Women's World Cup Part 5

The US lost to Brazil 4-0 on Thursday. It was the worst loss in the history of USA Women's soccer. However, we did not play as bad as the score suggests. The score is deceptive for two reasons. 1) The US played the entire second half with 10, and 2) Coach Ryan inexplicably started Briana Scurry over Hope Solo.

That being said, Brazil was the better team. Not just yesterday, but during the entire tournament. The US is playing kickball while Brazil is possessing, passing, and running at defenders. Brazil controlled the game, and they deserved to win. I'm pretty sure that Brazil would have won even if Solo had started. Maybe it would only have been an 0-2 loss instead of an 0-4. Not to mention that Brazil has Marta. In my opinion, she is the best women's player in the world. Better than Prinz, better than Wambach. Prinz and Wambach are amazing players, and granted that they are better in the air. But with the ball at her feet, Marta is the most dangerous. She has incredible pace, great technical skill, an amazing shot, but also the field vision and passing ability to set up her teammates for easy goals. Marta is an incredible player to watch.

The United States did not play any differently than they had all tournament long. And that's the problem. Brazil is skilled enough to take advantage of mistakes that could be forgivable against lesser opponents.

But why start Briana Scurry? I cannot think of a defensible reason to bench Hope Solo in favor of Scurry. This was a devastatingly terrible move. Coach Ryan deserves to be fired, solely on the basis of this tournament.