In this FIFA Women's World Cup tournament, for those of us watching ESPN's tournament coverage we've had the pleasure of not only hearing announcer Ian Darke call the games, but discovering the nicknames of the various women's national squads.
The English squad is called the Three Lionesses. The Brazilians are called the Samba Queens. Nigeria as you know from the posts of me slamming them on the regular for their off the pitch phobic hijinks are called the Super Falcons. Australia is referred to as the Matildas and their New Zealand neighbors are the Football Ferns.
The Japanese are the Nadeshiko Japan, and their official nickname was chosen after a contest conducted by the Japan Football Association in 2004 and while the South Africans aren't in this tournament, their women's national team is known as Banyana Banyana.
So when is Team USA going to come up with a cool official nickname for our women's national squad and what should we call them? The Spirits of '76? The Eagles? The Red, White And Blue as ESPN's Bob Ley calls them? The Football First Ladies?
Maybe the US Football Federation should do what Japan's Federation did and have a contest to come up with an offical nickname.
Whatever we call them, the nickname needs to reflect our national heritage and the winning legacy of this team and be done as soon as possible.
We also don't get the Germans until the final assuming they don't get upset between now and July 17.
Can I call it or what? I watched the England vs France and Japan vs Germany FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal matchups today I feel for the Brits losing in a shootout, but definitely feel the German supporters pain right now.
The Germans are the host nation, the back to back FIFA world champs and were prohibitively favored to take a third straight title. The last time the Germans lost a match in Women's World Cup play was a 3-2 quarterfinal loss to the USA 12 years ago and Japan had never beaten them.
Until today. This loss also hurt for the Germans because this tournament was serving for the European teams as a qualifier for the 2012 Olympic women's football tournament. Hope Powell's Three Lionesses are already in because England is the host nation.
Japan going into this match was 0-8-1 against European squads but is also the FIFA number 4 ranked women's team in the world. They aren't any football slouches and the law of averages was going to break their way sooner or later just like it did a few days ago with Sweden against the USA.
The USA and the Germans have had a wonderful run in World Cup and other international women's football competition but sooner or later the teams you beat on a regular basis because they got a late start will catch up to you talent wise. If you're not on your 'A' game and they have enough talent, a solid game plan and execute it flawlessly you're going down. .
Japan's not the FIFA number 4 ranked team for nothing and they proved it today. And as much as I'd like to see the USA continue its dominance of women's international football, at the same time more competitive balance and making us work for those titles is good for the game
Shoot with that being said, hope Team USA handles their business with Brazil tomorrow.
It's the quarterfinals of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup tournament, and to borrow the words of the NBA playoff commercials, from now on it's win or go home.
And Team USA couldn't have a tougher assignment for their quarterfinal match than playing a Marta-led Brazil team that is tired of being title bridesmaids to the US. And oh yeah, there that little matter that everyone keeps reminding you of concerning the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup semis in China in which Brazil pasted an embarrassing 4-0 thumping on Team USA
Well, just as Team USA probably didn't want to be in Dresden facing Brazil this early, you have to look at the flip side of this as Brazil didn't want to play us this early either. We also don't get the Germans until the final assuming they don't get upset between now and July 17.
And hopefully ladies, you got that bad game out of your system.
At any rate, it's time to handle your football business. You're close to your goal of winning our third FIFA world title and first since that magical 1999 year on home soil. Winner gets to play the France-England winner in the semifinals in Moenchengladbach and get one step closer to the July 17 championship match in Frankfurt.
And definitely want it to be y'all. Been losing too much high profile stuff to Brazil lately.
Team USA went into their final Group C match in Wolfsburg with a ton of momentum and their 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup destiny in their hands.
They were on a 15-0-2 match winning streak in World Cup play, had never lost a group match in Women's World Cup history, and already knew before the match started they were going to the quarterfinals. The only question was whether it would be as the Group C champion or the runner up.
Hope Solo already had two clean sheets in the tournament and hadn't given up a goal since the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. Team USA was playing an opponent in Sweden whose captain was sitting out the match due to picking up a second yellow card in their July 2 match against North Korea and who they had a 3-0 record against during World Cup play, so things were looking good on that front. .
All the US needed was a win or draw against Sweden and they would be atop
the group and play Australia in their opening quarterfinal match in Augsburg.
They lose and they get a return trip to Dresden for an early quarterfinal date with five time FIFA player of the year Marta and a Brazilian squad that's tired of playing title bridesmaid to the USA and German championship brides.
The number 3 FIFA ranked Brazilians were runners-up to the US at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and again to Germany at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup
But as ESPN NFL analyst Herman Edwards says, that's why you play the games.
In front a crowd of 23,468 that included the two time defending FIFA women's world champs Germany and German chancellor Angela Merkel, the FIFA world number one ranked squad was upset by the FIFA number 5 ranked Swedes 2-1.
Then again, this team seems to live for doing things the hard way. After dropping games in CONCAFAF qualifying play to eventual CONCAFAF champion Canada and Mexico and beating Costa Rica to finish third, they had to endure a two leg playoff with Italy just to become the last team to qualify for the tournament.
"That’s kind of been our journey so far, so why change things now?” Abby Wambach said in an interview after the loss.
Well, if you're going to lose a Women's World Cup match, better it be in group stage after you've handled your business and clinched your quarterfinal spot.
Ironically, while the loss has them facing an early quarterfinal knockout match on July 10 with Brazil, if they get through the Samba Queens they would face the winner of England-France match in the semis on July 13 in Monchengladbach.
They wouldn't see the Germans, assuming they handle their business on the other side of the bracket until the championship game in Frankfurt on July 17.
But Team USA and coach Pia Sundhage have a lot of work to do before that happens.
Football, or soccer as we call it in the US, Canada and Australia is the world's most popular sport. Its organizing body FIFA is charged with not only managing and growing the game, but dealing with the problems that crop up in conjunction with doing so.
One of the blemishes on what is called 'the beautiful game' is racism and discrimination and FIFA has been on the forefront of combating the issue. In 1961 it expelled South Africa from the organization for its apartheid policies, and thirty years later readmitted it when Nelson Mandela was released from prison and subsequently became president a few years later.
Racist incidents getting media attention in football venues combined with players increasingly leaving their home countries to play football in other nations prompted FIFA to convene a July 7, 2001 congress in Argentina to aggressively combat the twin problems of discrimination and racism in the sport.
What came out of that congress is known in FIFA circles as the Buenos Aires Resolution. In addition to denunciations of discrimination and racism by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, campaigns that involved the sports star players of both genders starting in 2002, the FIFA Executive Committee approved in 2004 a Code of Ethics that states "officials, players and players’ agents may not act in a
discriminatory manner, especially with regard to ethnicity, race,
culture, politics, religion, gender or language."
When incidents of fans shouting racist epithets at non-white players started spiking up at football venues in Europe, in 2006 FIFA began a 'Say No To Racism' campaign that continues to this day.
FIFA President Blatter had to recently take himself to task and apologize when he made a December 2010 remark concerning future 2022 World Cup host Qatar that was perceived as homophobic and caused a firestorm of international criticism.
Blatter said gay fans should "refrain from sexual activity" if they go to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, a country that criminalizes homosexual conduct.
In the wake of that unfortunate comment by President Blatter and Nigeria Super Falcon head coach Eucharia Uche admitting to the local Nigerian media she purged suspected lesbians off the national team and it controversially rearing its head at the Women's World Cup, maybe it is time for FIFA to initiate another campaign and boldly combat like they are doing with racism and discrimination, homophobia and transphobia in the beautiful game as well..
Rampant homophobia has not only led to discriminatory actions such as Uche's, but the death of players from misguided people.
31 year old Eudy Simelane was a popular star player on the South African Banyana Banyana women's national team. When she retired from international competition, she became the first woman in South Africa to be certified as a referee.
Simelane dreamed of one day officiating a World Cup match, but that unfortunately is not going to happen for her. In April 2008 she was gang raped, brutally beaten, stabbed 25 times in the face, chest and legs and left to die just 200 meters from her home. It was not only because of her non standard gender presentation, it was also because she was an out lesbian playing in a macho South Africa a 'man's game'.
A former club soccer teammate of hers also suffered the same fate as well.
I added transphobia as an emphasis because as trans people continue to transition at earlier ages, it is inevitable that one day there will be a trans person born somewhere on this planet who will have the the skill and talent to play football at an elite international level. That transperson, whoever he or she may be will need to have ironclad rules in place that guarantees they can participate and be the best they can be.
The IOC Stockholm Protocols are a start, but FIFA also needs to spell it out in their rules as well.
But for now, FIFA needs to make it clear that transphobia and homophobia have no place in 'the beautiful game'. FIFA also needs to prepare to forcefully combat transphobia and homophobia in its ranks just as they have aggressively done for the last decade in combating discrimination and racism.
