Ongoing World Cup Dialogue: Keepers, Sportsmanship, Etc.

6/13/2019

U.S. caught some hell for 13 of these. But stick around.

While some of us are fretting over the Americans' 13-0 drubbing of Thailand in the Women’s World Cup, let us look for the reasons for the mismatch.

Let us look at FIFA. You remember FIFA, the world soccer body, once seen suffering mass arrests of officials in a lush Swiss hotel, for legal and financial improprieties.

That FIFA. The world soccer federation, that gave us the brokered convention that led to Russia holding the 2018 World Cup for men in Russia (reasonable enough) and the 2022 World Cup coming up in Qatar, that world powerhouse in the hot desert.

That convention was marked by packets of American $100 bills to buy the votes of delegates.
I believe the “A” in FIFA stands for Avarice.

Now FIFA is lusting to expand its men’s World Cup from 48 teams to 64, as soon as it can get away with it. This will somehow make more money for the friendly folks from FIFA, even if it guts the grand institution of qualifying regional tournaments, with quadrennial upsets of established teams.

What? You thought the cupidity and stupidity ended with the canning of goofy old Sepp Blatter? There’s more where he came from. (Now there is talk of starting a permanent super-team league in Europe; these people must hate their own sport.)

What does this catalogue of avarice have to do with the 13-0 goalfest by Alex Morgan and her teammates? Plenty. Expansion produced the one-sided match.

To be fair to FIFA, it did create a women’s World Cup in 1991, with 12 teams in China, and the United States winning. FIFA recognized the talent and desire to play on the part of women, and the WWC challenged nations that treated women as second-rate citizens in sports as well as more important ways. The WWC spurred FIFA to expand to 16 and then to 24 in 2015.

Group play was sometimes ragged, but as nations caught on, there were more competitive teams. The United States – boosted by Title IX legislation plus the appeal of women’s sports – won three of the first seven World Cups, but never lacked for worthy opponents.

Veterans of early World Cups will not forget the vigilance of Linda Medalen, an Oslo cop, who anchored the back line and loved to beat up on the Yanks. Or Ann-Kristen Aarones whose header provided an early lead in the 1995 semifinal, won by Norway. Or the Chinese stalwarts who pushed the U.S. into a shootout in the 1999 finals. Or Birgit Prinz who anchored the German team in 2003 that knocked out the U.S. in the semifinals, or Marta, the gunner who scored twice in Brazil’s 4-0 victory over the U.S. in the 2007 final, or Homare Sawa, the smooth Japanese midfielder who sparked a shootout victory in the 2011 final.

The point is, nations have been shamed or inspired to upgrade women’s soccer, producing great players and dangerous teams – Sweden, Canada, and so on. But let’s be realistic: the women’s sport has produced rivalries and memories and technical skills but not the kind of depth that can fill out a competitive 24-team format.

Soccer doesn't lend itself to showing superfluous mercy. Plus, male World Cup defenders are big enough to fill up the field a bit more, nasty enough to grind down opponents and wily enough to kill the clock, to minimize losses, even to settle a few scores in the closing minutes (a memorable cheap shot by an Italian player against a Spanish opponent in 1994) plus operatic swoons by the divas of the male game (women do not dive, essentially.)

The women stay on their feet, and they keep on playing, which led to that 13-0 mismatch the other day. I read a story in the Times by Hannah Beech, the great correspondent in Bangkok, about the impact of that loss. Life went on, she reported.

As clearly seen in the opener, the U.S. has waves of talent, worthy of Michelle Akers and Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach and so many other stars of past World Cups. But down the line, they are going to meet opponents with the swagger of Medalen or the talent of Prinz or the poise of Sawa or the opportunism of Marta.

Save your scorn for FIFA as it lusts for a totally unnecessary 64-team World Cup, as soon as the barons of FIFA can slip it in.

More opponents like Homare Sawa, best female player, 2011

John McDermott

6/13/2019 05:49:51 pm

I find the Americans’ behavior very unappealing. They seem unaware of the reality of women’s soccer, that it is still in its early days, that overall quality is still fairly low and that their success is relative and should be looked at in the correct context. There are only about 6-8 decent teams which means 24-team tournament will have a lot of lopsided games, Thank FIFA’s insatiable lust for money for creating that situation. The USA-Thailand game was little more than a scrimmage. Hopefully a wake-up call is coming the way of the US players,, as well as a message from above-from coaches, team leaders, the federation or even FIFA-to tone it down. Their behavior was classless and embarrassing. And the clueless and self-serving comments of Morgan, Rapinoe and others when questioned about it the next day only make it worse. It’s all and only about them and about how great they are. They have diminished themselves. People who defend them by trying to make this about gender inequality are worse than dishonest. The entire US team and coaching staff should be made to watch Germany’s players’ demeanor during their 2014 slaughter of WC host Brazil over and over again until they get it. The Germans were embarrassed to be humiliating an opponent they respected and conducted themselves with restraint and class. US women should take note. But they’re probably still too busy admiring and complimenting themselves. They really are becoming a most unappealing group.

George Vecsey

6/13/2019 07:50:02 pm

John: Thanks so much. Because you know the sport better than I do, your comment is important. You used a perfect example of German players not showing up their Brazilian (host) opponents in 2014. We've both seen cases in which a former player comes back to San Siro or Bernabeu or whatever and declines to celebrate out of respect for the fans and his old team. But I think this is different -- first game in a World Cup, and the overt support that female players give each other (I think club competition is less engrained.) Female volleyball -- a celebration after every point. How not to disrespect opponents in a WWC? Cut back on the celebration? I don't think it was personal....could they have toned it down after 8 or 10? I'm sure. I also find Rapinoe one of my favorites, a straight shooter. I think she sees the big picture. But when is enough enough? Mille grazie. GV

John McDermott

6/14/2019 01:36:52 am

To be clear, I am not saying that the US women should have stopped scoring or trying to play their best. It is, after all, an official game in a World Cup and they have a duty to do their best, even if such games don’t belong in a WC and actually put the state of women’s soccer in a negative light. My problem is their excessive self-celebration. They are used to being lauded, celebrated, even venerated, and criticism of them is rare-and never well-received. In this case it is justified and I hope the wiser heads are listening and exercise some leadership(and I’m not sure the coach is one of those wiser heads, as good a coach as she may be). I’m trying to imagine how a Bora or a Gansler, a Wenger, Capello or a Klopp would have handled this. Very differently I think. I doubt Pia Sundhage would have encouraged or tolerated such excessive displays, which went way beyond “supporting a teammate”. At a certain point it just becomes repetitive self-congratulation at the expense of a helpless and hapless victim. Can you imagine Messi-whose goal celebrations tend to be restrained anyway-scoring five goals in a Spanish Cup game against a weak team from the lower divisions of Spanish soccer and celebrating each one as if he had just beaten Real Madrid? Neither can I. He doesn’t need to. He knows who he is. If Morgan, Rapinoe, et. al. are true professionals, and as good as they are supposed to be, then they will learn from this instead of continuing to defend their behavior as normal and appropriate. It wasn’t. They are adored and emulated by countless girls and boys who play soccer and they need to show them a better example of good sportsmanship.

Seth Langson

6/13/2019 07:27:34 pm

I hate when teams run up the score, especially against much inferior opponents. Maybe the goal celebrations on the late goals was a bit excessive, but then again I can only imagine the joy of participating on the world stage. With score differential important, holding the score down would have been reckless.

George Vecsey

6/13/2019 07:55:50 pm

Dear Seth Langson: Thanks. (First time replying?) I agree with you in, say, American football, when it is possible to run the ball rather than pass with a 4-touchdown lead, or whatever. (I saw Maryland State run the ball for a second half against Hofstra a zillion years ago to protect a squad with 20 players.) But it's hard to not score in soccer when one team is so vastly inferior. JP Dellacamera said early in the match that the keeper "has trouble with her hands," or something like that, not snidely. The defense was ripe for picking. Rapinoe made moves and dished off the ball...The alternative in soccer is back-passes to the keeper. Of course, in a men's league that would draw whistles from the crowd. The Americans almost could not help scoring. Degree of celebrating? A different question. Best, GV

Alan Rubin link

6/14/2019 04:03:34 pm

Even with the early inequities in some of the games, I’m enjoying this year’s WWC.

As good as this year’s USWNT is, my favorite was the 1999 version coached by Tony DiCicco. He took a very diverse group of talented players and blended them into a group that functioned as a team in every sense of the word.

George wrote an interesting NYT piece about them just prior to the start of the 1999 WWC. I cannot locate the link, but maybe George can.

I'm rooting for France since most trained with or play for Olympique Lyonnais, the best woman's football club in Europe.

They have a strong youth academy and their president Jean-Michel Aulas has had the strong vision to make this all happen. He treats the Lyon men and women's programs as equals. They share the same quality facilities in that they train together and eat together.

I also follow Portland in the MLS as their owner does the same with the NWSL's Portland team.

I stopped following the NE Revs after the Boston's professional women's team, the Boston Breakers, folded a year ago. The Kraft family did nothing to help them even though they were drawing between 2-3,000 plus per game at Harvard Stadium. My friend and I worked to help build the Breaker's brand in Western MA, but a three hour round trip was a hard sell.

The Breakers were willing to send players out to meet with girls youth clubs and do video chats before and after home games. The interest was growing, but ownership decided to pull the plug. (They were not owned by the Krafts).

The Breakers also gave free tickets to minority organizations.

I'm back to following the NE Revs now that Bruce Arena has been named manager. Leadership does make a difference as they have started to win.

Boston is a hotbed for youth soccer with a strong female following. A young goalkeeper coach I know from Salem High School now has a successful two year old goalkeeper training academy for girls. Her reputation is so good that she is now adding boys do to popular demand.

In their 13-0 win over Thailand, the USWNT exhibited fantastic talent and depth, but no class.

I admired and marveled at Thailand’s goalkeeper Sukanya Chor Charoenying’s determination to continue performing at her best as the goals continued to pile up. The Times of London gave her a nice review.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/thailands-5ft-5in-goalkeeper-sukanya-chor-charoenying-my-height-is-not-an-issue-despite-13-0-world-cup-defeat-lnbnkvbd8

FIFA’s corruption and potential damage to the sport will continue until all of the old guard from the Blatter Era is purged all the way down to the basement level.

“Red Card: How the U. S. Blew the Whistle on the World’s Biggest Sports Scandal” by Ken Bensinger is an interesting read on how the U. S. Department of Justice used RICO laws to bring Blatter and Company down. Our current government would probably want a piece of the action.

Happy Father’s Day.

Hansen Alexander

6/15/2019 02:17:42 pm

Dear George,

I am always intrigued with the opinion of the sole soccer observer on the planet earth who is not dazzled by the beauty of Alex Morgan. Unique observes and their viewpoints are to be cherished and read avidly, LOL.

The main controversy at issue, whether the US Women unfairly ran up the score against hapless Thailand with malice aforethought, so as to constitute unsportsmanlike behavior, has been answered, George, to my satisfaction, in the negative.

You make a convincing case that goals matter in this system as set up by FIFA, and therefore must be adhered to by the participants needing to advance to later rounds.. I don't know enough about the sports to compare it to US football, but in my ignorance I express the thought that it might be very dangerous to not play full out and thus risk injury. I guess the soccer fan's response would be that on the contrary, a superior team can turn the game into passing practice, and hold back on goals. I don't know.

I will pass judgement on soccer journalists, as I know more about journalism than soccer. In my uninformed opinion, that appear to me that most soccer journalists are outrageous chauvinists that come with the with the conceit that can only be made possible by the luxury of a sport, like most male sports, that is artificially pumped up in attendance and sales of jerseys, by females with absolutely no interest in the sport, and who are merely supporting, or humoring, their boyfriends and husbands. The same can be stated by the major US sports of baseball, football, and baseball.

Because of this conceit, male soccer journalists continue to malign the serious and justified movement among women in soccer, spearheaded by the glamorous Morgan herself, to have better pay, better conditions in locker rooms and in hotel rooms on the road. To those male primitives who claim women do not have the market of men, I point you back to my above analysis of the behavior of supportive women who could care less about the sports they are shelling out money for.

In addition, to the overconfident make primitives, I urge you to look at the studies now underway by sports programmers who are scared to death that televised sports has reached its zenith and is ready for a dramatic fall, because the new generation of millenials is generally not interested in live sports events, and prefers streaming, and prefers looking at highlights later on, not the game in progress.

George, you have always been the exception to these male chauvinists and why you were the most respected sports columnist of your time.

In the West, where a higher standard of living generates much higher soccer revenues for the foreseeable future, than say Nigeria or Mexico, women most likely will drift away over time, particularly if the male's televised events lose viewers, and drift toward women's sports where they can identify with the players. The female attendance in the US at male sports, is an archaic vestage of societal socialization, going back to high school when males played the sports, and girls merely were allowed to be cheerleaders.

Speaking as a former all conference baseball and basketball player in high school, it is my considered judgement that in like sports, such as basketball, tennis, soccer, hockey, (baseball v. softball) the women's game is a hell of a lot more fun to watch. While male basketball has turned into elite gymnastics, women's basketball retains the charm and visible pleasure of passing the basketball around and laying solid defense. In male tennis now for decades it has been practically impossible even to see where the tennis ball goes due to the absurd speed of the serve and return. You can actually see the ball in women's tennis. The NCAA men's baseball tournament has turned into a prolonged tryout for the prospects to give major league scouts more opportunity to evaluate them. While the women's NCAA softball tournament is a joyous, fun, celebration of sport, as the young women enjoy every second of season, most of them to go off to make a living doing something else. They sing and even dance between innings. To me, the men's World Cup in soccer, despite its extraordinary hype, reminds me of the modern Olympics, where already professional stars deign to take a couple months off of their banking gravy train, and exploit nationalism, which is a the best of all marketing schemes.

But as Andy Rooney used to say, "That's just my opinion."

John McDermott

6/15/2019 06:33:14 pm

I'm not sure what to think about a comment that bemoans-over and over again-"outrageous chauvinist male soccer journalists"(who are they, by the way? I know a lot of dedicated soccer journalist, both male and female and I don't know anyone I would consider a chauvinist.)while repeatedly referring to female players using sexist terms like "gorgeous" and "dazzled by the beauty of...". Seriously? If anything, when it comes to the US Women's National Team the press is generally beyond supportive, at times crossing the line into cheerleading. The team is good and the players are generally appealing personalities as well. They are rarely criticized and this time, when the criticism they and their coaches received was actually well-founded, the reaction of some fans and supporters, not to mention certain journalist, to unquestioningly defend them is disappointing.

Hansen Alexander

6/16/2019 10:51:59 am

John,,

I'm not analyzing policies of presidential candidates and their policy differences. If you think that complementing the beauty of a female athlete at the same time as advocating for her rights is sexist, there isn't much I can tell you at this late date. It reminds me of the contemporary argument that to call out racists is a racist comment in itself. And to suggest that favorable coverage of a national team, whether at the World Cup or the Olympics, is unique to the US Women's Soccer team is both silly and flat out wrong. National teams always get sympathetic coverage. The only exception I recall is when Bob Costas called out the first male, professional, NBA All Stars, US "Dream Team" in basketball, I believe in Barcelona, for "going on a marketing trip" in playing against totally outmatched competition.

And you fail to realize that the main issue with this USA team, like all US Women World Cup teams, is the survival of women's soccer and women's sports against the societal pressures, male history, and money dominance of white male owners (which is a large part of FIFA), that is not dissimilar to what women political candidates endure in trying to run for public office in the United States, where the massive money now permitted privately held individuals far outweighs the corporate cash and all its legal limitations. Your rigid view that soccer is about soccer does not apply here, anymore than Billie Jean King's campaign for better pay for women in tennis was that tennis was tennis.

Consider that the growth of soccer itself in the United States, whether for boys or girls, is not about soccer for soccer. It is about middle class parents, educated and concerned for their children's health, welfare, and education, and moving away from the health risks and eventual legal risks of football, to school districts. Politics and societal concerns are driving the growth of soccer in the United States, not a new found love of the sport in the 50 states.

I don't think I have to cite chapter and verse, to suggest the viewing of this Women World Cup (or any soccer on TV) is tiny among the rural population of United States or the urban poor of United States.

Ed Martin

6/16/2019 05:21:37 pm

As Jimmy Cannon wrote, “Nobody Asked Me, but....”

Muhlenberg College played Temple in a downpour. The ball felt like a concrete block when headed. Temple scored on the opening play- a tap to the side, a cross to the wing in flight, a center and bam, a goal!

We lost 7-0 and I have long suspected Temple eased up, but we were so exhausted, maybe they wore themselves out.

That year, Temple played St. Louis University for the NCAA championship. I think they lost, but losing 7-0 to the best, or second best team in the country, took the sting out.

I also wonder if the long fight the women have been in over equal pay, real grass turf, etc. (Remember Hope Solo), May have have led to some exuberance from just playing the game.

PS, the Chilean goalie was outstanding in their 3-0 loss. I’m just saying...

Alan Rubin link

6/17/2019 11:11:13 am

Ed, playing in the mud is miserable for all the players. We had defeated Delaware 5-4 at home my sophomore year. The game was on a Friday and it had rained heavily all week so we had not practiced.

We could not believe that they would come by bus all the way from Newark, Del. to Bethlehem, PA in such miserable weather.

Our coach had checked with theirs and it was believed that the weather would clear by game time, which it did.

However, the field was a quagmire and the goalmouth’s grass-less depression(almost a ditch of several inches) was a lake.

My keeper’s uniform was brown team shorts worn over blue sweat pants, basketball knee pads on the outside, a baseball hat and a white Lehigh Jersey.

The starting whistle seemed to trigger a cloudburst that eventually settled into a steady rain.

Keeper gloves were not available then and the sticky tar stuff on my hands were quickly negated. Also, my soggy sweat pants felt like lead bricks.

We were down 4-0 at halftime. I could not hold on to the slippery ball. As per your comment about the water-logged ball, my teammates were trapping the ball rather than heading it.

As regulars to this site probably know, I coach soccer goalkeepers age 8-18, both sexes. I make it a point to never talk about any of my great saves, if any actually occurred, but to use my mistakes as teaching tools.

This game was the exception as I also discuss how the goalkeeper is the team’s leader and how they should grow into that role as they develop.

At halftime I had mentioned that Delaware’s goalkeeper was probably having the same difficulties that I was and that I did not intend to catch any ball that was not directly into my chest or waist area. I directed the ball as close to my feet as possible and the defense was to help with anyone that got away.

Since their goalkeeper was having the same problem, I said to put the ball on goal from anywhere and follow in for rebounds.

We won 5-4. The lesson for my young keepers was that the goalkeeper needs to evaluate what was happening and to direct the team with a strategy.

George Vecsey

6/17/2019 01:00:04 pm

1. Everybody see Rory Smith's perfect column about Endler in NYT today?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/16/sports/christiane-endler-chile.html?searchResultPosition=1

2. Speaking of keepers, I contributed to our captain, Bob Seel, becoming all-city in 1955...by my miscues at defender., I can still hear Bob's high-pitched yells as he tried to talk me into position. Or having agility and finesse. All hopeless. He would play forward one half and score a goal. Then clean up my mistakes in second half.

3. Speaking of rain and mud, I remember a game (or scrimmage?) against, I think, Bayside, and I feel on a tiny forward and we both went down into the quagmire that was the Jamaica High field. (Footnote: I was 35 pounds heavier than I am today.) I can still hear him trying to scream, "Arriba! Arriba!"to try to get me off him.
GV

bruce

6/17/2019 02:54:52 pm

george,

i'm late to this, but my take is you can't put players on the field and expect not to do their best not to score goals.

but when it becomes obvious they cannot challenge your team in any serious way, you should tell them that after they score, they trot back up the field to get into position. a slap on the back or hand shake or similar is fine.

period.

i will add that i'm pretty sure if say, canada or france or....kicked the hell out of the usa and celebrated like they'd discovered a cure for the cancer that americans would not be happy.

i think i emailed you the story i heard about 20 years ago while i was living in japan, when a japanese university baseball team beat the hell out of an american team.

might be apocryphal but i was told it....the japanese were winning easily, but kept their first string players in. they kept on stealing, bunting...the american team took offence and fights broke out. mostly japanese fleeing, i would assume from my experience.

after the game the american manager, fuming, accused the japanese of humiliating his team when they were well beaten.

the japanese manager denied it. saying they respected the americans so kept on trying their hardest. to start substituting second/third stringers would be incredibly disrespectful to an opponent. it would show they thought you were so terrible they could put anybody out on the field and beat you.

or so i was told.

bruce

Alan Rubin link

6/17/2019 03:38:44 pm

Rory Smith’s excellent article on the USWNT vs Chile game was unusual in that he called attention to how goalkeepers prepare and the importance of footwork.

At every age and level of competence, footwork is among the two tops skills that they work on daily. Christine Endler took this to the highest possible level.

I was fascinated that she tailored her footwork to anticipate what to expect based upon her study of the American team’s habits. It is not uncommon to see professional goalkeepers check a wrist or ankle wrap for information on the player taking a PK.

I hope that Chile manages to advance to the knockout stage so we can see more of her.

Ed Martin

6/18/2019 11:31:30 am

SOCCER WAR STORIES CONTINUED...

Rory Smith’s article made me compare him with a guy named George Vecsey, pretty good.

1949, when I was a freshman at Muhlenberg, the team was very strong, won frequently. I could not play freshmen were not eleigible, but I preacticesd, scrimmaged some times. My hero was Rudy Amelio, a wing, fast and tough. I particular appreciated him keeping a bouncing ball in play batting it with his fingers, his hand tightly at his side. With one ref. Stuff happened.

The next year Berg dropped the sport. The GI Bill expired and the college dropped from 1200 to 800 students. As sports editor of the Weekly” I blasted the administration, comparing the minimal costs with the football and other sports. A group of high school athletes, only one had played soccer other than me, formed a team and demanded support. The college assigned Ernie Fellows, track coach, with a book on soccer in hie hand as Coach. We lost every game that year except for a 3-3 tie with Ursinus. I was out that game with a sprained ankle, and always suspected that was a factor.

Andy Tansey

6/19/2019 09:54:38 pm

This has been a fun read.

FIFA & physical beauty: Blather recommended that the female players wear hotpants. Compare the frequency of comments about female athletes' physical attractiveness (fortunately less so recently) to those about male athletes. "Cris Ronaldo is so HOT!"? However, Hansen is to be commended for his honesty!

Perhaps also credit the US women for their honesty in celebrating? They were very happy, and they showed it. However, I think they have heard the message not to show it as much. When I reffed youth soccer, I heard a sub from a team with a big league enter and tell her colleagues in a voice clearly audible to the opponents, "Coach said we're not allowed to score anymore." Sportsmanship and sportswomanship [spellcheck objects!] are fine balances.

Equal pay? Sorry, but it is an inferior product. Having the same observation as George that men's larger bodies tend to fill the field, I wondered whether a smaller field for women would make for a better game. (The Laws allow this!) However, I came to the opposite conclusion. The excusable biological differences between male and female athletes - women are not as fast or as strong - go only so far in explaining the difference in quality. For example, women's passing accuracy, which should NOT be a function of physical capacity - is nothing compared to men's. More subtly, tactical capacity by women's teams should likewise not be limited by mere physical differences, but it does not compare to men's. The comparison extends to all facets, including inferior refereeing and even TV commentary: JP and his lady sidekicks know all the US players' names, and frequently refer to opponents as "the Chilean defender" or "the Thai goalkeeper," and some other off-camera commentator does personal stories about US - and only US - players. Equal rights, but even in the USA you can't expect to pay the same price for Sierra Nevada that you pay for Bud Light.

Comments are closed.

QUOTES
From the great Maureen Dowd:

As I write this, I’m in a deserted newsroom in The Times’s D.C. office. After working at home for two years during Covid, I was elated to get back, so I could wander around and pick up the latest scoop.
But in the last year, there has been only a smattering of people whenever I’m here, with row upon row of empty desks. Sometimes a larger group gets lured in for a meeting with a platter of bagels."

--- Dowd writes about the lost world of journalists clustered in newsrooms at all hours, smoking, drinking, gossipping, making phone calls, typing, editing.
***
"Putting out the paper," we called it.
Much more than nostalgia.
---https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/opinion/journalism-newsroom.html

Ongoing World Cup Dialogue: Keepers, Sportsmanship, Etc.

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