Game Improves as Teams Get More Sophisticated
As I followed the U.S. women to each stop on their road to Pasadena, I became more and more impressed with the level of play in the Women’s World Cup.
When I followed the U.S. in Sweden ’95, there were only a handful of good teams and players. Back then, any team outside of the semifinalists ù Norway, Germany, China and the United States ù was mediocre and was lucky to have one or two good players.
Now, most countries have more than that. We’re not talking about Ghana, Japan or Mexico, which were the worst teams in this year’s tournament.
Australia, as disappointing as it was in not winning a game here, has a wonderfully gifted striker in Julie Murray and a strong center forward in Cheryl Salisbury.
Italy didn’t even make it to the final eight, but it had experienced players in midfielder Antonella Carta and Manuella Tesse, but its best player was Patrizia Panico. The 5-2 Lazio forward reminded me of a shorter Mia Hamm, fast and dangerous. She also had a black ponytail and wore jersey No. 9.
Quarterfinalist Russia did not qualify for the 2000 Olympics, but has good defenders in Marina Bourakova and Tatiana Tcheverda and a creative playmaker in Irina Grigorieva. Tcheverda, a solid central defender, made our Soccer America All-Tournament Team, while Grigorieva was bumped by a crowded midfield.
Nigeria, which surprised some by earning an Olympic berth, has strong attacking players in Mercy Akide, Patience Avre and Nkiru Okosieme.
Many of the teams at USA ’99 played at a new level of sophistication in the back. Most played a zonal defense with a flat back four. Back in ’95, some teams played some sort of zone combined with man-to-man marking. A few, like the U.S., still played with a sweeper and two marking backs.
Growing Trend: Attacking Defenders
But teams, including the U.S., soon realized they had to defend differently with the emergence of talented forwards like Hamm, Murray, Panico, China’s Sun Wen, Norway’s Marianne Pettersen and Brazil’s Pretinha.
“It was because of the increase in athletes that are playing the game,” U.S. assistant coach Lauren Gregg said, “and because of improvement of the tactical nature of the women’s game and the speed of the women’s game.”
To combat speedy forwards, most teams have added quick outside backs who can also push forward. And that represents a growing trend in women’s soccer: attacking defenders. It used to be that the U.S. was the only team that would send players ù like former forwards Brandi Chastain and Joy Fawcett ù out of the back. Now they are joined by Brazil’s outstanding right back Nene, China’s Bai Jie and Wang Liping, and Norway’s Brit Sandaune.
New to Game: Diving
The game has also grown up in the area of gamesmanship, if not outright cheating. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a part of the game, and if FIFA wants to control it, then FIFA should make sure there are enough qualified referees to work women’s games. In any event, this Women’s World Cup should dispel the notion that women’s soccer is without that aspect of high-level international play.
Back in February, at the draw, FIFA President Sepp Blatter spoke out about how women don’t cheat. That may have been true once in the women’s game. But I’ve seen enough shirt pulling, diving and professional fouls to know that’s not the case now.
“There’s a bit more [gamesmanship] now, absolutely,” Canadian referee Sonia Denoncourt said. “You change a little bit over the years. Women learn from the men how to cheat, how to argue with referees, how to dive. Under the new Laws of the Game, the new spirit of the game, the referees can caution a player who dives. It’s hard to read sometimes. It’s hard to evaluate if they’re really diving or faking, or if they’re really hurt.
“But now there are more and more professional players who know all the tricks, and they use them.”
Nigeria may have led the tournament in brutal slide tackles from behind, many of which were not punished in the Super Falcons’ 7-1 loss to the U.S. As unintentional as Alicia Ferguson’s reckless foul was against China, the 17-year-old World Cup debutante deserved her red card.
Probably the most controversial call of the tournament was the penalty awarded late in the USA-Brazil game. Many questioned whether Brazilian defender Elane really fouled Hamm in the penalty area to set up Michelle Akers’ penalty kick. Hamm went down rather easily when the Brazilian defender pushed her from behind.
Did Hamm take a dive?
When asked a few days later about the call, U.S. coach Tony DiCicco said, “Mia was definitely fouled. She just made sure she was fouled.”
Of course, the final example of bending the rules occurred in the final, when U.S. goalkeeper Briana Scurry moved forward, off her line, during China’s penalty kicks. She admitted what she did wasn’t altogether legal, though she also knew that the onus was on the referee to blow her whistle. And it was a poor job by Swiss ref Nicole Mouidi-Petignat not to notice the infraction.
“Just like tripping people in the penalty box, it’s not against the rules unless they call it,” Scurry said. “We coach the PKs in a way, ‘Come on and see what they give you.’ And if they don’t call it back, then use it. But if they do, you have to adjust. But let them make the call first.”
by Soccer America Associate Editor Dean Caparaz