Category Archives: Soccer

Daily Olympic Reviews, London 2012, Olympics, Soccer

Olympic Review – July 25th

Leave a comment

The only sport the US participated in on Wednesday was women’s soccer where they started their group stage. The US fell down 2-0 against France in the first 15 minutes after giving up two goals in three minutes.  That lead didn’t last for long as Amy Wambach answered answered just five minutes later to cut the lead in half and Alex Morgan equalized in the 32nd minute.  Eleven minutes into the 2nd half Carli Lloyd let loose a beautiful strike and gave the US their first lead and in the 66th minute Alex Morgan added a 2nd to provide the final 4-2 margin.

It was a fantastic game for neutrals, lots of action and obviously the six goals. If the two teams did meet in the final, I’d definitely enjoy seeing it again.

The US was probably going to have to go through Brazil or Japan to reach the final anyways, so the best thing to hope for is probably to avoid one of those matchups until the semifinals (where a loss would mean a chance at the bronze medal still). The win on Wednesday went a long way towards that goal by putting the US in the driver’s seat to win the group and get a quarterfinal against the 3rd place team from group E or F (currently New Zealand).

The US next plays Colombia on Saturday and could lock up a spot in the quarterfinals with a win and one of six other scenarios happens.

Daily Previews, London 2012, Olympics, Soccer

Olympic Preview – July 25th

Leave a comment

The first edition of our daily previews will be easily the most simple. There’s only one thing the US is competing in, women’s soccer, so there won’t be much to talk about.

The US will be taking on France at 12 PM ET (Pre-game at 11:30) on the NBC Sports Network.  The matchup is expected to be one of the highlights of the group stage as it’s one of two rematches of last year’s World Cup semifinals that will be contested (the other is Sweeden-Japan).  Because the soccer tournament in London will allow eight of the 12 teams through to the knockout phase this is not a must-win situation for the US.  The bad news is that the 2nd place team in the US’s group would probably be looking at a quarterfinal matchup with Japan (or Sweeden if Sweeden won that group) which could mean going home without a medal. The winner of the group will get a 3rd place team and likely a much easier path to a semifinal appearance (which means a guaranteed chance to play for a medal).

I probably can’t preview this game as well as some of the soccer experts can so I’ll just refer you to one of the best, Ives Galarcep. You can find his preview of the game here.

I think the US will likely win today and I’d be surprised if they straight up lost. The US really showed they were the better team in the 2nd half last year and I’d expect the same today and wouldn’t be at all surprised if the scoreline ended up 2-1 USA again.

London 2012, Olympic Previews, Olympics, Soccer

Women’s Soccer Preview

Leave a comment

The first sport that will kick-off for the US is Women’s Soccer. Women’s Soccer will actually get going BEFORE the Opening Ceremonies. The first game for the US will be on the 25th of July against France.

The Team:

The US Team is made up of 18 women, many of whom will be familiar to US fans from Beijing.

Ten of the 18 members were on the team in Beijing and five of the members of the team were on the team in Athens.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

US Women’s Soccer Team
GK – Nicole Barnhart*
GK – Hope Solo*
DF – Heather Mitts**
DF – Christie Rampone**
DF – Rachel Buehler*
DF – Becky Sauerbrunn
DF – Amy LePeilbet
DF – Kelley O’Hara
MF – Shannon Boxx**
MF – Heather O’Reilly**
MF – Amy Rodriguez
MF – Carli Lloyd*
MF – Tobin Heath*
MF – Megan Rapinoe
MF – Abby Wambach&
MF – Alex Morgan
FW – Lauren Cheney*
FW – Sydney Leroux
Coach – Pia Sundhage*
* – Was on team in 2008 – Beijing
& – Was on team in 2004 – Athens
** – Was on team in 2004 & 2008

Schedule:

In the Olympics the Women’s Soccer Tournament is made up of 12 teams divided into three groups. After round-robin play in each group all the teams that finish in 1st and 2nd and two of the 3rd place teams qualify for the Quarterfinals. At that point it is a regular knockout tournament.

The US’s group consists of France, Colombia and North Korea.  They will likely win the group and face a 3rd place team from Group E or F in the quarterfinals, followed by likely Brazil in a Semifinal.  The most likely team to meet in the Final would be Japan.

The US is ranked 1st in the world, Japan 3rd, Sweden 4th, and Brazil 5th.  France is ranked 6th, North Korea 8th, and Colombia 28th.

Wednesday July 25th – Noon ET – France
Saturday July 28th – Noon ET – Colombia
Tuesday July 31st – 12:15 PM ET – North Korea
Friday August 3rd – Quarterfinals
Monday August 6th – Semifinals
Thursday August 9th – Medal Matches

Past Results:

The US Women are the two-time defending champs, along with winning a silver in 2000 and a gold in the Inaugural tournament in 1996.  The only other team to win a gold medal is Norway.  The US has beaten Brazil in each of the last 2 Olympic Finals, but unless one of the teams finishes as runner-up in its group they would meet before the final this year. A new country will win a medal this year as the only other countries than the US and Brazil to have won medals before (China, Germany, and Norway) are all absent from the games.

The best finishes from teams in the tournament are:
Brazil – Silver (2004 & 2008)
Cameroon – 1st Olympics
Canada – 8th (2008)
Colombia – 1st Olympics
France – 1st Olympics
Great Britain – 1st Olympics
Japan – 4th (2008)
New Zealand – 10th (2008)
North Korea – 9th (2008)
South Africa – 1st Olympics
Sweeden – 4th (2004)
USA – 1st (1996, 2004, & 2008)

At the Women’s World Cup last year Japan beat the US in the final with Sweeden topping France in the 3rd place game.  England (who have many of the players on the Great Britain squad) and Brazil were knocked out in the Quarterfinals.  The US was actually in a group with North Korea and Colombia, winning 2-0 and 3-0 respectively. The Americans also defeated the French 3-1 in the semifinals.