Just FYI...with the USA and Canada qualifying for the 2008 Olympics this evening, there is just one spot left in the 12-team tournament. All that is left to decide is the Brazil vs. Ghana playoff on April 19 in Beijing prior to the Olympic Final Draw. Brazil finished second in the South American Women's World Cup Qualifying in 2007, which also served as 2008 Olympic qualifying, and Ghana finished second in African qualifying, meaning the two countries will square off for the final berth. Kudos to Canada for pulling out a hard-fought 1-0 win over Mexico in front of a sold-out crowd tonight to earn its first berth to the Olympics for women's soccer. As the USA found out a few days ago, it is not easy to play in a stadium like that. A sad day for Mexico women's soccer for sure as the people of Juarez created an fantastic environment for their team, but in the end, the Mexicans could not manufacture a goal despite playing an excellent soccer match.
2008 Beijing Olympics Berths by Confederation
Host: China
Africa: Nigeria
Asia: Japan, North Korea
Europe: Germany, Norway, Sweden
CONCACAF: USA, Canada
Oceania: New Zealand
South America: Argentina
Playoff: Brazil vs. Ghana
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
11 Down, One to Go
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
First of all, CONGRATULATIONS! You all played a great game despite the weather. I had my doubts as to whether the game(s) would (could!) even be played in during a one of our spring blows. (For those of you unfamiliar with the desert southwest, think of a snow globe – filled with sand and a tornado.) I live in east El Paso and was having serious doubts as I left my house headed for the Juarez stadium; visibility was down to about a mile and the wind was gusting around 55 mph.
Secondly, THANK YOU! I have enjoyed watching the WNT play international soccer for well over a decade and am thrilled to have the opportunity to watch it play 4 games in person. And thank you all for autographing my flag. I promise it will be there again on Saturday. After that, I’ll put it away until the Olympics, when I will once again wave it (albeit in my living room) for each and every goal. (Don’t worry, my wife already thinks I’m crazy.)
Finally, GOOD LUCK! Good luck on Saturday and good luck at the Olympics. I know that, as with all endeavors, hard work, skill and endless preparation are the bedrock of success, but it is luck – good luck – that is the final ingredient.
As a final note, let me apologize for the apparent lack of support from El Paso. While the El Paso Times and the local television stations did managed to mention the games and your successes, I am appalled at the lack of support from El Paso’s leaders and the community in general.
Again, congratulations, thank you and good luck!
Chris Heyl
i love this blog it keeps me updated with what's going on with the uswnt, i live in Mexico so i can't really watch many games but i keep in touch with the blog and i definitely love the USWNT all of them.
Thanks a lot
Mafer
Way to go ladies. I must say, it was nice to finally see the team play live again (thanks to a new amigo of the WNT fans). I know you are not at 100% of where you want to be, but IMO you guys are really playing well this tournament.
I did get a kick of the commentators dialog (from the little bit I understood). I especially love how they refer to Abby by her first name (when I first heard it I was like who the heck is Mary, but then i heard the wambach, and there is ONLY ONE WAMBACH lol). And they seemed to fall in love with Kai because her name "Natasha Kai" was like 20% of the conversation. They were also either interested or still confused by Stephanie cox/Lopez name change. And no one says GOOOAAALLL better then the Mexicans!
We knew you would make it to Beijing. And just think, if for some reason you didn't qualify, we now know you all could have potential in other areas: Hope could be a boxer, Kacey white could be a bowler, and Abby could be a competitive eating champion. LOL Keep up the good work.
Post a Comment