Today in China, in the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup, Brazil did it again, outracing, outhustling and outmuscling the Yanks and dazzling them with their superior technique and ball skills. And this time the United States team had no answer, absorbing a 4-0 thrashing that stands as the worst defeat in U.S. women’s soccer history.
Much of the pregame discussion had focused on the stunning decision by U.S. coach Greg Ryan to sit down his No. 1 goalie, Hope Solo, who had started all four games in this World Cup and had not allowed a goal in the last 300 minutes, replacing her with 36-year-old veteran Briana Scurry, who had been the mainstay for the U.S. during the previous two Cups. Ryan, who took over as coach in 2005, had lost only one game before today. He cited Scurry’s prior success against Brazil and her legendary reflexes, which likely would be needed against the Brazilian hotshots up front.
The switch immediately appeared to be a mistake. It rattled the team, and the seldom-used Scurry looked rusty, letting the first ball she touched slip through her hands. It’s not clear that any of the goals were her fault, certainly not the last, as a red card penalty left the U.S. team down a player and Brazil firing away point blank. But the first two goals will at least elicit some comment: the first came off a corner kick in which Scurry stayed on her line rather than go after the ball, certainly a mistake after the American defender trying to clear the ball instead headed it into her own net. The second was just the kind of sprawling save Scurry was famous for, but this time the ball trickled off her fingertips and into the corner of the net. We’ll never know if the Scurry of a few years ago would have steered the ball wide. “There’s no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves,” Solo told ESPN afterward.
But while the psychological impact of the goalkeeping switch can’t be accurately assessed (though it could cost Ryan his job), Scurry was ultimately a nonfactor. Throughout the tournament, the American team had shown a surprising inability to control the ball in the midfield, a critical task once performed so brilliantly by Julie Foudy, Kristine Lilly and others. But today Foudy was in the broadcast booth and the magnificent Lilly, at 36, has recently been moved to an attacking position on the team to save some wear and tear on her legs. Their replacements turned the ball over repeatedly with sloppy passes, ill-advised long balls and an inability to dribble past defenders. The team seemed to lack speed, coherence and aggressiveness.
The past success of American women’s soccer, with the tremendous attention the ‘99 World Cup received, has been credited with hastening parity in the women’s game. The U.S. and German teams came into the tournament ranked No. 1 and 2 and were tied, respectively, by North Korea and England. In the finals Sunday, Brazil will play Germany, which beat Norway 3-0 in the other semifinal. The U.S. may actually have to set its sights on working back up toward parity, having now seen its championship dreams crushed in the last two World Cups in lopsided semifinals.
Brazil is something of a miracle team. The group has barely played together since it made it to the Olympic finals three years ago. But its players are so gifted and entrancing to watch that it gives credence to those who believe in a Brazilian soccer gene. Most entrancing of all is Marta, who today scored the 10th and 11th World Cup goals of her career, breaking the record of nine held by Hamm. While Hamm attained her mark in four World Cups, Marta has played in only two—and is still just 21 years old.
The U.S. team will play for the bronze this weekend, the same medal it won in the last World Cup. Then members will have to take a tough look at their performance. It has been eight years since the American victory in the ‘99 World Cup, one that was supposed to inspire a whole new generation that was expected to maintain U.S. preeminence at the game. That has now been exposed as wishful thinking. The third-place game against Norway will probably mark the end of the career of Lilly, the team’s inspirational leader. She hasn’t yet officially retired, though before the World Cup her teammates had vowed repeatedly to send her out on top. Now they are likely to try and coax her to stick it out one more year when the team will return to China for the Olympics and, hopefully, redeem itself.
Here’s betting she stays home. Lilly has started every World Cup and Olympic game in U.S. women’s soccer history and has an exceptional grasp of the game. Surely she saw what all of us saw. This American team wasn’t anywhere near ready to win this World Cup and nothing suggests that they will be ready in a year’s time to compete with Germany or Brazil.
