Bad Coaching Cost Americans World Cup Glory
For starters I want to say congratulations to Brazil and Germany for making to the final of the Womens World Cup (which plays on Sunday). They deserve it; the Brazilians outplayed the US in today’s semifinal match and deserve their place at a shot for the title. Now on to the horrible coaching job by US Coach Greg Ryan.
Two days prior to the biggest game thus far for the US Women’s National Team, Coach Ryan decided to bench his starting keeper that had only allowed 2 goals in the tournament. Those goals were scored in the first game of the group stage, and Hope Solo, arguably the world’s best female keeper, had not conceded a goal in 300 minutes.
So why bench her for a cold and aging Brianna Scurry? Great question. Coach Ryan said that past performances against the Brazilians factored into his decision. With all due respect Coach, the past is just that. The past. You have cost Hope a chance to prove herself as a force in the world because of the past.
Another bonehead move came when the US was down by 2 goals and Coach Ryan substituted and added defensive players. This case should have been a prime example to put more offensive minded players to press the Brazilians, but this was not the case and it cost the US a chance to win their 3rd World Cup.
Again I want to give credit where credit is due, and the Brazilians deserve to be in the final with Germany. It should be a great match with the athleticism of Brazil and the aggressive nature of the defending World Champions. My guess is Germany wins 3-2 in a hard fought match.
Coach Ryan, please do the US Fans a favor and quit trying to be “The Greatest Coach Ever” by making stupid decisions, stick with what works and let the results give you that title…if you deserve it.
Didn’t US Womens team beat Brazil a few years ago at the World Cup? Nothing to do with the article, was just wondering.
I also think Germany is going to win, not by much though, should be an awesome game to watch.
Yes, this is only the second win in 23 games for the Brazilians. And they deserved to win the game, but questionable coaching decisions did not help the US.
[...] presence between the sticks is somewhat questionable. US coach picked Scurry ahead of Hope Solo. Hope Solo started from the first match but was unbeatable on the following 300 minutes while [...]
The American Women were out paced by Brazil. I thought that the Brazil women ran by our defense, and the pace the demonstrated was tremendous.
Coaching decisions were questionable but as Tony said, he made mistakes also.
Refereeing was poor, and the decision on the red card was terrible, where was the linesperson. Wow! That referee should be tossed from FIFA.
Brazil whipped the Americans, no doubt.
What team is going to get Marta! I would love to see her play against men! She is awesome!
What a pitifull attempt by Ryan to be a genius. Hope Solo obviously should have played. Why did Ryan substitute for additional defensive players? To attampt to keep the score down so his bonehead decision wouldn’t turn out to be a disatorous blowout. Oops.
The bogus yellow-red didn’t help matters. I wonder what the outcome would have been if the referee had actually seen the incident involving Boxx instead of reacting to seeing two fallen players and a Brazilian asking for a yellow (the ultimate simulation).
Marta - wow, what a player. She would get kicked to pieces in the men’s game and would not get near any level due to lack of strength (relative). I don’t know why people when they see a good women’s footballer “I’d love to see her in the men’s game”… it’s not a relevant comparison. She is the best in the world at her sport (women’s football). How she would do in the men’s game is irrelevant. Don’t get me wrong, if she played against me and my mates I am sure she would be stronger, faster and better… but at any professional level in the men’s game she would have no chance - but then I wouldn’t be much good at childbirth.
Hope Solo - just saw her on the bench. Does she win the award for hotty of the tournament (not that there was a lot of competition)? Am I allowed to say that? Is it sexist?
That was truly an appalling refereeing decision. Utterly inexplicable. If she saw it, she could surely not have got it wrong. If she didn’t see it, she cannot give a free kick never mind another yellow card. Mad.
scurry didn’t kick the Americans out of the world cup..they themselves did..the American team finally got at taste of how bitter Brazilian samba can be…i think coach ryan forsaw a possible drubbing and brought in a more agile Gk..it might have worked if the rest of the 10 players did well but they didn’t but instead were overwhelmed…
I agree you cannot blame Scurry for the loss…and I don’t. When you make a switch like that you mess with a teams chemistry, especially if the team works best with the benched player. Hope Solo gave them the best chance to win, couple that with a bogus red card and you have a bad day for the Americans. I give Brazil credit for the win, they deserve it, but watching the game I saw nothing but a team that was tired of the controversy and lost trust in their coach.