Olympics - Off to a Good Start

Nice to see Carli Lloyd on the front page of the Inquirer and the New York Times.  And why not?  All she did yesterday was come off the bench in the 17th minute (due to an injury to Shannon Boxx) and put the U.S. up for good against France, breaking a 2-2 deadlock with a goal in the 56th minute.  The last time Lloyd played in an Olympic match, she scored the game winner against Brazil in the 2008 gold medal match.

Yesterday, the Americans got off to a sluggish start and found themselves down, 2-0, just 14 minutes in.  But Abby Wambach headed in a Megan Rapinoe corner kick and Alex Morgan and Alex Morgan took a long punt from Hope Solo in the 31st minute and equalized.  Morgan also added an insurance goal in the 66th minute.

One note pointed out in the Times:  Lloyd started all 19 game sin which she played in 2011 but only 13 of 16 this year and was on the bench when yesterday's Olympic opener began.  Only the injury to Boxx brought her onto the field relatively early.  Sam Borden in the Times quotes Lloyd as saying she is still getting used to not starting but that she is "at peace" with that role.  Apparently no one has asked coach Pia Sundhage what brought about the change in Lloyd's status.

Next up for the women: Colombia, Saturday at noon, Eastern.

Olympics - A Look Back To the 2008 Final

The U.S. women open defense of their Olympic gold medal tomorrow at noon Eastern time, in Glasgow against France.  As everyone in these parts remembers, Carli Lloyd scored the winning goal in the final against Brazil back in 2008.  She reminisces about that dramatic shot 6 minutes into overtime on the U.S. Soccer website.

Technology Comes to Soccer

As reported in the New York Times and elsewhere last week, international soccer will be using modern technology to determine whether a ball has entirely crossed the goalline.  Although I have been against instant reply in soccer because it would disrupt the flow of the game, this move sounds like a positive step.  It certainly would have eliminated the controversy in the 1966 World Cup final between Germany and England, not to mention the 2008 U18 New Jersey State Cup quarterfinal.

There are two systems, Hawk-Eye and the less expensive GoalRef, which could be in place for the upcoming English Premier League season.  Most certainly electronics will be used in the 2014 World Cup.  Don't expect to see it at your local high school stadium any time soon, however.  The systems will cost an estimated $200,000 per stadium.

Spain Reigns Supreme

Spain dominated the European Cup final in Kiev today, much as it dominated the entire tournament, overwhelming Italy, 4-0 - its second straight title.  This was the same Italy that looked brilliant in beating Germany, 2-1, in the semi-finals.  Jere Longman suggested in the New York Times that Spain may be the greatest team in history.

“They completely dominated,” Longman quoted Italy Coach Cesare Prandelli as saying. “They really have made history, and deservedly so. They’ve been playing terrific football for a number of years. In spite of the fact they don’t play with a traditional striker, they still cause a lot of problems.”
 
George Vecsey in the Times describes Spain's system of play as,  "make some passes, somebody — almost anybody — make a run, and a beautiful pass will find you."

The statistics on the UEFA web page demonstrate only how meaningless statistics can be in soccer in that they would appear to show a much closer match with Spain outshooting Italy, 14-11 and leading in shots on goal, 9-6.  Corners and offsides were even at 3 apiece in each category.
 
The Spanish team showed class just before the medal ceremony, lining up at the foot of the stairs leading to the podium and shaking hands with the disappointed Italians as they trudged by to collect their second place medals.