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I’m glad she won player of the year. I’d also like to make a little reflection about the nominees: they didn’t nominate Harder (still one of the top 3 best Denmark players), but nominated Kühl. Harder out could be due to her being out of the pitch for her hamstring injury for some months. However, they did nominate Kühl, who was benched basically all the time in Arsenal (hadn’t gone on loan to Everton yet. And now despite it, she seems to have lost her spot in Denmark’s starting XI, which is sad (I really like her) but still a thing that can happen if you sign for a too big of a club too soon. You can stagnate, and other teammate can get the national team spot (let’s see what happens with Svava at Lyon, another decision I don’t really understand…). So, then maybe not playing a lot isn’t “actually” a criteria for the nominations. Kühl had an ok World Cup, but not outstanding, so the main guess is that they want to keep Harder out of that award race. Which could be logical if you stop to think that if she is there every year, it could mean that the Danish federation is not doing that well producing new talent. Should this award be named as it is: “Danish football player of the year”? I don’t know it that name applies if you are nominating some best, and some promising that haven’t actually delivered yet. Nevertheless, I love watching Denmak win, and I’m glad about this new era, I’ll hope they keep improving :)
Haha, I guess we did make Brasil look unbeatable - between France and Spain. France by getting completely destabilised by their foul playing and relegated to defence. And Spain by getting destabilized by their provocations and time wasting and getting exposed at the back while chasing the score. Well done USA, proving that Brazil is beatable, especially when the referee doesn't buy their tricks. Marta was out of place in this team; they played better without her on the field. Heck, they probably tried to teach her to play dirty - and she failed miserably, got sent off and suspended for 2 more games. She is a legend and a player with a remarkable longevity, but really - was she not better supporting the team from the stands this time ? I wanted Geyse in the brasilian squad. Cheers.
How about this for a bit of trivia? The three Expresso's scored three goals each (and weighed in with just as many assists) to get the USWNT to the finals. Rodmen scored the winner in the quarter-finals, Smith scored the winner in the semi-finals and Swanson scored the winner in the Final. They could not have spread the goas more evenly if they tried to. Now that's the best example I ever come across of a group of strikers that are right on song (forgetting the fact that they could all pass for real-life sisters all having black Dads and white Mums), lol. And on another note, I am not the biggest fan of the USWNT midfield largely because more dynamic and influential players are waiting for their chance to show what they can do. Rookie Croix Bethune is already in the mix (and rightly so) but it is a significant oversight by Emma Hayes that she has not already noticed the best Rookie in the world. Anyone who has not clocked how good the number one draft pick and the best player for the Utah Royles (leading in assists and goals) is, does not really know their football. Ally Sentnor, who is one of the best players (playing for the worst team) in the NWSL, will become thee stand-out USWNT player from the moment she gets her chance to shine. Yes even out-shinning the amazing Espresso girls who so brilliantly lead the attack. And Sentnor will not need time to adjust either. Like Lilly Yohanis, she will hit the ground running for her country the same way she has hit the ground running for her club. Corbin Albert, like Ally Sentnor, is in her first season as a professional. Check out both their highlight reels and see for yourself who is the more impressive of the two. Sentnor can dribble like Rodman, shoot like Sophia Smith and high press like Lynn Williams. Her head is always on the swivel. She does not show nerves, her eyes are always focused on the game so her mind does not drift. In her debut game as a professional footballer, 20-year-old Ally Sentnor was easily the best player on the park (that's unheard of), running and scoring from the halfway line one of the goals of the season, just for good measure (check it out). When the world gets to see her play in the best national team (USWNT) and alongside some of the worlds best players. Girma, Fox, Rodman, Smith and Swanson to name but a few, then and only then will the world agree with me and see what I see.
The USA midfield needs work, but their set pieces need SERIOUS work. Hayes had good set pieces at Chelsea and I think a lot of that has to do with the delivery. The U.S. delivery on set pieces this tournament was erratic, off target, abysmal at times.
@@dolphmanityMacario may actually be better in the box than with the service. The problem is that USWNT currently doesn't have players that are great in the air, Horan was the best they had in their squad in that aspect so Lavelle had as much of a chance to cause chaos by simply trying to shoot from corners.
@@heppolo Our best players are short. There's no getting around it. We could bring Gaetino in at centerback and push Davidson out to leftback, where she sometimes plays at Gotham. We could give 6-1 Taylor Flint another look in the midfield as the #6.
I switched allegiance so many times during the final few games. Praying for Canada to win against Germany, then praying for Germany to beat the US. Praying for Spain against Brazil, then praying for Brazil against the US. But as much as I wanted to see a fairy tale ending with Marta scoring in a gold medal win for Brazil, I can only admire the American team. And on the home front, even though we didn't get past the quarter-finals, I felt like the Canadian women getting out of their group with six points deducted was its own magnificent victory.
Good for you: it is my firm belief that sectarian people cannot really enjoy sports - for them it's just a distraction from a long and bleak existence of stewing and hating. Kudos to Canada for overcoming the consequences of their coaches' dishonor. Kudos to Germany for winning bronze - and losing only to the best team in the tournament. Kudos to Spain for fighting till the last second - and staying magnificent even in defeat. Kudos to Brazil for stunning two european contenders with their shenanigans and then making USA earn that gold. And well done USA, putting up a flawless performance and making their new coach look like the genius that she probably is.
I was right, Spain is by far the best team in the world and they will easily win Gold and be the first team to win Gold WC and Gold Olympics . USA has been surpassed by major teams in Europe so they have no chance of a medal. USA won in the past only because they were big and fit and they booted the ball long and kicked the ball into the back of the net. Now, that the rest of the world is playing soccer, USA have no chance. They lack the skill, the vision, the understanding and the deep cultural immersion of the beautiful game. As an American, as a three plus decades supporter of USWNT, I have accepted this truth.
watching Spain you could really tell just how little defending those Barca girls actually have to do during their season. id be doing EVERYTHING possible to get Mapi back
Ann-Katrin Berger was in a difficult position in Chelsea competing against other fantastic keepers: Musovic and Hampton. Good on her to realize she was probably going to stagnate and deciding to get out of Chelsea. She was brilliant in both the quarter and semi-final.
USA to beat Japan, i think. Canada to beat Germany, Spain to defeat Columbia? Columbia looks dangerous. France to beat Brazil What did you think of Gustavsson contract not being renewed?
So the question is whether you rest Sam and have her for the quarterfinal or you play her; she gets a yellow, and you don't have her for the semifinal. Hayes says she plays to win every game and plays her best line up. The bigger goal is still the World Cup. I believe Albert or Sonnett will fill in admirably. Albert also has really good foot skills so that she might be better at ball retention.
This is a great video! Thanks for the analysis and coverage of all of the teams that are moving forward! It's what we are really missing in women's sports. Keep up the great work!
Getting exposed or caught with your hands in the cookie jar is the best thing that happened this olympics for Canada Soccer. Many good things will come from this ( ie. a deep dive into Canada Soccer`s past ). Better days are ahead.
Women's football is where I've been going to hide from the ugliness of the world the last couple years. My heart is broken, which feels weird, 'cause I'm not a huge sports fan. But I just watched the highlights of our team against France, and I'm really proud of how they did. But perhaps Canada just needs to invest in superior stealth technology for drones. (Too soon?)
Right now the players are claiming they were never informed or invoved of the drone cheating. It would be interesting to see more facts coming out of the investigation if there really is a real one being done.
It just takes one person to ruin it for a team. Because there is no I in team or in the word blame. They are all responsible and they all knew something
Thank you for speaking about the multiple truths at the same time. Nuance seems to be missed in a lot of commentary I've seen. I think Steph Labbé summed up my feelings so well. This whole situation has been a range of emotions. My dream would be someone like Casey Stoney as our HC. I know she isn't in the Canadian ecosystem, but perhaps someone not part of it will be a breath of *welcomed* fresh air.
Also we violated the law 😂 can’t just be flying drones Willy nilly in the EU without permits. Plus we clearly broke Covid protocols which could get medals stripped easily.
Is FIFA corrupt? Absolutely. Is FIFA sexist? Absolutely. is FIFA white colonial ponzi scheme? Absolutely. Is this particular decision fair? Absolutely. If it was the men's would FIFA let it slide? Absolutely. If it was Israel would FIFA let it slide? Absolutely. If it Spain women? FIFA would probably be harsher to punish the women's side for what they did to their men. If you coach spiked you sports drink with steroids and you didn't know about it and tested positive. You're disqualified and your wins vacated. Not blaming the players but athletics is a team sports even if you're an individual competitor. If the players are furious, they should direct it at Canada soccer. I think all sporting federations are mini FIFA and IOC at a smaller level. You have a small group of people with no oversight and they rule their little or large fiefdoms with near absolute authority. Any organization with this structure, you will have rampant corruption. My prediction is spying will be done by installing spyware on the opposition's phones and electronic devices. One last point, Canada soccer is poor so it can't bribe FIFA to look the other way or to issue a slap on the wrist.
The Dutch convicted rapist will compete later this week, with no impunity. 23 Chinese athletes from Tokyo caught with doping infractions, and nothing is being done,...and many are in Paris. Russia, don't get me started. American track athletes.....et al.
BP was not a good manager to begin with. She never did anything to show she was, yet Canadian media never problematized this aspect. She did not deserve to be coaching at this level and clearly got way in over her head. She is now costing the Federation more than if they'd let her go post-2023.
I agree with the sanction against Bev, and disagree her career is necessarily over. Docking the points is also perhaps reasonable. The enormous fine, much less so. The more fundamental problem is FIFA is so corrupt and compromised. If the Canada women's team had a Russian dictator or oil monarch behind it, nothing would have happened. We all know that. Mariam, I'm sorry for you and the other Canada fans, and especially the players. As an Australian, we can be damn certain the Matildas didn't do anything underhand... like, train... have a strategy... if we could get Gustavsson's career ended, that'd be a boon.
Thanks for tuning in! Just towards the end of the EP we highlighted that with the current patterns in the Women's game, Bev could very much a gig out of Canada 😅. Keeping a close eye on the Matildas!
Very harsh. FIFA has no evidence of previous bad acts. Coaches don't medal at Olympics. If this were a mens team, they would not have come to a decision so quickly. I understand it's The Olympics and the appearance of impropriety is worse. I still say the decision is sexist
I have always loved and supported Bev. That being said, she needs to be fired immediately. She has tarnished her legacy. It is never worth cheating. She got caught doing so. I feel bad for the players. I will never label the players as cheaters. They did no wrong. It is indeed a sad day....
This is a massive overreaction. Didier Drogba himself has said it's not a big deal; the bigger issue is getting caught. We keep calling it cheating, but you still have to win on the day of the match, and almost every single team does this. You might dismiss these points as excuses, but it's the reality of modern sports.
Well, on the bright side, good thing they got caught and exposed. From the reaction they had, it seemed they wanted to do à quick hush-up with 2 scapegoats and a "recusal" 😂 and truly believed that would be enough to let them continue cheating, perhaps with a more advanced drone next time. Bye bye Bev Priestman, start working on your book, make it saucy.
You're doing great work Miriam! I hope you will do more interviews and do more podcasts because I love the vibe and energy coupled with the informative discussions you've been doing... I'm looking forward to following your work as we wind on down the road of life... LOL
I'm a US fan. Canada's women showed me so much talent and heart this year, and I respect the players immensely. I feel absolutely awful for the players -- they deserve so much better.
We have no evidence of anyone else doing it. We don’t even have evidence of anyone outside the Herdman/Priestman friend group doing it. Like it doesn’t seem Marsch did it.
I'm an American fan and this is a sad day. The question that must be asked is how much do the players past and present who were/are aware of this practice? If this was "approved" by Canada Soccer then were players coerced into staying silent? I'm thinking of Sinclair. Did she know, if she did, why did she stay silent? I have to ask how many other national teams are doing something similar? For me personally, what about the US national team?
