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Olympic Soccer Thread

Maybe, but I suspect there's a decent chance that they reduce the points deduction ... presuming they act quickly. IMO there's a decent chance they extend the ban to Herdman, maybe extend it to two years and reduce the point deduction to 3 or 4 points. The CAS loves to confound and/or meddle, remember. I feel like they'll do something even if it makes little sense.
 
Tierna Davidson is out for the US against Australia tomorrow, she suffered a knee contusion just before halftime against Germany. Emily Sonnett replaced her, and I suspect she’ll get the start tomorrow. Jaedyn Shaw remains out.
 
Emily Sams is the only out and out defender on the alternate list, so I'd assume she'll at least be on the bench for the Australia game. Both Sonnett and Krueger can play CB as well, and Girma does so much of the work it's not a huge challenge on that left side. Just be smart in your spacing and keep the passing simple. The big thing they miss with Davidson being out is that she's the go get the ball in the air player on set pieces. Could see more of that from Horan, depending on how Hayes and the staff shift things up.
 
Men have finished up group play. The US are through after a comprehensive 3-0 win over Guinea, while France swept that group. They'll get Morocco in the quarters while the French get ... whoops ... Argentina. Meanwhile Egypt and Spain finished 1/2 in group C while Japan and Paraguay went 1/2 in group D. I'm sure Japan is thrilled to win their group to be rewarded with a match with Spain. Fun. It's been an interesting tournament and really only the French have looked dominating ... but their group was pretty weak. For an age group tourney, it's been pretty compelling.
 
The CAS upheld Canada’s points deduction. They have a win or go home match against Colombia at 3 today.

Canada Soccer turned over head coach Bev Priestman‘s emails and included an exchange with an analyst where the analyst discussed his discomfort with spying. Priestman consulted an external HR consultant and included this in the email.

“Seeking your advice and input here regarding this formal email on spying,” Priestman wrote. “It’s something the analyst has always done and I know there is a whole operation on the men’s side with regards to it.”

 
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The CAS upheld Canada’s points deduction. They have a win or go home match against Colombia at 3 today.
Normally I wouldn't care, but the sheer volume of excuse making and what-abouting on behalf of a Canadian program that has been cheating for a long time has made me a short term fan of Colombia. Vamanos Linda.
 
Oh, and a PSA ... if you have been living under a rock and somehow missed the ending of the US/Australia bronze medal game in women's rugby 7s, go check that crap out. What a shot of pure joy and adrenaline
 
Oh, and a PSA ... if you have been living under a rock and somehow missed the ending of the US/Australia bronze medal game in women's rugby 7s, go check that crap out. What a shot of pure joy and adrenaline
It reminded me of the “Kick 6” that ended the 2013 Iron Bowl
 
For the US women, Sams moves onto the active roster, Sonnett partners Girma at the back
 
And Coffey picks up a loose yellow and will miss the US next game. We might see Sams in the 2nd half of the Australia game to get her feet wet since Sonnett is the obvious backup to Coffey in the holding midfield role. Sams is quite good and is playing really well for her club, but lacks international experience. We could also see Alberts step in for Coffey, as she's done a few times in the past, even though they've been using her more in the box to box MF role since Hayes took over.
 
Pretty good effort against the Tillies from the US, dealing with a determined low block in the first half and a second half where the Aussies threw the whole kitchen at them. They did give up a goal late, but a late first half scramble goal by Rodman and a rocket from Korbin Albert just after 60-ish minute changes saw them through. 3 games, 3 Ws, no legitimate complaints. Australia will await the result of the Canada/Columbia game to see if they get through as a wildcard.

The US will face Japan in the Quarters with the other matchups yet to be determined. Coffey will sit for accumulation of yellows, and Davidson's availability is yet to be determined. The US and Spain have looked like the class of the field thus far, which despite the rankings is hardly shocking.
 
Canada pulled it off in a terse 1-0 win over Columbia. The ref allowed them to play pretty physical and that was big advantage for Canada. Gotta admire their spirit even if their appeal to CAS somehow actually made their cheating scandal look even worse. Priestman won't be coming back anytime soon, that's for sure. Or probably using email anytime soon. She straight up used the word "spying" in an email. And not in quotes, either.
 
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So, the Quarters for the women are set ...

USA vs Japan
Spain vs Columbia
Germany vs Canada (good luck bullying the Germans)
France vs Brazil (sans Marta thanks to her red card)
 
The CAS upheld Canada’s points deduction. They have a win or go home match against Colombia at 3 today.

Canada Soccer turned over head coach Bev Priestman‘s emails and included an exchange with an analyst where the analyst discussed his discomfort with spying. Priestman consulted an external HR consultant and included this in the email.



we are such cucks up here, handing over the emails served no purpose, and was not going to help any appeal (we should have gone Tar Heel and said, fuck you re the docs). Still the girls totally gave the finger to FIFA, IOC, New Zealand rats and the Canadian cuck press by going out and winning all three games to advance. Germany probably hands us our ass but with the determination these girls are showing, tout est possible
 
Canada pulled it off in a terse 1-0 win over Columbia. The ref allowed them to play pretty physical and that was big advantage for Canada. Gotta admire their spirit even if their appeal to CAS somehow actually made their cheating scandal look even worse. Priestman won't be coming back anytime soon, that's for sure. Or probably using email anytime soon. She straight up used the word "spying" in an email. And not in quotes, either.
never liked her anyway, but damn, how dumb are you to send an email to HR complaining that your employee won't spy for you, that is a conversation you have in a dark place without anyone around
 
The Matildas whacked coach Tony Gustavsson. I guess it’s more accurate to say his contract wasn’t renewed. He brought them to the semifinals of both the 2020 Olympics and 2023 World Cup. But without Sam Kerr, it was always going to be a struggle.
 
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never liked her anyway, but damn, how dumb are you to send an email to HR complaining that your employee won't spy for you, that is a conversation you have in a dark place without anyone around
Honestly, that email was so idiotic that my first reaction was that it's hard to believe a functioning adult would send it. But coaches will be coaches I guess.
 
The Matildas whacked coach Tony Gustavsson. I guess it’s more accurate to say his contract wasn’t renewed. He brought them to the semifinals of both the 2020 Olympics and 2023 World Cup. But without Sam Kerr, it was always going to be a struggle.
Tony's a good coach to a point, and that program hit that point at the World Cup. Even without Kerr, that team is plenty good enough to be in the Quarters but for a guy who is supposed to be a tactician, he just never got them settled. Plus, they did dumb crap like bringing two out and out wingers and then never really using a set up that needed wingers ... with an 18 player roster. Courtney Vine was the best attacking player in the Aussie league this season and she played like 10 minutes. What is that about? Caitlin Foord barely touched the ball the whole tournament, which is borderline malpractice.
 
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The US men are out. Morocco was just too good for them in a comprehensive 4-0 defeat. No big lessons here. The US are rarely any good at the higher end of age group soccer and didn't get the impact from their over-agers that other teams did. Some of that was down to simply not having enough defense in the player pool, which forced Mitrovich to burn two slots on established CBs, but he choose poorly when he didn't add a striker to a team that didn't really have anybody who could play in the box. The effort was there and they had good game plans, but the Quarters was about as far as you could ever imagine that team going without some serious bracket voodoo.
 
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