MANCHESTER, England - For the first 53 minutes of the Olympic semifinal match, there wasn't anything too unusual. Well, the United States women's national soccer team was trailing Canada, so that was unusual, but aside from the underdog leading, it was pretty typical for an international soccer game. Canada was up 1-0 after a magnificent individual effort from Christine Sinclair, but then there was the traditional medley of great chances and near misses that are so common in good soccer games.
When Megan Rapinoe set up a corner kick for the United States early in the second half, the Americans had to be ruing all their missed chances, wondering what it would take to get one into Canada's net. It looked like another blown chance when Rapinoe sent the corner kick to the front post, where no teammates were waiting. But after a chaotic moment, where the ball, two Canadian defenders, and goalkeeper Erin McLeod converged on the near post, the ball somehow squeaked in.
At first glance, it looked like the Canadians deflected the ball in themselves, an own goal. That was fine, of course - they all counted the same. But after seeing the replay, the truth was revealed: Rapinoe had bent the ball in herself. Not only was it a fantastic goal, but it was a vital one, tying the game at 1-1.
But Sinclair wasn't impressed. Instead, she accepted the challenge. She scored her second of the game, knocking home a header off a corner kick, just 13 minutes after Rapinoe's goal, giving Canada the lead back. Then it was Rapinoe's turn again. Three minutes after Sinclair's goal, Rapinoe had the ball at the edge of the box, a good position for a cross. But she had no interest in that, instead drilling a shot off the post and into the net to tie the game again.
Again, Sinclair responded, scoring three minutes later on another header off a corner kick to finish the hat trick. Canada had its third lead of the match, and people who had been paying attention turned to the Americans to see how they would respond.
It wasn't the Americans who responded, but match referee Christina Pedersen, who awarded the Americans an indirect free kick in the penalty area after McLeod took too much time to release the ball. While the call was technically correct - she held the ball for more than 10 seconds when the rule allows for only 6 - it's one that's rarely called. For it to be called at this stage was almost unthinkable. On the ensuing free kick, Canada was called for a hand ball, which lead to Abby Wambach tying the game from the penalty spot.
At this point, Pedersen's interesting call overshadowed what had been a manic 26 minutes. In the period from Rapinoe's corner kick to Wambach's goal, five goals had been scored, some of them truly spectacular, and those 26 minutes were some of the best played on any soccer field that year. However, after the excitement of Wambach's goal, nobody could get the fourth goal. Wambach had two golden opportunities, sending one cross just wide and knocking another off the cross bar, but they were not to be.
With all 90 minutes, plus 30 minutes of extra time, used up, the clock was running down to its final minute before a penalty shootout would determine who would advance to the gold medal game. It seemed too bad - a game this hectic, this great didn't deserve to be decided by the randomness of penalties. But it looked like that's how it was going to end until Wambach sent a pass out wide toward Heather O'Reilly. O'Reilly chased it down, sent it into the box - right to the head of Alex Morgan, who, while falling down, knocked it in just under the crossbar.
And after scoring that goal, the goal that won perhaps the greatest women's soccer game ever played, Morgan didn't jump up and down. Instead, she just put her hands on her head, almost in shock. She couldn't believe she had scored. Nobody could believe what had happened. It was a truly brilliant ending to a brilliant game.
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Monday, February 28, 2011
February 28, 2010: Crosby the Golden Boy
VANCOUVER - There probably aren't enough words to describe what this gold medal would mean to the Canadians, just how important it would be to win this game. You can look at Canada's history in Olympic hockey before this game - seven gold medals, including one as recent as 2002 - and wonder why it's such a big deal, why it mattered.
But oh, did it matter. See, these Olympics were being held on Canadian ice. They were the home team, the one the crowd was behind. And despite all of Canada's Olympic success, they had never won hockey gold at home, never watched their flag lifted to the rafters own their own soil. So yah, it mattered.
Maybe it mattered a little too much. Because after crushing Norway in the first game, the unthinkable happened: Canada needed a shootout to beat Switzerland of all teams. Switzerland! Their next game wasn't much better, as they lost 5-3 to the Americans. So maybe things were getting a little tight around the collar. The loss to the Americans wasn't an upset to the level it was in, say, 1960 - this American team was full of NHL players, too. But the Americans were maybe fourth or fifth best in the world. Canada shouldn't have been losing to them.
The loss to the United States meant that Canada had to play an extra game to get to the medal round, and that they had to play Russia in the quarterfinals rather than in the final, ruining the final that everybody had expected. But maybe it was good for Canada to lose to the Americans in group play. Maybe it kicked them in the ass a little bit. They demolished Russia, dropped seven goals on them. Slovakia in the semifinals was a little tougher, but Canada still got past them with ease. That set up the final against ... team USA.
One of the biggest surprises of the 2010 Olympics wasn't that the United States got to the gold medal game, but the ease with which they got there. They were the top seeded team after group play, winning all three games by at least two goals. In the knockout rounds they had gotten past Switzerland and Finland with ease. That Finland game was the surprise. Finland was supposed to be better than the Americans, but team USA scored six on them. It was too easy. And it set up an all-North American gold medal game.
So often, highly anticipated matchups tend to let down, unable to live up to the increased hype. This was not the case for the 2010 gold medal game. The United States and Canada put on a display of beautiful, tense hockey, showing everything that was good and fun about the sport. The Canadians were the fast, skilled team, using crisp passing and wonderful individual skill to keep control of the puck. The Americans, not nearly as talented, nevertheless played smoothly as a unit, looking as if they had been playing together as a team for years rather than weeks. They didn't have the skilled shooters and passers of the Canadians, but they had the hard hitters and the help defenders. In short, the two teams that seemed to be so different, that seemed to have such a talent gap between them, turned out to be pretty evenly matched.
Still, though, despite the brilliant play from goalie Ryan Miller - by far the best goaltender of these Olympics - the Americans were down 2-1 in the final minute. They pulled Miller, got the extra attacker, and threw themselves at the net with fury. Finally, Zach Parise broke through with his fourth goal of the Olympics, pushing a rebound past Roberto Luongo with 24 seconds to play to tie the game.
It was the second time since the Olympics changed formats in hockey that the gold medal game had gone to overtime. The previous time, in 1994, also saw Canada give up a late goal. They lost that one in a shootout. They weren't going to let that happen again.
It happened seven minutes into overtime. Sidney Crosby - Canada's best young player since Lemieux, and the player who would shoulder most of the blame if his team failed - carried the puck into the zone. His first shot was stopped by Miller, and the puck went behind his net. As Crosby skated along the boards to set up the offense, he ran into the linesman, and the puck stopped where it was. That actually turned into a blessing for Canada. Two Americans that had been chasing Crosby went after the puck but lost the race to Jarome Iginla, who had been following the play along the boards. With two men converging on Iginla, he fed a return pass to Crosby, who sent it past Miller for the gold medal-winning goal.
The game was an immediate success. The matchup helped, but how close the game was brought it to new heights. In the United States, it was the most watched hockey game since the final in 1980. But that paled in comparision to the reception in Canada. It is estimated that two-thirds of the Canadian population was watching the moment Crosby scored his overtime goal. His goal sent Canada into a nationwide celebration, one that continued through that night's closing ceremonies and lasted well into the spring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_koQujQ8Vg
But oh, did it matter. See, these Olympics were being held on Canadian ice. They were the home team, the one the crowd was behind. And despite all of Canada's Olympic success, they had never won hockey gold at home, never watched their flag lifted to the rafters own their own soil. So yah, it mattered.
Maybe it mattered a little too much. Because after crushing Norway in the first game, the unthinkable happened: Canada needed a shootout to beat Switzerland of all teams. Switzerland! Their next game wasn't much better, as they lost 5-3 to the Americans. So maybe things were getting a little tight around the collar. The loss to the Americans wasn't an upset to the level it was in, say, 1960 - this American team was full of NHL players, too. But the Americans were maybe fourth or fifth best in the world. Canada shouldn't have been losing to them.
The loss to the United States meant that Canada had to play an extra game to get to the medal round, and that they had to play Russia in the quarterfinals rather than in the final, ruining the final that everybody had expected. But maybe it was good for Canada to lose to the Americans in group play. Maybe it kicked them in the ass a little bit. They demolished Russia, dropped seven goals on them. Slovakia in the semifinals was a little tougher, but Canada still got past them with ease. That set up the final against ... team USA.
One of the biggest surprises of the 2010 Olympics wasn't that the United States got to the gold medal game, but the ease with which they got there. They were the top seeded team after group play, winning all three games by at least two goals. In the knockout rounds they had gotten past Switzerland and Finland with ease. That Finland game was the surprise. Finland was supposed to be better than the Americans, but team USA scored six on them. It was too easy. And it set up an all-North American gold medal game.
So often, highly anticipated matchups tend to let down, unable to live up to the increased hype. This was not the case for the 2010 gold medal game. The United States and Canada put on a display of beautiful, tense hockey, showing everything that was good and fun about the sport. The Canadians were the fast, skilled team, using crisp passing and wonderful individual skill to keep control of the puck. The Americans, not nearly as talented, nevertheless played smoothly as a unit, looking as if they had been playing together as a team for years rather than weeks. They didn't have the skilled shooters and passers of the Canadians, but they had the hard hitters and the help defenders. In short, the two teams that seemed to be so different, that seemed to have such a talent gap between them, turned out to be pretty evenly matched.
Still, though, despite the brilliant play from goalie Ryan Miller - by far the best goaltender of these Olympics - the Americans were down 2-1 in the final minute. They pulled Miller, got the extra attacker, and threw themselves at the net with fury. Finally, Zach Parise broke through with his fourth goal of the Olympics, pushing a rebound past Roberto Luongo with 24 seconds to play to tie the game.
It was the second time since the Olympics changed formats in hockey that the gold medal game had gone to overtime. The previous time, in 1994, also saw Canada give up a late goal. They lost that one in a shootout. They weren't going to let that happen again.
It happened seven minutes into overtime. Sidney Crosby - Canada's best young player since Lemieux, and the player who would shoulder most of the blame if his team failed - carried the puck into the zone. His first shot was stopped by Miller, and the puck went behind his net. As Crosby skated along the boards to set up the offense, he ran into the linesman, and the puck stopped where it was. That actually turned into a blessing for Canada. Two Americans that had been chasing Crosby went after the puck but lost the race to Jarome Iginla, who had been following the play along the boards. With two men converging on Iginla, he fed a return pass to Crosby, who sent it past Miller for the gold medal-winning goal.
The game was an immediate success. The matchup helped, but how close the game was brought it to new heights. In the United States, it was the most watched hockey game since the final in 1980. But that paled in comparision to the reception in Canada. It is estimated that two-thirds of the Canadian population was watching the moment Crosby scored his overtime goal. His goal sent Canada into a nationwide celebration, one that continued through that night's closing ceremonies and lasted well into the spring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_koQujQ8Vg
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