First of all, it'll be on at 4 a.m. If there is any time of the day I will be asleep (and I have been awake at all hours of the day), it'll be between 4 and 6 in the morning. They weren't supposed to play and that time in the morning Central Standard Time. But in this article by Yahoo! Sports, FIFA works with many worldwide media partners in an effort to select the most, uh, favorable time slots for their teams in order to maximize viewership which makes them more money which makes those media partners happy. (You should read the article. I assumed something like this happens, but I wasn't sure until I read this.) And FIFA wants to make sure America, and American media partner Fox, is happy.
But once the times and venues for those Matches are set, it's up to the team to be as good as advertised and play when they're supposed to play. And they haven't. Not by a long shot. I just saw the Netherlands defeat South Africa. The U.S. was supposed to play this Game, in this time slot: 9 p.m. CST. It ain't 7, but in this World Cup played Down Under, it's as good as you can get. Instead, because they finished second in their Group, they play in the ass of the night/day.
Probably better that way, since they're crashing out of this tournament in the morning (I'm sorry about going off on a tangent in the two above paragraphs. But really, read the article.)
All dynasties fall. The United States wasn't going to win every Women's World Cup. But at their best, it seems like they could. And I thought they had as good a chance as anyone else, even accounting for the injuries and their mediocre form coming in. But the Portugal scoreless Draw was further proof that their inability to destroy Vietnam, and then the ensuing 1-all Tie with the Netherlands meant something was fucking wrong with this team.
And frankly, where do you start with this team's deficiencies? They can't finish and they can't pass up the field. They play uninspired and they're not communicating. The grizzled veterans of the club seem real slow and old. The USWNT Head Coach, Vlatko Andonovski, seems hellbent on his formation and forcing his players to play within it, thus blunting their natural athleticism in an effort to tailor their Game to how everyone else seems to be playing. And finally, they're going into the Match without the suspended Rose Lavelle, who may be the squad's most creative playmaker (even though she was on the Pitch vs. the Portuguese and didn't do nothing).
Do you really think the United States is going to pull a Win under those circumstances, against a team ranked third in the world? You're kidding yourself. Not only will they lose, there's a chance it's going to be ugly. These two countries have played in every single WWC. (Correction: I saw Tom Rinaldi's piece on Fox, so I must make a correction: The countries have met each other every single WWC except one.) They've been drawn into the same Group in every World Cup (correction: Except one) until this Year, and dammit, they still can't get away from each other. The U. S. is winning the all-time series, but I think Sweden has won three of their last four showdowns, and the Swedes are going in in much better shape.
I just read an Athletic piece about how the two countries' programs are intertwined. Another great article which I can't link to because it's behind a paywall, but it's great. Anyway, I thought this was the time for Sweden to exact revenge on the Americans, who beat them, 2-0, in their last World Cup Game even though Sweden rested most of their starters because both the U. S. and them were advancing. Still, I think the Swedes are too locked in not to win, and the Americans seem to be so lost that Sweden could stumble into a 3-0 or 4-0 ass-kicking.
Irony is waking up before the sun rises to see the sun set on a dynasty. That's going to happen in the morning. And if there is a Buddha, I will be sleeping when the final nail is driven into our coffin.
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