• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

Olympic Soccer Thread

A

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
The tournaments haven’t even started and we already have drama. Canada’s women’s head coach will not be on the sidelines for their opening match against New Zealand and an assistant coach and staff member have been sent home. At training on Monday, New Zealand staffers noticed a drone over the field and reported it to police. The drone operator was detained and identified as a member of the Canadian delegation. When acknowledging the incident, Canada also disclosed another drone incident last week.

The Men’s tournament kicks off today. The US plays France at 3 EDT.
 
Bev Priestman should be unemployed even if it means the Canadians end up just coaching themselves. Shocking breach of rules, and going with the "oh, I didn't know" deflection is ridiculous.
 
jeffbear said:
Bev Priestman should be unemployed even if it means the Canadians end up just coaching themselves. Shocking breach of rules, and going with the "oh, I didn't know" deflection is ridiculous.
Click to expand...
FIFA announced today that they were opening an investigation. so even if she remains employed, she’s probably gonna face decent sanctions.
 
andyt said:
FIFA announced today that they were opening an investigation. so even if she remains employed, she’s probably gonna face decent sanctions.
Click to expand...
Given the behavior FIFA has turned a blind eye to in the women's game in the (recent ... even current when it comes to Zambia and Jamaica) past, I have a hard time believing that they actually give a crap.
 
The drone pilot was arrested and admitted the facts of the case. He was tried under a procedure of Appearance on Recognition of Guilt. He faced a max sentence of 1 year in prison and a €45,000 fine. He received a 8 moth suspended sentence and his equipment was confiscated.
 
Men's tourney started today

US took a 3-0 collar to the hosts. Dispiriting to be sure, but hardly surprising given the talent gap. The real fireworks were in the Morocco/Argentina game. Morocco took at 2-0 lead and seemed to have blown it when Argentina leveled deep in extra time. Only to see the goal waived off by VAR for off sides (by the width of a player's leg), WELL after both teams had left the pitch. Oh, and Argentina's players got belted with garbage and at least one firework. It was a terrible way to start a tournament, honestly. Otherwise, mostly chalk and draws. The Japanese hung a 5-0 W on Paraguay. New Zealand posted a mild upset with a 2-1 win over Guinea. Iraq won their opener 2-1 against emotional favorite Ukraine. Spain beat Uzbekistan 2-1 but it was a battle. Still, the end of that Argentina game is gonna leave a bad taste for most people.
 
The Women’s tournament starts today, US v. Zambia at 3 EDT. A couple of good matchups early too, Spain/Japan, Canada/New Zealand now, Germany/Australia at 1.
 
Both Canada and Spain won 2-1 on 2nd half deciders, and both dominated possession and flow. Japan is obviously good enough to cause most anyone headaches, but are just overmatched against Spain. New Zealand is probably the worst team in the tournament and lost their best player 2 days ago. So, nothing learned in either match, really.
 
US beats Zambia, 3-0 and it should have been worse. They hit the crossbar twice and missed a couple of free headers before finally cashing in. Swanson had a brace, Rodman had the other. Zambia went down to 10 in the 30th minute, but the US didn’t score after that. Of concern is the extent of Sophia Smith’s injury, she picked up a knock near the end of the first half. Hayes was able to get a bunch of players in, besides Williams coming on for Smith. Albert played the 2nd half in place of Lavelle and Sonnett, Nighswonger and Krueger all got about 25 minutes. That also allowed her to move Dunn up to the wing for a bit. They’re going to have to be better against Germany on Sunday.
 
andyt said:
US beats Zambia, 3-0 and it should have been worse. They hit the crossbar twice and missed a couple of free headers before finally cashing in. Swanson had a brace, Rodman had the other. Zambia went down to 10 in the 30th minute, but the US didn’t score after that. Of concern is the extent of Sophia Smith’s injury, she picked up a knock near the end of the first half. Hayes was able to get a bunch of players in, besides Williams coming on for Smith. Albert played the 2nd half in place of Lavelle and Sonnett, Nighswonger and Krueger all got about 25 minutes. That also allowed her to move Dunn up to the wing for a bit. They’re going to have to be better against Germany on Sunday.
Click to expand...
They missed a couple of free headers after cashing in as well ... could easily have been 5 or 6 to nil but to score on Zambia you have to risk a break against and nobody wanted to flood numbers and take a risk after they got the big lead. Naher had maybe one real shot to handle and Girma more than held her own against Banda, which is worth noting for its rarity.

And I'm not sure they have to be "better" against Germany because I think we learned exactly nothing that will carry over to a European opponent. It's a polar opposite challenge in every conceivable way. Bottom line ... they needed a convincing start and they got it.
 
Apparently, Canada has been cheating for years. They used drones at least as far back as the 2020 Olympics. And women’s head coach Bev Priestman has been sent home.

www.tsn.ca

Canada's men's and women's soccer teams have relied on drones and spying for years, sources say

Coaching staff and contractors working with Canada’s men’s and women’s national soccer teams have been engaged for years in efforts to film the closed-door training sessions of their opponents, including during the women’s gold-medal winning Olympic tournament in 2021, sources told TSN.
www.tsn.ca www.tsn.ca
 
andyt said:
Apparently, Canada has been cheating for years. They used drones at least as far back as the 2020 Olympics. And women’s head coach Bev Priestman has been sent home.

www.tsn.ca

Canada's men's and women's soccer teams have relied on drones and spying for years, sources say

Coaching staff and contractors working with Canada’s men’s and women’s national soccer teams have been engaged for years in efforts to film the closed-door training sessions of their opponents, including during the women’s gold-medal winning Olympic tournament in 2021, sources told TSN.
www.tsn.ca www.tsn.ca
Click to expand...
This is truly troubling. The men's program is involved as well, having been caught using a drone at the Copa. I'm struggling to find a response that I feel is truly appropriate, so I'll shut up other than to note that Herdman, Priestman and Marsch need to face some serious scrutiny from FIFA, CONCACAF and/or the IOC
 
jeffbear said:
This is truly troubling. The men's program is involved as well, having been caught using a drone at the Copa. I'm struggling to find a response that I feel is truly appropriate, so I'll shut up other than to note that Herdman, Priestman and Marsch need to face some serious scrutiny from FIFA, CONCACAF and/or the IOC
Click to expand...
Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue had a media availability today. He absolved Marsch, saying that Marsch learned about the Copa incident after the fact. He said March denounced it immediately and forcefully and communicated it to his staff. Given that he’s onky been there 2 months, I think he gets the benefit of the doubt. But Herdman and Priestman have a lot to answer for. Herdman is at Toronto FC, I wonder if Don Garber takes any action?
 
IIRC Garber has been on the US Olympic Committee in the past so I doubt he sits on his hands. Good to know about Marsch because I genuinely like that guy and didn't want to think he was a part of this garbage. I think I've been pretty open about my feelings about Herdman ... basically that he's a fraud. If all this stuff ends up in his lap I would be not the least bit surprised.
 
BTW ... Herdman both ducked direct questions about "scouting" activities at tournaments while he was head coach and managed to complain that "now is not the time for nit-picking about scouting methods"

He can get fired into the sun for all I care. You'd be doing Toronto FC a favor at least, since his team can neither score nor defend and are going absolutely nowhere.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top