Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:
Iraq2xVeteran said:
I am not surprised that Sweeden defeated the US 5-4 on penalty kicks to eliminate the US from the women's world cup. After the US defeated Vietnam 3-0, they struggled to a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands and 0-0 draw against Portugal in their previous matchups. This is poetic justice the consequence of the US women's soccer team spending too way too much time on woke agenda instead of improving their skills.
So when you agree with their politics, it's not a distraction?
They had some key injuries and their coach struggled to put them in the best possible situation. If you think they lost because of their politics, you are out of touch.
They lost for several reasons:
1. US player development lags behind the European counterparts, both technically and tactically. We've historically dominated due to the overall athleticism and experience playing competitive soccer matches. We've never been a technical team or highly sophisticated with our tactics. However, the European clubs are able to negate our athleticism edge with their technical and tactical play.
2. USSF should've fired Vlatko after the Olympics fiasco. He showed he just doesn't have what it takes to manage at international level in that competition. He's also not shown any signs of changing his approach. His roster selection is suspect at best and game management is horrible.
3. Injuries to Pugh and Sauerbraunn really hurt the team, mainly due to Vlatko being horrible at making adjustments.
4. Star players didn't step up. Whatever the reasons (we'll never know), they just didn't show up when the game is on the line. We dominated Sweden but hat tip to their keeper who played lights out.
With regards to the off-field stuff, it just turns people off. None of the causes they supported resonates with the American general public. BLM is and has always been a sham. Don't even get me started on their equal pay push.
I will never understand how someone who has the privilege of being selected to represent the greatest nation in the world doesn't show the pride of wearing the jersey. Instead of getting mad at Rapinoe and her ilk, I chose to relish watching Antonee Robinson enthusiastically sing the national anthem.