Women's World Cup Lookback

This post was full intended to be written quite a while ago but things got busy and it kept getting shelved.  The good news is now I can write about the WWC with a bit of distance and hopefully give a more assessment but lets face it no matter how long I wait it will still be my own skewed view. 

The first thing that I have to say is that this summers Women's World Cup is the most enjoyable FIFA event outside of a men's world cup that I have ever watched.  On top of that I will even go as far as to say that on the whole it was every bit as good as WC2010 in South Africa.  That might seem like a huge statement for me to make but this WWC really did have every single thing you could ask for in a football tournament.  It had some fairly big upsets, it had great story lines, and underdog champion, and most importantly it had a whole lot of quality playing. 


The Women's world cup was not plagued by all kinds of blowouts, the worst scorelines were 4 goals wins including the one that France got over Canada, and it did not have the issues with diving and simulation that so often destroy the credibility of the men's game at the highest levels.  So me the Women's game may be at a slower pace, the shots may be less powerful, and in many cases the keeping is not as great but this year that did not ruin it for me.  It was nothing like watching women's hockey, which is something I can only do every four years and then only Canada's games, in fact I found myself trying to catch every game possible.  For the first time in my life I was watching rebroadcasts of games that did no involve United which is saying a whole lot since I normally cannot stand watching a game at all if I already know the score.  The games were good enough to keep me interested long after Canada were eliminated and in fact the success of this World Cup is going to keep me coming back to the Women's game for years to come.

Another positive thing about the WWC is that it satisfied my need to dislike many of the traditional soccer powers as well as my constant desire to cheer against the Americans.  The fact that Germany and Brazil did not make to the finals made me quite happy and even if the US went all the way to the final watching them lose to Japan was so satisfying.  Yes I would have loved the event even more if Canada had done better but I think I actually enjoyed it more this way, once I overcame the crushing pain of once again seeing Canada come up short, as I was able to just sit back and enjoy the games and just appreciate the skill on display.

Speaking of Japan, them winning the WWC was a storyline that you could hardly even dream up.  They are of course a very good side and would have been among the contenders to make it to the semifinals for most knowledgeable fans but picking them to win it all would have been quite a long shot.  Japan was a country in need of a good storyline after a really rough year from which they are still struggling to recover and their women's team delivered.  Just their showing in the final match against the United States shows that they were a side driven to succeed and every time the US wasted a scoring chance you just got that feeling that Japan were somehow destined to win the game.  Then each time they fought back I could not help but support them.  By the time the match made it to penalties I had gone from cheering against the USWNT to cheering for Japan and the only way I could have been happier with the winner would have been if it had been Canada.

With all that praise I do have to add that their is still a long ways to go in the Women's game.  The quality of the players is only going to continue improving, the depth of the competition should keep getting better (it has to with the tournament field expanding for 2015).  The other area where the game is going to need to see improvement is officiating.  For the most part it was good during the tournament but there are a few terrible moments that are going to stand up as glaring marks on the event.  The handball that was not called in the Australia match will be one of the moments that most people will remember but I do hope that with a little more time people who watched the event forget that some of the reffing was poor and instead only remember this event as being something special and great fun to watch.

I can hardly wait for 2015 now when with any luck I will be going to at least a couple of matches.  I can now safely say that I am a supporter of Women's soccer and that is a big statement for someone who has once been accused of being a sports sexist.

Women's World Cup Wrap-up: Canadian Edition

It is honestly hard for me to know where to even begin in writing this post.   That is a rarity for someone like me who so often has far to much to say.  So I will begin by saying that todays match between Canada and Nigeria has left me feeling just down right bad.  Nigeria were a team that many had written off as just being in the World Cup to make up numbers but instead they played Germany and France closely and then found a way to beat Canada in the battle to see who would not end up last in the group.

The defeat at the hands of France was a tougher one to take for me since it meant that the team were mathematically eliminated and that even a win on the final day would not be enough.  It also worked to ensure that almost all of the positivity that came from the opening day match against Germany was forgotten.  Any good feelings that might have been left over are now gone as well.  I think I would have been able to understand and be okay with Canada just missing out on moving on from this group because France and Germany are two very strong teams but Canada didn't even come close.  What can you say in the defence of a team that was talked up as potential competitors for not only moving in to the knockout rounds but maybe even winning the whole thing gets sent home without collecting even a single point and in the biggest game of many of these women's lives they plain did not show up.  I would have thought that today with the pressure off the women would have at least found a way to put on a show and give themselves something positive to build on going forwards but it was the complete opposite.  They once again did not show up, they looked poor in every area of the game, and they deserved to lose to a Nigerian side that seemed to be putting in a greater effort.

I don't think that I need to say anything more about that really.  We all have the same feeling of disappointment in this team and a lot of that feeling comes from the fact that many of us bought it when we were told this side was going to be a contender.  We liked the idea that Canada might just win something or at least have a good showing on the international stage.  In theory it was great to think that with the players all on board with Morace game plan things would go perfectly come the World Cup.  Instead it all went wrong and we are now left doing the customary finger pointing.  I do think that this needs to be a learning experience and next time the team needs to do a couple of things differently but also I do not see any point in over reacting.  My thoughts on it are:

1. There is no need for drastic change.  Morace is the right coach for the job but her some of her decisions were questionable and she did not get the best out of her players

2. The players we have in the system while they are decent need to be developed in to more refined players who have the skill set required to win on the biggest stage.

3. The training camp in Rome was far to long and may have left many of the players feeling emotionally drained by the time that they got to Germany

4. There needs to be a better balance in the number of games played in the run up to a major tournament.  You have to play some to get ready and develop as a team but they may have played too many matches this year with to much travel again taking a toll on the women who for the most part are not used to that

5. Canada needs to once again look at all of its programs and ask why we never seem to get the best out of our players on the international stage.


For more on what Canada needs to move forward from here I highly suggest you read the article that Jason Devos posted earlier today.  It is something that I feel strongly about and we need a lot more people who feel the say way as Jason to start making things happen as the way forward for Canada requires change at every level from the local club all the way up to the CSA.  Its going to be a long process and maybe even an expensive one but if we ever want to have international success its something we have to look at and give serious consideration.

Devos Article: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/fifawomensworldcup2011/blog/2011/07/fixing-canadian-soccer---a-call-to-action.html

Early Impressions of the FWWC

After just three match days in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, one thing has stood out for me from following the matches. In previous tournaments, teams like the United States and other top sides would run rampant over all other opponents. In the 2007 tournament, winners Germany did not concede a goal to emphasis their dominance. But this time around in the 2011 addition, increasing parody has been on display with only one of the six matches played so far being won by more than one goal (USA 2-0 North Korea).

The growing parody in women's soccer has really been displayed by tight results in matches where one team is heavily favored over the other. Two matches really stand out for me: Japan-New Zealand and Sweden-Columbia. In both matches the eventual winners, Japan and Sweden, were heavily favored based upon world rankings entering the tournament. New Zealand came out and gave Japan a real fight, narrowly loosing 2-1 from a free kick from a nearly perfect position. Columbia may have been lucky to loose only 1-0 to Sweden after clearing the ball off the line twice and the Swedes missing other good chances but they still put out a good effort in their debut match in the FWWC. The young Columbian side held the lion's share of the possession and made the 5th ranked side work hard for their win.

Today's match between the United States and North Korea was the first match that ended with a goal margin greater than one goal. The top ranked side won 2-0 but it was not a comfortable match. The North Koreans did not sit back against the Americans in the two sides 4th straight meeting at the World Cup. The first half was full of excitement with end to end action. The North Koreans took advantage of a weakness on the American's left flank and threatened the goal with a number of tempting crosses asking for a finish. A tactical change at the half let the American's take control of the game and made the break through thanks to some sloppy defending. The US finally stuck to their game plan after the interval which was to get wide and take advantage of their size in the box while an interesting shift in personal by North Korea seemed to change their approach to the game and saw them sit back a bit more.

Group D kicks off tomorrow and from the little I know about the women's game, I think this display of new found parody will come to an end. Norway are former champions and take on minnows Equatorial Guinea. Norway are heavily favored and seemed poised to pile on the misery on the Africans. The other match in the group in Brazil versus Australia. The game is developing very well in Australia and has seen their women's national team improve but Marta will have something to say for Brazil. The 5 time player of the year is one of the greatest women's soccer players of all time and will be the main threat for the Brazilians. Australia will have a hard time handling the women's version of Lionel Messi. I expect to see some goals tomorrow, especially from Norway against the 61st ranked team in the world.

This year's addition of the FIFA Women's World Cup has really changed my opinion of the women's game. The gap between the men's and women's game is not as obvious as I expected it to be which makes it worth watching. Stay tuned to the blog and Rogers Sportsnet and CBC for continuing coverage of the FIFA Women's World Cup from Germany, the "Beautiful Side of 20Eleven."