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Thursday, July 17, 2008

Need trust

It's so so fantastic to be able to watch soccer 'live' while at work. Eh hm...while waiting for transfers of HUGE files...

It was a tight game between the US and Brazil until the goal came from the flying Hawaiian, Tasha Kai to make another 1-0 win for the US! A free kick from Lloyd on the right and then she heads the ball into the net and goal, off they were into celebration, for their last match before heading for the Olympics and one thing is for sure, is that they will be going without their leading scorer, Abby Wambach. In the 31st minute, while trying to take a shot while with the ball, she clashed into Andreia Rosa and went down on the ground, signaling that she is unable to continue play. She remained there for 6 minutes while the team medic attended to her before placing her on the stretcher with an inflated support thing and zooming off to the Hospital, where it's confirmed that she has fractured both her left tibula and fibula, which reminds me of my injury, just that I didn't break it.

Abby's a tough ball and she won't fall so easily but another's for sure is that she will miss the Olympics. Everyone's sad about this whole thing and everyone's starting to go, "oh man she's the one who brings the whole team together, she's the one who can score goals for us, blah blah" and on and on. But look, the team still has Kai and young A-Rod who has been scoring a couple of goals and showed what she has with her speed and scoring abilities. There is also the power of O'reilly and Tarp on each flank, the creativity, both defend and attack of Boxxy and Carli Lloyd in the centre midfield. There are the 4 defenders, 3 of which who have been in 2 or 3 Olympics, 1 young flanked defenders starter who have been on international stage even in her youth.

"I’m only one player, and you can never win a championship with just one player. I have the utmost confidence in this team bringing home the gold", said the tough ball.

But what touched me the most was how Tarp and Kai reacted:

"I was very emotional, she is one of my best friends." - U.S. captain Lindsay Tarpley said of seeing Wambach taken off the field.
"My heart sank," Kai said. "We need her. She's a big piece of a great team.

We cannot afford to always rely and be dependent on just one player on the team to win medals. There is a need of trust in the team, even the trust of the fans that they can do well. There is a need to be able to trust the bench that they will come on and do well when they are called upon to. We can't just say, "hey you know, you'd better win this because the bench is like shit today." No, that is not how it works, that is not how a team works, that is not what you call Team work or trust, that is called disbelief.

What I can only say for now is that I'm still confident that the US Women's Soccer team will bring home the gold from the Olympics and also that the soccer team I'm in now is doing fine and were getting together well and for that, I'm happy.

With that being said,

May Abby have a good recovery and thank you Tasha Kai for scoring and giving us the win!

Out,
Marj

Labels: Abby Wambach, Brazil v USA Women's Soccer, Carli Lloyd, International Soccer Friendlies, Natasha Kai

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