Tag: brandi chastain

olympic sports, soccer

Hope Solo back on the Twitter rampage

Posted on by Beau Dure

So the U.S. women’s soccer team cruised through its game against Colombia today, apart from that nasty punch to Abby Wambach’s face. Three goals, solid win. No problem, right?

Or maybe not.

That was her second Tweet after the game. The first was dated 2:44 p.m. ET. The game ended around 1:50 p.m. That’s quick.

I didn’t hear all of the commentary, given my other two jobs. So what was said?

https://twitter.com/sbethTX/status/229309126608560129

Well that sounds serious. Anyone else want to weigh in?

OK, that clears things up.

Frankly, I’m not sure it matters if Brandi wound up and yelled “HOPE SOLO STINKS! THIS DEFENSE IS A JOKE!” over and over during the game. Fans can debate that.

Why the heck are players offering their critiques before they’ve even left the stadium?

And what does Solo know of Chastain’s comments? She wasn’t that busy during the game. Was she watching an NBC feed in the goal?

As regular readers know, this isn’t the first time Solo has wound up on Twitter. She has been significantly quieter since then.

But with a book coming up and promising to tell her side of the 2007 Women’s World Cup, along with some attention-getting interviews, I wondered before the Games whether Solo’s words were going to pose a threat to team chemistry. You could say it’s “new guard” (at least one of them) vs. “old guard,” but some of the old guard is still around.

Should they be worried?

 

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soccer

What makes a soccer game change? Besides Messi

Posted on by Beau Dure

Barcelona was dominating Arsenal in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal, taking a 2-0 away lead that could have been more. Then the game changed.

Why? What made that game change? What makes any game change?

I asked a couple of people who are in far better position than I am to know such things.

X, O, squiggle, goal
Ummm, coach? Can you possibly go over all that again?

Houston coach Dominic Kinnear saw some tactical changes:

“Two things happened that changed the game. One was Arsenal’s decision to play three at the back. The other was the insertion of Theo Walcott. Walcott’s pace to get in behind (the Barcelona defense) was huge.”

U.S. women’s veteran Brandi Chastain went with another angle:

“When the other team seems to be in control but is not putting away chances, you start to think, ‘Maybe we’re in this.’ And they start to become frustrated with the lack of finishing. Barcelona probably could’ve scored another two goals. That becomes frustration, and then you start to let down your mental guard. Then the other team gets a little bit of success, whether it’s possession or chances on goal.”

Matt Besler from the Kansas City Wizards figures Arsenal just had to turn it up a few notches:

“I think it was just the situation that Arsenal was in. The urgency that they had once they went down 2-0, they knew that being at home that they needed a tie or win, they really needed to go for the goal. I think that was the tipping point that helped them get some more energy and get more urgent. That’s why soccer is such a tough game. You can dominate a game for 70 or 80 minutes, but if you lose concentration for 10 minutes you can lose everything that you worked for.”

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