Women's World Cup Welcome Escape From Lockouts

Forget the Super Bowl. Forget the NBA finals. Forget the World Series. The U.S. women's World Cup victory over Brazil on Sunday was easily the most entertaining game in the past year. This game had it all: an impossible comeback, controversy, a formidable opponent, dubious officiating, nerve-wracking penalty kicks, and a whole lot of heart.

One year ago, Landon Donovan scored the shot seen round the world, a late-minute goal to keep the U.S. men's hopes alive. The women's game had that and more.

The Americans were given a raw deal 70 minutes into the game when the referee handed out a questionable red card and awarded a penalty kick. The referee then compounded her mistake, giving Brazil a second chance on the penalty kick after another dubious call.

Brazil held onto a 2-1 lead into the late minutes and the game looked all but over. American star Abby Wambach couldn't seem to slip one past the Brazilian goalkeeper. ESPN's Bill Simmons tweeted the sentiments of millions of American viewers: "Damn -- that Wambach shot was USA's big chance. This game is over. There's no way Brazil will blow this now."

But Wambach screamed at her teammates to keep fighting until the very end. They rose to the occasion, serving her up a golden opportunity that she seized, delivering a picture-perfect header into the net and sending the game into penalty kicks, where the Americans triumphed.

Against all odds. Against the officials. Against the best female soccer player in the world.

This game is why we watch sports. The feeling of being dragged into the depths of misery only to be redeemed with a miracle shot "in the death" as they say.

U-S-A! U-S-A!

What was this game missing?

Commercialism. Greed. Labor disputes. Enormous egos.

These are difficult times to be a sports fan. For the first time in history, two major American sports are in lockout and two others may soon be. Suddenly, sports news is dominated with talk of salary caps, rookie wage scales, and revenue sharing. And this temporary escape from the ugly business of sports will no doubt end too quickly.

But for one Sunday, the American women have reminded us all why we are sports fans in the first place -- the thrill of victory.

Too bad they don't play the World Cup every year.

 

Follow Brian Frederick on Twitter: www.twitter.com/brifred

Comments

[Lisa Catherine Harper]

01:52 PM on 07/12/2011

Such a smart addition to the discussion of a great game. Thanks for pointing this out.

[DrBulldog]

01:44 PM on 07/12/2011

Well, the game presentation wasn't quite perfect - they could dispensed with Tony DiCicco, who really has nothing worthwhile to say anyway. And it visibly pains him every time when he is forced into saying something nice about Hope Solo ...

And it was stunning to feel and hear the panic coming from Julie and Ian. First, at about the the 76th minute, Julie started blubbering about the US having 24 minutes to hold on, then sputtered out that the US had 20 minutes left during the 79th minute. Ian finally corrected her. Then in the early part of the second overtime period, they BOTH kept reporting the minutes remaining and possibilities for extra time exactly as if the overtime period would end at 115:00. When 115:00 came and went, they meekly paused (I could sense it) and went on without comment about their blunders and finally got on the correct time track ... hey, Ian and Julie, you didn't think the fans would notice, did you?

[Mansa]

04:52 AM on 07/12/2011

And shoot-outs? Well, let the fans decide. A simple world referendum over a period of 6 months should settle matters. But let's have a review of the rules every 5 years or so.

[Mansa]

04:50 AM on 07/12/2011

I guess if you don't like a sport then just don't watch it. Soccer is the world's most popular sport, so there must be something there. Yet, there are some really silly rules in the sport that FIFA refuses to change: 1)not having a replacement for sent off players. A biased--and most are--referee can make or break game by having players sent off for trivial reasons. 2) Referees make mistakes and can be biased. So reduce their dictatorial powers by increasing the number of infraction cards before a send-off. 4--as in basketball--would be fine. That would also help reduce the confounded diving to get players carded. 3) FIFA is deathly afraid of instant camera technology. It would help because the ref cannot see everything. That should also change.

[MayoGalway]

11:04 PM on 07/11/2011

Hockey can have low scoring games, but they settle it with Sudden Death. Soccer(futbol) has consistently low scoring games with even fewer goal scoring opportunities than hockey. Futbol is a game of constant frustration punctuated by moments of sheer drama, heroics, disappointment. Goalies can go whole games w/o a save then lose on a careless mistake(own goal) or an absolutely undefendable perfect shot. The cross from MK was just that: a perfect placement for AW. Who, as a striker was situated where she was suppossed to be. A 121 plus minutes to arrive at the confluence of athletic excellence. Goooooaaaaaaaalllll!

[depethroat]

06:33 PM on 07/11/2011

Any game that has 'shootouts' in such important is a lame sport. Baseball-extra innings; hockey-ot until a real score; basketball-play until there is a real winner.

[MayoGalway]

10:48 PM on 07/11/2011

I agree. Deep six the shootout. When it's the World Cup or any world championship: Sudden Death, Golden Goal. Even tennis goes into overtime.

[DrBulldog]

01:27 PM on 07/12/2011

So you seriously think you can score a goal after running for 120 minutes?

OMG, call the national team coach now and get a tryout!!!

[jkcole212]

04:33 PM on 07/12/2011

What's the solution then? Golden goal? That was tried and it was an epic fail. Keep having 30 minute extra times until a team finishes one with more goals? That would be too much. Games could last forever and the risk of injury would increase dramatically as the match goes into the 3-4 hour range. Penalty shootouts aren't perfect, but they are the best out of all the options.