Last weekend the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) finished up the Brasilia Tournament by advancing to the title game versus Brazil. The game ended with a 0-0 draw giving Brazil the tournament win because of the points they acquired during the group stage. I’m sure from the previous matches the outcome of the tournament wasn’t something the team was particularly hoping for.
Their first match on December 10th against China PR ended in a 1-1 draw (could’ve been better). They lost their second match 2-3 against a highly ranked Brazil squad featuring five time FIFA Player of the Year, Marta (not their best effort). Finally, they finished group play with a 7-0 win against Argentina (more like it but no offense to Argentina, they were the weakest team in the tournament).
With less than 6 months to go, the Women’s World Cup is quickly approaching which means preparation time is slowly dwindling. The most recent world rankings released saw the USWNT drop to the number two slot as the German Women’s National Team took over the first spot previously occcupied by the United States. As a fan, I’m not happy about that. Since I’ve been following the women’s game and this team (roughly since the last world cup but more intently since the 2012 Olympics), the USWNT has been number one. To see that happen so close to the World Cup and to also see a sub-par performance in this most recent tournament makes some nerves start to set in.
I want these girls to get it done this June. After watching the last World Cup end in such heartbreak with such an incredible road to the final, I just wanna see this team walk away victorious. But there’s no need to re-hash what I’ve already stated in the last post I made about this team. There’s still time and I have all the faith in the world that these ladies can get it done. In the coming months there will be camps, friendlies (two overseas in February against two highly ranked teams, France and England), the Algarve Cup, and time to put in the work to achieve World Cup glory.
I’ll probably say this every time I write about these girls until the World Cup but I can’t wait for June to see what they can do. I will be updating continually until then and through the World Cup so I encourage you to stick along for the ride. Maybe it’ll make you want to watch some games and get into a sport I, myself, never thought I’d get into. I’ll say it now that the USWNT may just be the best national team this country has to offer. They make soccer, or should I say football, a beautiful game especially when they play at their best.
The Spentertainic Source 