Wambach breaks leg, will miss Olympics

I attended the game last night and physical play was the rule of the game. I have no problem with physical play in any sport, but Brazil's strategy seriously backfired and they played like a team that knew it couldn't beat the US no matter what happened. The Wambach injury didn't seem like more than a typical collision to me, but it was quickly apparent that she was seriously hurt when she went down. Kai was great to talk to after the game, too. Great crowd at the game -- several Brazil fans -- and the standing room only 7502 was passionate throughout the game.

 

The two people I'm rooting for in the Olympics (there may be a few others) are Hope Solo and Becky Hammon.

 

How does this "milestone" thing factor into the equation at all? Her 100th career goal was inevitable, whether it happen last night, next month in Beijing or midway through next season so it's not like she could be accused of being obsessed with a nice round number in the midst of a scoreless tie with a bitter rival. Your argument would only hold water if she was trying for a hat trick late in a 4-0 game or something similar.

As for her level of intensity, Wambach has played the same way since high school with the exception of one brief stretch early in her National Team career that got her left off the team for a very brief period. She comes from a large family of achievers and competitors. Going less than 100 percent is not in her genetic makeup.

 

I've seen too many athletes in this circumstance get themselves out of sorts to not recognize the signs. Yes, she plays hard all the time -- but she was going through this one at a fever she didn't even show in the World Cup. I love her play, but this was a mistake given the timing.

 

Unfortunate, because I really liked her as a player and this will not help the U.S., especially in China.

Question for the soccer people ... why is the men's Olympics tournament contested by U23 squads, while the senior national teams play in the women's Olympics? FIFA oversees all international soccer ... that just seems to be a curious distinction. One would think they would want both the men's & women's tournaments to be the same.

 

I have no actual evidence of this, but I believe it to be an issue of quality and depth as well as setting the premier event.

FIFA wants control over where their premier world title (the World Cup) is played. Putting the full men’s squads in the Olympics might lend the Olympics equal footing to the World Cup. It would draw down interest in the World Cup as you would then have full men’s teams competing every two years instead of four.

For the women, it is a matter of quality and depth. The women’s game hasn’t been around nearly as long. There are only a few premier teams and the traditional powers on the men’s side are not very good on the women’s side. If you then told places like England, Italy and Spain that they could only field a U-23 team, it might be pretty ugly.

This would be my guess at why FIFA does this.

 

I read the SI story on Solo from a couple of weeks ago. While her comments after being benched weren't too nice, what the team did to her was straight out of seventh grade. They wouldn't even sit next to her on the bench, and banned her from receiving the bronze medal. And Wambach was one of the instigators.

I'm also rooting for Solo at the Olympics. I hope she then blows off her teammates after winning the gold, although that probably wouldn't happen.

 

Brazil's treatment of Abby Wambach shouldn't surprise anyone.

The U.S. isn't sunk, but now goals will have to come off more crosses into the box, set pieces and such. Obviously, no teammate is aggressive as Wambach or as good a finisher. Perhaps Hope Solo's re-emergence will allow them to press forward a little more and put more traffic in the box without giving up too much in the back.

The only positive that can possibly come out of this is that maybe this storyline will make Solo's return easier from a media standpoint and finally help turn the page on the Greg Ryan saga.

 

Consider it no longer a guess.
That is the actual reason: to not take the spotlight off the World Cup.
Makes sense to me.

 

That would be cool. Like, maybe back-to-back PK shootout wins in the semis and gold medal game.

The only problem I have with Wambach is she dives WAY too much. But then again, what else is new?

 

And the "three overage players" concept was FIFA's concession to add a little bit of star power to the tournament without upstaging the World Cup. Whereas on the women's side, the game needs all the exposure it can get, so the best players should compete in both the WWC and the Olympics.

 

I was watching live when this happened, and what really struck me was Wambach's almost business-like reaction to breaking her tibia and fibula. She looked up like, "Uh, gang, better come get me ... and stop that forward on the right while you're at it." And kept that expression the entire time.

Possibly might have been a case of being slightly in shock.