Women's Final: Brazil vs. USA [R]

[Vic]

Great game. 0-0 at the break.

- go to http://cbcsports.ca
- click OLYMPICS below the CBCSports.ca logo on the left
- on the right hand-side of the next page click the "WATCH LIVE" link beside the Gold Medal game
- click "FULL SCREEN"

[Vic]

Wow. 90 minutes full out. Both teams were cooked at the hour and are now running on pure adrenaline. Brazil has been all over the USA, but the USA has hung in there. Double-teaming whichever Brazilian has the ball on the attack has worked out well for the Americans. Hope Solo has been superb. You hear a lot about Marta and Cristiane, but it's Solo and the Brazilian defenders who have shone.

[loyola]

1-0 USA in ET.

I think Madame Solo has something to prove here

[Vic]

^ she was something else.

Hard to find a better hero than Carli Lloyd.

[The Ref]

I hope that Solo's teammates will now apologize to her and accept her back on the team. She certainly proved her point that she would have made those saves in the final of the last W.C.

[Vic]

The game underlines the critical importance of goalkeeping in women's soccer compared to men's. The American goal was easily savable. Brazil clearly deserved to win, they simply couldn't finish and ran into Hope Solo.

A side note on rosters... excluding Martina Franko, 6 of the 11 players who started for the Americans today are older than any of the players we started in our quarter-final. And 4 of the 11 Brazilians.

At playoff time in the NHL, you see teams stocking up on veterans. There's something to be said for having age and wisdom around when the chips are down, and I seem to remember posting something about this the last time Germany won the Cup with an experienced older lineup as well.

We have a good core from which to provide that veteran leadership down the road, the only thing left is to work hard on our youth development system to ensure we provide the bright lights to spark the fire and balance things out.

[The Ref]

Anyone knows what all that tatooed writing on Kai's back says? She is an enthusiastic character.

[terpfan68]

There are three intersting stories on the fifa website (http://www.fifa.com/womensolympic/index.html) about the olympic final.

The gist of the articles seem to be:

The American's were fitter and it showed in the last ten min. of the game and in extra time.

and from the Brazilian Coach: Brazil "expected" to win, the US did not "deserve" the win, there will be changes in personel on the national team because of age, the need for Pro teams in Brazil to support women's soccer.

I watched most of the game but had to give blood during the overtime so missed the winning goal. My observation was it looked like the US - Canada game except that Brazil was in the US role and the US was in the Canadian role. Clear domination by the Brazilians but some good individual defensive plays and a hot keeper.

How did the rest of you see it?

[Trillium]

quote:Originally posted by terpfan68

There are three intersting stories on the fifa website (http://www.fifa.com/womensolympic/index.html) about the olympic final.

The gist of the articles seem to be:

The American's were fitter and it showed in the last ten min. of the game and in extra time.

and from the Brazilian Coach: Brazil "expected" to win, the US did not "deserve" the win, there will be changes in personel on the national team because of age, the need for Pro teams in Brazil to support women's soccer.

I watched most of the game but had to give blood during the overtime so missed the winning goal. My observation was it looked like the US - Canada game except that Brazil was in the US role and the US was in the Canadian role. Clear domination by the Brazilians but some good individual defensive plays and a hot keeper.

How did the rest of you see it?

As a vindication of Pia Sundage being apointed by the US Soccer Federation.. as she said i have work to do to change the tactics of the team.. she did so... full value to her as coach.

The observations on veterans and the need for mix is right on.. those veterans provide leadership..... and the US appears to have had it.

I like the Brasilian coaches response.. saying hey we are not going rest on being second we are going to professionalize and change personnel and come back to win this.

[soccertaxi]

I thought the American defense was incredible and their work took its toll on Marta. They managed to really frustrate her. She seemed to lose her composure progressively more as the game went on as she was getting stripped or missing balls. By the end of the game she was almost in tears when she missed a shot and was lying on the ground in frustration far too long every time she fell or was felled.

I disagree with the Brazilian coach that the US did not deserve to win (I was cheering for Brazil BTW). Although the Brazilians dominated possession and the run of play for a while it never felt like the US were on their heels, their defense was very well organized and they had a few scary counter attacks. I would venture to say that it was their strategy against the Brazilians, to play a strong defensive game and take advantage of Brazilian mistakes to counterattack.

On a positive note for Brazil, I enjoyed watching them play without the drama and diving...a nice change.

I am happy for Sundhage as she seems to have raised her team's play every game during the tournament, adapting as needed.