tie or China loss and we're playing Russia in the quarters....assuming we actually make it there...

and an article:

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/WorldCup/Women/2003/09/25/209341-cp.html

Canada needs to rediscover winning form

By LORI EWING

NEEDHAM, Mass. (CP) - Over the past few weeks, Andrea Neil and the other veterans of the Canadian women's soccer team have spoken fondly about being a part of something special.

Now they're trying desperately to keep it from slipping away. The Canadians held a players-only meeting on Thursday, the morning after a lacklustre 3-0 win over Argentina at the 2003 FIFA women's World Cup, and heading into a do-or-die game with Japan Saturday in Foxboro, Mass.

They reminded each other of their goals: to play well and show the world how far they've come in four years. They talked about what it would be like to go away empty-handed.

"You can't even put words to it," Neil said. "The feeling four years ago was devastating, this is what you spend your entire career preparing for.

"If it didn't go well on Saturday, and expectations are we're a far better team than we were four years ago . . . I can't even put it into words how that would feel."

The Canadians, who came into this World Cup full of confidence, find themselves facing elimination when they play Japan (1-1) in the final preliminary-round game for both teams (TV, check local listings). The winner goes to Portland for the quarter-finals, the loser goes home to ponder what could have been.

Canadian coach Even Pellerud said it's gut-check time.

"I think they need to sort it out themselves how much they want this, how high their ambitions are, because I can't teach them to be ambitious, that comes from their heart," he said. "This game on Saturday will boil down to desire and ambition and effort. It's going to be very simple."

The Canadians came into the World Cup itching to make a statement on the women's soccer stage. They wanted to prove that they are far better than the past two World Cup teams that went home after the preliminary round with just a tie.

And they had the results to back it up: an overtime loss to the United States in the Gold Cup, a silver at the under-19 world championships, and, in the last few weeks, a 10-game unbeaten streak and 41 goals in nine games.

"I thought (our record) was legitimate, we played some very good teams, we beat some good teams," said veteran Charmaine Hooper. "I felt we earned that respect, and it's only right for us to come into this tournament and expect the same type of play and have the same type of respect."

But things have been unravelling since the tournament started, first in a 4-1 loss to Germany, then the puzzling game against Argentina, where the Canadians looked wound tighter than a drum.

Argentina was ranked a lowly 35th, and was making its World Cup debut, yet they played with poise at times, they passed the ball nicely. The Canadians made them look good.

Japan, on the other hand, had an easy time of Argentina, running circles around the inexperienced team in a 6-0 victory.

"We haven't played as well as we know we can, there's no getting around that," said striker Christine Sinclair. "Bottom line is, we've got 90 minutes of soccer to prove the past two games aren't us."

Neil, along with Hooper, Silvana Burtini and Isabelle Morneau are making their third World Cup appearance, and have lived through the worst of Canadian women's soccer over the years - the lack of funding, the tiny crowds, poor results, coaches' firings and hirings, bitter players.

But the team has been making up major ground over the last four years, under the direction of Pellerud, who was hired in 2000 as Canada's first full-time women's coach.

Pellerud is frustrated the team's not living up to its promise.

"That is the hardest thing for a coach, to know we have a team that has performed and has improved and has developed," said Pellerud, sitting in the lobby of the team's hotel. "A lot of great players to watch and not being able to show that potential in important games is the worst thing. It would be very sad."

The coach said at this point, there's little he can do or say to help his players rediscover the style of play that's propelled them into this tournament on such a high note.

"You need to perform under pressure," he said. "There is no time to relax now. It's just up to getting back the simple guidelines of how we play, and do it with determination.

"The winning key for us is to come back and play with confidence and with determination, with aggressive attacking style and with defensive intensity.

"Those key words brought us success, we need to find it back again."

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Reading the above article as posted by Auger9, a few things come to mind that have been bothering me since the first game.

1. First, what has happened. Why has the team all of a sudden become totally unglued where even the coach can't explain and is literally throwing his arms to the air.

2. I can understand there may be one or two players having a bad day, but the whole team, very unusual and suspect. It is like a disease that has attacked the whole team, coaches included.

3. We have done poorly, not because the other teams were way above our league, something I could accept, but because we simply played so poorly that we forgot some of the basics. Again why?

4. The players themselves recognize and admit they have played poorly. That says to me on the flip side, that they recognize they are capable of playing better. So why don't they. Is it not their responsibility to deliver what they were trained and selected to do.

5. Finally, all the fan support that the women u19 and senior have earned and accumulated in the last few years is all for nothing.

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quote:Originally posted by The Ref

Reading the above article as posted by Auger9, a few things come to mind that have been bothering me since the first game.

2. I can understand there may be one or two players having a bad day, but the whole team, very unusual and suspect. It is like a disease that has attacked the whole team, coaches included.

Did you watch Team Canada's hockey team in the 2002 Olympics?? Point #2 also described that team pretty well for their first 2 or 3 games. That's team sports...

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