Better late than never for Sinclair and Canada Saturday.
Neil W. Blackmon
The 2015 Women’s World Cup kicked off in Canada Saturday night and fans received a thrilling opening game, won by the hosts 1-0 over China on a Christine Sinclair penalty in stoppage time. The penalty came following a foul by Rong Zhao on Adriana Leon. The goal by the longtime Canadian star was a fitting cap to a great opening ceremony and a match that saw 53,058 in attendance, a record for a national team sporting event in Canada. The tournament will span the next month, concluding with a July 5th final in Vancouver.
Here are five thoughts on the rest of the weekend action, and unfortunately, one on the news off the field:
The opening match featured two nations headed in different directions on the international soccer scene.
Or at the least, the opening match featured two nations who until recently were headed in different directions in international soccer.
The hosts, ranked 8th in the world entering the tournament and coached by John Herdman, are dark horses to win the tournament and have improved rapidly in the last decade, winning bronze in the London Olympics, where they thrillingly pushed the United States to the limit.
China, a longtime power in the women’s game, were finalists at the US-hosted Women’s World Cup in 1999. Decline has been slow but largely continuous since Brandi Chastain’s penalty kick won the US the World Cup at the Rose Bowl. China failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2011 and then missed the Olympics in 2012, and have been working, with extra government money, to regain global relevance and respect since.
Chinese forward Yang Li (front) fights for the ball . AFP PHOTO/HOANG HUNG (Photo credit should read HOANG HUNG/AFP/Getty Images)
The Chinese entered the tournament, however, down three spots in the FIFA rankings at #16 and full of questions. While a crop of young talented players like speedy attacker Yang Li give the Steel Roses hope for the future, they remain leaky in the back and that issue manifested itself in ways Canada outshot China 14-5, and would have led before the half except for some unusually weak finishing. That the hosts nearly only earned a draw may ultimately say more about how ready the Chinese were for the match than the hosts– time will tell and that could be a rash judgment because opening World Cup matches are strange, with months to prepare and scout and with players mentally fixated on those games more than the following two.
What’s certain is the match was a splendid opening match and the better side won. And maybe, just maybe, the winner will be a spark for Sinclair, whose play has been enigmatic at most since the 2012 Olympics, and who, on her day, can still be one of the game’s elite talents.
Lieke Martens may have already scored the goal of the tournament. Okay, that’s a flaming hot take. Let’s just say the gauntlet’s been thrown. Can the field answer with vigor?
We were enchanted by tales of the improved Dutch women heading into the tournament. We now have video evidence warranting enchantment.
Erin Nayler, who is a fine goalkeeper, maybe should have anticipated that’s where the shot would go given where her defense was positioned, and Aby Erceg, the Ferns captain, appears to have closed a step slow, but really this is a ridiculous goal and one that might make all the difference when what appears to be a fairly balanced Group A gets settled.
Norway routed World Cup debutante Thailand, 4-0. And they end up being down SIX in goal differential to Germany in the battle to win Group B.
The Thai team is a largely unknown quantity. They probably miss this tournament if North Korea had been eligible, and certainly miss it if the field hadn’t been expanded. They played, in your author’s view, better than expected, looking reasonably organized in defense if not at all threatening going forward.
The story really is the Norwegians, who missed the knockout rounds for the first time in federation history in 2011 and are highly motivated to reverse that trend and the perception that the 1995 World Cup champions aren’t on decline in the international game. Even Pellerud was brought back into the fold after winning the 1995 World Cup, and he’ll play the same exciting 4-3-3 that he’s always played and one that helped the Norwegians navigate a difficult UEFA qualifying group with 41 goals to their opponents five.
Trinne Rønning’s opening goal, off a direct free kick, was a fine strike and a sign that technically, Even Pellerud may not have the talent of a German side but he has enough at his disposal to play the Germans tough. Signals of intent are a big part of opening matches, and a 4-0 win, even with a goal differential issue, is a promising beginning.
Cote D’Ivore fans last summer in Fortaleza. Their women deserve the same level of support and commitment, but don’t get it.
We didn’t learn anything about Germany, but we were reminded of the many challenges facing whatever and whomever runs FIFA post-Blatter.
Germany scored ten goals and celebrated calmly like Martin Kaymer made a par. I learned nothing about them I didn’t know. They are good and have elite players basically everywhere on the field. It’s Germany and a game of soccer.
Cote D’Ivore. That’s more interesting.
Two things at the top: 1) I think expanding the Women’s World Cup field is a splendid thing and one that ultimately will help grow the game globally; 2) There is something wonderful about women from Cote D’Ivore, a country with a violent and turbulent history towards young women, playing in a World Cup. And that’s wonderful despite the score. But…
Being there isn’t enough for the Parole de Femmes (the men are the Elephants, people, not the women).
Clementine Toure, the Ivorian coach, has a team with young attacking talent-speedy Ines Nrehy, who was seen on a pair of occasions torching German defenders before losing the ball today among them- if only they played more matches together. That hasn’t occurred.
Toure claims that the Ivorian Football Federation has backed her side completely, yet the side was unable to schedule any friendlies in the buildup to Canada and entered none of the international competitions so many countries use to improve. And this despite public statements of intent from the federation and a recent influx of money thanks to the men winning the African Cup of Nations. Of course, where that money is- or where it went- is a question that concerns the men too, as they continue to wait for bonuses and payments due for that victory. You don’t have to imagine how it works: if the men’s team isn’t being paid, the Parole de Femmes certainly aren’t seeing money that’s supposed to be there. And FIFA, who write development checks for fields and academies, aren’t enforcing anything or monitoring where the money goes or how it is spent once the check is mailed. After all, it is the check itself that carries what FIFA under Blatter wants: patronage.
I can’t speak to the Ivorian development situation as it relates to FIFA money, but I can tell you that when I visited Rwanda, where FIFA development fields are things of beauty- the men have all the access and I never once saw a women’s game. Is it safe to at least suggest that visual has some context as it relates to much of the continent? Perhaps. More certain is this: 10-0 losses in the World Cup won’t move the meter at home. And whoever is in charge of FIFA can’t abandon Africa simply because patronage politics seem corrupt to the heavy-hitter international powers in Europe. In fact, if they want to see teams like Cote D’Ivore improve, they’ll pay closer attention, and get these girls the games, and the facilities, they need to be ready and compete.
Hope Solo (left) addresses the media in New York last week.
Finally, Hope Solo and the OTL and ESPN report.
I think Alexi Lalas is correct, when he says “The reason why we’re talking about this is because it is relevant. She is Hope Solo. She is the best goalkeeper in the world. This is a situation that she created. It is a story, and we will talk about it, and it is relevant on and off the field what she does.”
I just happen to think the other 22 women matter more. They’ll play a game tomorrow night against Australia that they could lose, a game that’s an important chapter in the story of 22 of these other women. And Hope Solo, the best goalkeeper in the world, has a part to play in that drama.
Further, the court system, procedural appeal or no, will serve the truth-finding function it is supposed to serve.
While we might not like how long that takes or the result it ultimately renders– we need to respect that process. And folks without law degrees might want to understand how confusing, delicate and prosecutorially difficult domestic violence cases are. And how there often are multiple stories within each case, with multiple layers, and the truth is difficult to understand.
None of that excuses Solo, who has been a firestorm of attention and a headline maker for well over a decade. It is just to say that when documents and depositions are uncovered, leaked, and reported on, the contents aren’t necessarily conclusive. Solo, not Teresa Obert, her half-sister and the alleged victim, has been on the offensive until the ESPN story broke. Having worked these cases on countless occasions, I’m in a position to write that offense tends to be played by the party in a stronger position factually. So it is strange, I’d think that Obert would choose now to recast the dice and finally reframe the debate. It is significant that the alleged victims have given contradictory counts under oath on multiple occasions. Also, it is worth noting that their statements about the nature of Solo’s violence towards them do, in fact, contradict medical records documenting the incident.
Point being- the ESPN story certainly frames a case for Solo’s guilt, while making short shrift of much of the evidence pointing to reasonable doubt. And the story certainly makes short shrift of Obert and her son ignoring what were court-ordered discovery issues.
Failing to answer deposition questions is a big deal, ultimately punishable by contempt charges. The constitution provides a right to all accused individuals to confront witnesses against them. Once a judge orders depositions allowable, answering questions of an attorney becomes integral to that process. And that process is integral to a finding of guilt. Those issues,which the article diminishes by calling “just procedural” (they are very much not simply “procedural”), are far more critical to trial than the fact that Solo yelled at police when arrested and taken to jail. In fact, the failure to respond to deposition questions and the changing of a story are admissible at trial. Solo’s jailhouse tirade: certainly not.
Does this excuse how US Soccer handled the situation? No. It is alarming that US Soccer didn’t look into the arrest, seek out or obtain police reports, or speak to the alleged victims, or the prosecutor. It is also odd that, at least publicly, there seems to have been no restrictions or requirements accompanying Solo’s suspension later in the year. No substance abuse evaluations, no rehab requirements, nothing of that nature. That’s troubling.
Almost as troubling as Solo being the story, once again, when 22 other incredible women begin the tournament of their lives tomorrow night.
Neil W. Blackmon is Co-Founder of The Yanks Are Coming. Follow him on Twitter @nwblackmon. Reach him via email at nwblackmon@gmail.com