USA Women's Soccer 13 Thai Girlz ZERO

[Pitt79]

That was ridiculous. I DVRed the game and then not knowing the result watched and kind of FFed through it. It reminded me of a rec league where a loaded team plays the kids nobody else picked. And personally, I like piling it on when you can, I hate kneeling down at any score. However, to me this game illustrated why the women SHOULD NOT IN ANY WAY get any kind of pay parity with the men-they have it too easy, they don't need to work that hard. Women's world soccer has very little competition no matter what they say, the USA women basically are like the Golden State Warriors scheduling IUP, Point Park U and W&J, maybe every once in awhile Duke or Kentucky, and just mowing down everyone. Crazy EASY. I'm sure most other games will be better, but it's basically the Hall of Fame vs. playground players 90% of the time.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

That was ridiculous. I DVRed the game and then not knowing the result watched and kind of FFed through it. It reminded me of a rec league where a loaded team plays the kids nobody else picked. And personally, I like piling it on when you can, I hate kneeling down at any score. However, to me this game illustrated why the women SHOULD NOT IN ANY WAY get any kind of pay parity with the men-they have it too easy, they don't need to work that hard. Women's world soccer has very little competition no matter what they say, the USA women basically are like the Golden State Warriors scheduling IUP, Point Park U and W&J, maybe every once in awhile Duke or Kentucky, and just mowing down everyone. Crazy EASY. I'm sure most other games will be better, but it's basically the Hall of Fame vs. playground players 90% of the time.

Also seemed to create a "piling on" controversy in the media. Criticized both for not putting on the brakes and for celebrating after scoring each additional goal once they were well ahead.

Critics conveniently forgot that in group play which is what they are in now that ties are broken by whichever team of the teams tied for1st in the group has the most total goals scored in group play. This system encourages running up the score. Since Sweden which upset the USA women in 2016 is also in the same group as the US and poses a threat it would have been stupid to have not scored as many goals as possible in this game.

 

[Pitt79]

Also seemed to create a "piling on" controversy in the media. Criticized both for not putting on the brakes and for celebrating after scoring each additional goal once they were well ahead.

Critics conveniently forgot that in group play which is what they are in now that ties are broken by whichever team of the teams tied for1st in the group has the most total goals scored in group play. This system encourages running up the score. Since Sweden which upset the USA women in 2016 is also in the same group as the US and poses a threat it would have been stupid to have not scored as many goals as possible in this game.

I actually like running up the score, especially if it matters towards a championship. But Also, I'd rather let a 4th string RB who never plays, feel the thrill of a TD, rather than kneel down to not "rub it in". I remember I once scored 56 points in a 116-40 CYO basketball win, they couldn't stop me and instead of not wanting to rub it in, I wanted a BIG NUMBER to brag about.

 

[DiehardPanther]

I actually like running up the score, especially if it matters towards a championship. But Also, I'd rather let a 4th string RB who never plays, feel the thrill of a TD, rather than kneel down to not "rub it in". I remember I once scored 56 points in a 116-40 CYO basketball win, they couldn't stop me and instead of not wanting to rub it in, I wanted a BIG NUMBER to brag about.

Did Polk High retire your number as well Al Bundy?

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Critics conveniently forgot that in group play which is what they are in now that ties are broken by whichever team of the teams tied for1st in the group has the most total goals scored in group play. This system encourages running up the score. Since Sweden which upset the USA women in 2016 is also in the same group as the US and poses a threat it would have been stupid to have not scored as many goals as possible in this game.

Technically it's not goals scored that breaks ties, it's goal difference that breaks ties. And none of this matters unless the US - Sweden game ends in a tie.

Sweden is only a threat to the US if the US plays poorly. When Sweden beat the US in 2016 the US was worse than they are now, Sweden was better than they are now, and the US played like crap in that game. And all that got Sweden a one goal win.

And Sweden isn't going to score anywhere close to 13 goals against Thailand, although now they have the incentive to try, so at some point after about seven or so the goals became meaningless.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Women only play organized soccer in a couple countries. Those Thai players are amateur Rec league players. Heck, they may not even play in a Rec league, just answered a call for tryouts. What a joke. I agree with the USA piling it on for Goal Differential but if FIFA continues to host Women's World Cups, they should demand that National Teams invest in the women's team. I mean Argentina getting their first ever point in a World Cup? WTF? And people wonder why the USA is so good. Our women are pros who grew up playing organized soccer from age 3. These other countries dont even have organized soccer for girls.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Technically it's not goals scored that breaks ties, it's goal difference that breaks ties. And none of this matters unless the US - Sweden game ends in a tie.

Sweden is only a threat to the US if the US plays poorly. When Sweden beat the US in 2016 the US was worse than they are now, Sweden was better than they are now, and the US played like crap in that game. And all that got Sweden a one goal win.

And Sweden isn't going to score anywhere close to 13 goals against Thailand, although now they have the incentive to try, so at some point after about seven or so the goals became meaningless.

" . . .after about seven or so the goals became meaningless." In theory at least.

At least the Canadian broadcaster who complained only about the celebrating of each goal after about goal #8 and supposedly received death threats for her comments probably had a reasonable argument about excessive celebration being poor sportsmanship.

 

[Pitt79]

Did Polk High retire your number as well Al Bundy?

No, but it's a true story. Sorry if you where never good enough to score 56 points in a CYO basketball game.

 

[Pitt79]

Women only play organized soccer in a couple countries. Those Thai players are amateur Rec league players. Heck, they may not even play in a Rec league, just answered a call for tryouts. What a joke. I agree with the USA piling it on for Goal Differential but if FIFA continues to host Women's World Cups, they should demand that National Teams invest in the women's team. I mean Argentina getting their first ever point in a World Cup? WTF? And people wonder why the USA is so good. Our women are pros who grew up playing organized soccer from age 3. These other countries dont even have organized soccer for girls.

My niece visited from Greece, she's like 14 now, she was jealous watching my daughter play when she was here, she lives in Athens, Greece, a city of 5 million people, she knows of no girls teams she could join anywhere. So if they have a national team, where do they get the players and how did they learn? USA Women's Soccer isn't some fantastic "girl power" achievement, it's just that teams for girls exist here and hardly anywhere else.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

" . . .after about seven or so the goals became meaningless." In theory at least.

At least the Canadian broadcaster who complained only about the celebrating of each goal after about goal #8 and supposedly received death threats for her comments probably had a reasonable argument about excessive celebration being poor sportsmanship.

It’s really a tough thing to do when you’re THAT much better than your opponent. Anything you do is degrading to the opponent.

A very near and dear team to me find themselves in the same situation every year. We play JV players for 3/4 of the game. But even the JV players look like a pack of wild animals fighting hard to get their goals. That’s what the American women (mostly all starters) looked like in the later moments of that game. They were pressing really hard to score, even in added time. I wasn’t crazy about it. But my biggest disappointment was all the celebrating after all those goals. As SMF said above, these women have been playing the game for over 20 years. I know for a fact they learned something about sportsmanship over the years. How could they forget all that and show so much excitement after every goal vs a virtual rec league squad?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

My niece visited from Greece, she's like 14 now, she was jealous watching my daughter play when she was here, she lives in Athens, Greece, a city of 5 million people, she knows of no girls teams she could join anywhere. So if they have a national team, where do they get the players and how did they learn? USA Women's Soccer isn't some fantastic "girl power" achievement, it's just that teams for girls exist here and hardly anywhere else.

I looked it up and they do have a national team. These countries probably just have some advertisement for tryouts. They would be all amateur players or in Greece's case since they dont seem to have any women's leagues, probably just some girls who play on some coed rec league teams. Then they put teams like this up against the USA's pros and people marvel at how great the USA women are.

Seriously, if your daughter is D3 level, she could probably make the Greek National Team. Look into it if you can find info.

 

[Pitt79]

I looked it up and they do have a national team. These countries probably just have some advertisement for tryouts. They would be all amateur players or in Greece's case since they dont seem to have any women's leagues, probably just some girls who play on some coed rec league teams. Then they put teams like this up against the USA's pros and people marvel at how great the USA women are.

Seriously, if your daughter is D3 level, she could probably make the Greek National Team. Look into it if you can find info.

I thought of that, she probably could play for them . My niece did say they allow girls who choose to, to try to play with the boys, but of course not many will want to even try. She didn't, she is kind of smallish and seemed to be able to play, but boys would probably beat her down. But she seemed to have better ball skills than her brother who played for a boys club team.

 

[Pitt79]

... Then they put teams like this up against the USA's pros and people marvel at how great the USA women are.

While I do think it's great that the USA is so very good in women's soccer, I take it with a grain of salt (whatever that means ), it's clear the main reason is that we're one of a handful of countries that actually give girls the opportunity to train in soccer, it's kind of the same with other obscure sports, like cricket or something, main reason India and Pakistan are world cricket powers is that hardly anyone else takes it seriously,

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

It’s really a tough thing to do when you’re THAT much better than your opponent. Anything you do is degrading to the opponent.

A very near and dear team to me find themselves in the same situation every year. We play JV players for 3/4 of the game. But even the JV players look like a pack of wild animals fighting hard to get their goals. That’s what the American women (mostly all starters) looked like in the later moments of that game. They were pressing really hard to score, even in added time. I wasn’t crazy about it. But my biggest disappointment was all the celebrating after all those goals. As SMF said above, these women have been playing the game for over 20 years. I know for a fact they learned something about sportsmanship over the years. How could they forget all that and show so much excitement after every goal vs a virtual rec league squad?

I agree. In high school the coaches for my niece's team didn't allow them to score more than about 7 or 8 in the first half and maybe 12 or 13 for the game, and that was even after the starters were long on the bench. They'd play to get themselves into good scoring positions, and then instead of taking the shot they'd turn and pass the ball back out and recycle it again.

Some of their games were so bad that they could have scored 40 or 50 had they tried, and that's not hyperbole. They were so much better than one team that they started taking their attacking starters out of the game less than five minutes into the game, and still led something like 6-0 after 15 minutes. During the second half I started counting passes and at one point they completed something like 86 passes in a row before turning the ball over. I don't think that something like that is actually good for either team.

But that's also one of the reasons why I am so skeptical when you see some of these scoring records that especially girls get in high school. Had their coaches played the way that some coaches do they could have easily had two or even three girls score close to 50 goals that year. But the coaches never let those girls in the game that long when they played those blow outs and even if they were in the game they basically weren't allowed to score. I don't think you need to do that at a World Cup level. For that game it wasn't the scoring that bothered me, I'm with you it was the celebrating. Hey, congratulations, you just scored a goal against a completely overmatched opponent to make the score 12-0. That was certainly a fabulous achievement.

Or not.

 

[Pitt79]

Against a crappy team, I personally would let kids who don't play against the good teams, go all out to score simply because they don't get a chance normally. I'd rather my worst bench warming player get a thrill, rather than be nice to the opponent. That's why I really hate mercy rules, it cuts into the scarce playing time of the worst players. There's finally a chance for them to see the field and it's taken away, and I mean on both teams. I've seen it from all sides being the starter and on the winning side, and I remember at times being the scrub and getting on the field while we got our asses kicked, I didn't care that we where being blasted off the field, I was excited to finally see playing time. This whole thing about being "humiliated" and losing self esteem is overblown, I'd rather play and lose 100-0, than not play at all. I showed up to play. I remember the first times I got to play some high school football varsity, one of the times where being crushed 48-0, it wasn't a bad memory to me, I remember it with fondness for finally getting significant minutes.

 

[JD1976]

Women only play organized soccer in a couple countries.

Your use of hyperbole never ceases to amaze me. While Thailand certainly didn’t belong on the same field as the US — or in this year’s World Cup for that matter — anyone like me who has an interest and investment in women’s soccer takes offense to this statement.

The women’s game globally has grown immensely in the last 20 years and the fruits of those labors are on display at this World Cup. The quality of play has been impressive in virtually every game except the US/Thailand. Jamaica is probably the only other country that is outclassed.

No, there aren’t 100 nations that have developed systems like we have in the US, but there are probably 50-60 with countries growing their investment all the time. There are also probably 20-30 other countries that don’t have developed systems who can still organize and have talent to win a qualification spot (Costa Rica is an example from 2015).

The big advantage we have here is that our top female athletes stay with soccer instead of gravitating to football or basketball like males often do. The US is the #1 team, but they aren’t much ahead of France, England, Germany, Brazil (if healthy), Australia and Canada. We are in a golden era of individual US talent, but it won’t always be head and shoulders better than the rest of the world.

 

[Pitt79]

The big advantage we have here is that our top female athletes stay with soccer instead of gravitating to football or basketball like males often do.

That wouldn't guarantee supremacy, I can't stand the stupid thinking that if LeBron, Megatron, MJ and TO had played soccer they would automatically be good. They might of sucked.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Your use of hyperbole never ceases to amaze me. While Thailand certainly didn’t belong on the same field as the US — or in this year’s World Cup for that matter — anyone like me who has an interest and investment in women’s soccer takes offense to this statement.

The women’s game globally has grown immensely in the last 20 years and the fruits of those labors are on display at this World Cup. The quality of play has been impressive in virtually every game except the US/Thailand. Jamaica is probably the only other country that is outclassed.

No, there aren’t 100 nations that have developed systems like we have in the US, but there are probably 50-60 with countries growing their investment all the time. There are also probably 20-30 other countries that don’t have developed systems who can still organize and have talent to win a qualification spot (Costa Rica is an example from 2015).

The big advantage we have here is that our top female athletes stay with soccer instead of gravitating to football or basketball like males often do. The US is the #1 team, but they aren’t much ahead of France, England, Germany, Brazil (if healthy), Australia and Canada. We are in a golden era of individual US talent, but it won’t always be head and shoulders better than the rest of the world.

There are only maybe 10 countries in the world where girls play organized soccer. Friggin Argentina earned their first ever World Cup point and Mexico didn't even make it and their team was full of Americans born to Mexican parents. The USA dominating women's soccer is similar to USA Baseball winning championships in the 50s and 60s before other countries started playing.

 

[JD1976]

There are only maybe 10 countries in the world where girls play organized soccer.

This is false. Again, your use of hyperbole is amazing. I’m not saying that the support of women’s soccer at the federation level is equal to men anywhere in the world (U.S. included), but girls are playing organized soccer in way more than 10 nations LOL. Everywhere except the Islamic nations, most of Africa and parts of Eastern Europe have opportunities for girls to play soccer competitively from a young age. That leaves more than 125 nations. Some have better systems, some have better national team programs, but you couldn’t be more wrong in your overall premise.

 

[Pitt79]

There are only maybe 10 countries in the world where girls play organized soccer. Friggin Argentina earned their first ever World Cup point and Mexico didn't even make it and their team was full of Americans born to Mexican parents. The USA dominating women's soccer is similar to USA Baseball winning championships in the 50s and 60s before other countries started playing.

Or like if they had an American Football World Cup, USA would dominate, not because of having better development, but just for having any development at all.

 

[JD1976]

There are only maybe 10 countries in the world where girls play organized soccer. Friggin Argentina earned their first ever World Cup point and Mexico didn't even make it and their team was full of Americans born to Mexican parents. The USA dominating women's soccer is similar to USA Baseball winning championships in the 50s and 60s before other countries started playing.

Also, based on your theory, how is it possible that FIFA could host a U-17 World Cup if girls only play organized soccer in 10 countries?

And guess who the most successful country in the world has been at the youth level the last 3 years? North Korea. It’s true. U-17 and U-20 champions in 2016.

 

[Pitt79]

And guess who the most successful country in the world has been at the youth level the last 3 years? North Korea. It’s true. U-17 and U-20 champions in 2016.

That makes total sense, the commie countries where always ahead of the curve on stuff like women's sports.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

That makes total sense, the commie countries where always ahead of the curve on stuff like women's sports.

Damn. Then lets elect Bernie like Colorado elected that communist chick.

We must dominate women’s sports!

 

[Pitt79]

Damn. Then lets elect Bernie like Colorado elected that communist chick.

We must dominate women’s sports!

Just saying, remember East Germany and USSR back before the fall of the wall? They where developing women's sports more than most countries, USA is an exception. I would elect Bernie, but that wouldn't help sports in any way, he's not a communist, he wouldn't do anything to collectivize sports and he wouldn't even nationalize 90% of industries. At most he'd create Medicare for All and free tuition at public colleges, do infrastructure in a way that makes sense for the nation, not to enrich construction contractors, but no, there's absolutely nothing at all communist about Bernie's ideas, you just think that, because you probably believe that everything should be 100% free market and if someone wants 99% free market, you see them as a commie.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Just saying, remember East Germany and USSR back before the fall of the wall? They where developing women's sports more than most countries, USA is an exception.

They weren't developing women's sports. They were developing drugs for women's athletes to take so that they could win. They didn't give a damn about developing anything, they cared about one thing, and one thing only. Gold medals. And since pumping a bunch of women so full of steroids that they'd grow facial hair was the path of least resistance to gold medals that's exactly what they did.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

And Sweden isn't going to score anywhere close to 13 goals against Thailand, although now they have the incentive to try, so at some point after about seven or so the goals became meaningless.

And by the way, it turns out I was wrong. Actually everything after FOUR was completely meaningless.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

This is false. Again, your use of hyperbole is amazing. I’m not saying that the support of women’s soccer at the federation level is equal to men anywhere in the world (U.S. included), but girls are playing organized soccer in way more than 10 nations LOL. Everywhere except the Islamic nations, most of Africa and parts of Eastern Europe have opportunities for girls to play soccer competitively from a young age. That leaves more than 125 nations. Some have better systems, some have better national team programs, but you couldn’t be more wrong in your overall premise.

I don't know what you are disputing. There are approximately 10 countries where a girl can start playing on an organized team and continue to play on an organized team in a local league through HS age. Sure, anybody can field a team but as I said, the majority of players on a Thailand, for example are Rec League players or maybe just play pickup soccer with men at local parks.

 

[Pitt79]

They weren't developing women's sports. They were developing drugs for women's athletes to take so that they could win. They didn't give a damn about developing anything, they cared about one thing, and one thing only. Gold medals. And since pumping a bunch of women so full of steroids that they'd grow facial hair was the path of least resistance to gold medals that's exactly what they did.

Maybe the East Germans did a lot of that, but the Soviets didn't. They where really good at a lot of women's sports, especially gymnastics and figure skating, and it wasn't because of PEDs.

 

[Pitt79]

And by the way, it turns out I was wrong. Actually everything after FOUR was completely meaningless.

Not really, IT WAS FUN FOR THE INDIVIDUAL WHO SCORED IT, and to me, that's important enough that it should be encouraged.

 

[Pitt79]

I don't know what you are disputing. There are approximately 10 countries where a girl can start playing on an organized team and continue to play on an organized team in a local league through HS age. Sure, anybody can field a team but as I said, the majority of players on a Thailand, for example are Rec League players or maybe just play pickup soccer with men at local parks.

and maybe, there are some youth leagues for girls in some countries, but it's probably equal to like the USA's youth development of cricket, maybe there are a couple leagues in some urban area and 95% of the girls can't access it and of course the adults aren't nut jobs like Americans, like moving or driving 3 hours to practice to get their daughter in a league.

 

[JD1976]

I don't know what you are disputing. There are approximately 10 countries where a girl can start playing on an organized team and continue to play on an organized team in a local league through HS age. Sure, anybody can field a team but as I said, the majority of players on a Thailand, for example are Rec League players or maybe just play pickup soccer with men at local parks.

You are using Thailand as an example to support your notion that only 10 countries in the world have organized girl’s soccer? All I will say is you are wrong. How am I so sure? I asked 3 people who travel the world working in soccer at both the international and college levels. They see it with their own eyes all over Europe, South America and most of Asia.

 

[Pitt79]

You are using Thailand as an example to support your notion that only 10 countries in the world have organized girl’s soccer? All I will say is you are wrong. How am I so sure? I asked 3 people who travel the world working in soccer at both the international and college levels. They see it with their own eyes all over Europe, South America and most of Asia.

When you say that, what does that mean? Let's say a country like Greece has 4-5 soccer clubs with girls teams, all located in Athens with spots for a few hundred girls in a country of 10 million and maybe 5% of the girl population has real access, how does that compare with the USA, with a population of 300 million, where in Howard County, Maryland alone there are probably 3000-4000 girls age 4-19 playing on organized teams? Sure there may be girls teams, but SMF is probably right that maybe only 10 countries have the magnitude of participation to even come close to competing.

 

[JD1976]

When you say that, what does that mean? Let's say a country like Greece has 4-5 soccer clubs with girls teams, all located in Athens with spots for a few hundred girls in a country of 10 million and maybe 5% of the girl population has real access, how does that compare with the USA, with a population of 300 million, where in Howard County, Maryland alone there are probably 3000-4000 girls age 4-19 playing on organized teams? Sure there may be girls teams, but SMF is probably right that maybe only 10 countries have the magnitude of participation to even come close to competing.

Greece is not a good example clearly. I’m talking about countries where the majority of the population has access to soccer programs. Let’s not move the goal posts here. SMF’s position isn’t that there are only 10 countries that are on par with the USA— no, he said no more than 10 countries merely have organized soccer for girls. But as he always does, he moves the goal posts along with each successive argument.

Perhaps the moat between our arguments is that in the US there is a more accessible end game for young girls — that’s more than 500 college programs for 18-22 years olds to continue playing soccer. That’s not the case in most countries, where the goal is to develop a pool of national team players. That doesn’t mean 17 years old with no aspirations can’t continue playing soccer in many countries, but as a reminder, the original genesis for this conversation was about the World Cup and in most countries that is the end game. The level of play in this World Cup (aside from Thailand and Jamaica) clearly shows that the girls/women’s soccer is thriving worldwide and will only continue to grow.

 

[Pitt79]

OK, so Greece is not a good example, how many countries do you think have access to soccer programs for girls, lets say at least 75% of all girls in the country can EASILY join a program? I mean there's something in the neighborhood, because myself, I'm like an Eastern European or a third world person, if practice was an hour drive away, I wouldn't do it, LOL... Which team or league my daughter played for was ALWAYS a function of being EXTREMELY nearby within minutes of our home usually-ABOVE quality of the program. I read about people who put their kids on teams 2-3 hours away, or even MOVE to another state or something for a kids sports team and to me they are EXTREME LUNATICS, so I'm talking in the neighborhood. If I was Olivia Multrie's dad, she wouldn't have had personal trainers and a turf field in the back yard, she would be playing for a local club and maybe her high school...

How many countries have girls programs in enough areas that 75% of all girls can EASILY access it. Most foreigners are like me, they won't go out of their way to put their kids on a sports team.

 

[mike412]

Women’s soccer is getting much better in parts of Europe. The women’s El Classico between Barca and Real Madrid drew almost 60,000 people. Unlike men’s La Liga, the women have a limitation on non-Spanish players as part of the effort to develop the game. (Men’s La Liga teams are limited to three players without European passports, but they can be from any European nation. And, a number of South American players have European passports: Messi, Suarez and Coutinho of Barca, for example.) When he came to Man City, Pep Guardiola insisted they improve their women’s program and they now have one of the best youth programs around.

Still, the women’s game is far from the men in terms of quality. Even watching the best teams, the limited skill level is so obvious. First touches usually are an adventure; second touches are even more so; there is far too much head-down dribbling; and you rarely see a player who can keep the ball close to her body while dribbling. It’s not like tennis where women put a high quality product in display. The soccer teams are a long way from deserving equal pay.

Tactics also are lacking, which probably is primarily attributable to mediocre (to be kind) coaching. Jill Ellis is pathetic tactically. In this tournament so far it hasn’t mattered. She could draw 11 names out of a hat and win. But, in the past when they have played good teams with quality tactical managers, she hadn’t had any answers. In fact, she seemed oblivious to what opponents are doing. I can recall a game against Canada where Canada went to a 4 player midfield and was dominating the center of the pitch. She never made an adjustment and the game ended up a draw.

 

[thom67]

In many countries kids kids do not play organized soccer like we do at a young age. They play on the streets eTc until their skills are recognized. Pele did not play organized soccer until a teen.

 

[Pitt79]

In many countries kids kids do not play organized soccer like we do at a young age. They play on the streets eTc until their skills are recognized. Pele did not play organized soccer until a teen.

We're talking about girls here, in some countries they would be less likely to play in the streets.

 

[Pitt79]

Still, the women’s game is far from the men in terms of quality. Even watching the best teams, the limited skill level is so obvious. First touches usually are an adventure; second touches are even more so; there is far too much head-down dribbling; and you rarely see a player who can keep the ball close to her body while dribbling.

Myself, I think US Women and girls are coached way more intensely and better than anywhere else, just because of the USA's Girl power/Title IX attitudes in addition with most clubs everywhere having equal opportunities for boys and girls, Do you think the USA Women are far above women of say Spain or England or the other better women soccer countries?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

You are using Thailand as an example to support your notion that only 10 countries in the world have organized girl’s soccer? All I will say is you are wrong. How am I so sure? I asked 3 people who travel the world working in soccer at both the international and college levels. They see it with their own eyes all over Europe, South America and most of Asia.

Poland having 1 recreation girls league in Warsaw or Portugal having 1 recreation girls league in Lisbon doesn't count. As Pitt79 said, the development of women's soccer in these countries is at the level of Cricket or maybe Ultimate Frisbee in the USA. There are probably more youth Ultimate Frisbee leagues in the USA per capita than youth girls soccer leagues in Portugal. The USA is beating nobodies. Congratulations to them. They are one of a few countries in the world that take the sport seriously

 

[JD1976]

Tactics also are lacking, which probably is primarily attributable to mediocre (to be kind) coaching. Jill Ellis is pathetic tactically. In this tournament so far it hasn’t mattered. She could draw 11 names out of a hat and win. But, in the past when they have played good teams with quality tactical managers, she hadn’t had any answers. In fact, she seemed oblivious to what opponents are doing. I can recall a game against Canada where Canada went to a 4 player midfield and was dominating the center of the pitch. She never made an adjustment and the game ended up a draw.

I don't dispute some of what you are saying about tactics, but Ellis certainly seems to be the best manager of personalities in the women's game. The US team can't be easy to coach with the mega personalities like Hope Solo and Abby Wambach in the past and me-first types like Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Christen Press now. She managed to make Carli Lloyd a substitute for the last year and pushed out Hope Solo after the 2016 Olympics without it becoming a distraction. As you said, we could probably win by drawing names, but her talent management abilities seem to be fairly impeccable. It's not a job many could do well.