Women's World Cup Underway

So if you live on twitter like many of us seem to do these days you have probably noticed that for the past 2 days the name Christine Sinclair has been trending and for good reason.  In case you are the one person out there who would be reading this and not already know about her performance I will fill you in.  On Sunday Christine proved that she should be the captain of Canada as well as being considered as one of the best players in the world.  She proved that she is capable of taking a free kick with as much skill as anyone in the world regardless of gender.  The free kick goal is only one part of what made her performance so memorable as she also broke her nose and then was seen waving away the trainers and returning to the field as quickly as possible.  There was no rolling around on the ground in pain, there was no calling for a sub, there was only a clear desire to return to play and do anything should could to help her team out.  There is no question that Sinclair would have been within her rights to take the rest of the match off with her nose broken and her team down 2-0 against the best team in the world but that is not how Christine Sinclair goes about her business.  After she returned to the field Sinclair was also seen telling one of the German's to get up off the ground after she went down as she wanted to keep the game going being desperate to get Canada back into the match.

Sinclair's free kick goal was a late effort that gave Canada an outside chance of stealing a draw but it was not to be.  The fact that it had been over 600 minutes since the German team had conceded a goal in the Women's world cup only makes the goal all the more impressive but for me it is all about the heart that she showed.  She led the team into a hostile environment against a team that was clearly favoured to win the game, and possibly the entire tournament.  Germany were the better team in the game and they controlled much of the chances but Canada proved that they belong playing against them and it was because of the efforts of players like Sinclair.

I do not want to make this post about the men's team but I feel that I would be remiss if I did not point out the fact that the men's team is lacking any sort of leadership and heart like Sinclair showed.  I am not going to question the commitment of the men because they are all giving a lot to be able to represent their country and I respect them for that but none of them seem to show the heart and hustle that Sinclair shows.  Would anyone in the men's team break their nose and then stay on?  I somehow doubt that.

The game on the whole was a decent showing for Canada and the fact that they only lost to the German's 2-1 is going to be good for them going forward.  The French team did not look great in their opening match so unless they improve in the coming matches Canada should be in a good position to get a crucial win.  Even if Canada settles for a draw against France they will be in a decent position to possibly take second place in the group based on goal difference since I think it is safe to say that neither France or Nigeria is going to stay within 1 of this German team.  Let me make one thing clear though this game against France is where the tournament really kicks off for Canada and they absolutely must get a result if they hope to move on.

The German team proved to me why they are the favourites to win this thing and why some people are calling them the best women's team of all time.  They had world player of the year nominees coming off the bench, there is just so much depth and talent in that side and the 2-1 scoreline might just be the closest that any of their games end in this tournament.

I am looking forward to seeing more of this tournament because in a lot of ways it is a more pure form of the game then the men's game has become.  It is not uncommon to watch a game and not see a single yellow card which is refreshing for myself as I get sick of seeing players picking up cautions all over the field in the men's game.  There is no diving problem running rampant and in the 3 games I have watched so far I constantly felt that the players out their were all giving their very best and that is great to see.  The game itself is hard to compare to the men's game because of the differences in physical abilities and technique but I do think it is possible to enjoy both of them for what they are.  This Women's world cup is definitely worth a watch though.

Oh and here is the goal: