Women's World Cup 2023

[beantownbubba]

I'm hoping that the tournament will justify a separate thread. We're off to a good start w/ home side New Zealand upsetting Norway. Firs US game is Friday 9 pm eastern.

[Zip Up to Michigan]

It's been a great tournament. I work a pretty chill night shift job so I've been able to watch a lot of it.

Columbia/Germany was thrilling the other day. So happy Columbia pulled it off.

Big game for the USA starting very shortly...

[beantownbubba]

It's been a great tournament. I work a pretty chill night shift job so I've been able to watch a lot of it.

Columbia/Germany was thrilling the other day. So happy Columbia pulled it off.

Big game for the USA starting very shortly...

Yeah, Colombia's win was huge and both goals (by an 18 yr old!) were great.

By contrast, the US has been lackluster (watched the first 2, woke up a couple of times during the game last nite/this morning and checked updates). I'm glad I didn't turn on the TV because that Portugal shot that hit the post in extra time might have been more than I could take at that time of the morning.

It's clear that the rest of the world is catching up to the US, but play so far seems just as much or more the lack of this and that on the US side than the upgraded play of opponents (most obvious in the Vietnam game compared to the Netherlands complete domination of that side). Lavelle's yellow card suspension will not help against [presumably] Sweden.

[beantownbubba]

The word is that Brazil's draw w/ Jamaica (resulting in Brazil's elimination) might have been Marta's last game (and almost certainly was her last game on the world stage). I didn't see many of her games but her greatness was easily confirmed in those that I did see. She is a giant of the game and will be sorely missed. And like others more or less of her generation her impact has been and will continue to be felt far beyond the pitch.

[beantownbubba]

Well that was an abrupt ending for we USA centric fans (I would certainly watch more games w/out the USA if the hours were more hospitable). I've always hated pk's as a way to decide important games and i still hate pk's as a way to decide important games. But them's the rules so there we are. My son and I both thought Rapinoe's miss was inevitable: She looked totally lost on the field prior to the pk's and was a prime example of being on the wrong side of the line between "valuable experienced player" and "over the hill player." Ally Wagner clearly wanted to say that Rapinoe shouldn't have been out there (as a sub, not just for the pk's) and she would have been right, but she held back a bit which is understandable. An ignominious end to a great career that I assume will fade over time in favor of the totality of her career especially given that she was not the only one to miss. Trump's comments were among his most bizarre, which is saying something.

As everyone I heard or read said, the loss was a particular disappointment because the US played by far its best game of the tournament. The US may have underperformed (i.e. they are certainly better than a "top 16" team) but it's pretty clear that the rest of the world is catching up fast and in a few cases has totally caught up. Inevitable. See, e.g. the post-dream team development of basketball around the world and in the NBA.