Fussbol Frauleins Defeat Samba Girls in Women’s World Cup

The Women’s [Soccer] World Cup in China was a dry run for the Chinese in preparation for next year’s Olympic Games. Whether they have all the bugs worked out yet is hard to say, but the tournament did give them a chance to showcase an amazing amount of talent. The USA, favorites going into the tournament, took a beating for the first time in 51 games at the international level, and the final was a triumph for Germany over Brazil 2-0. Female soccer is starting to resemble the men’s game on many levels, not least in which nations are at the top of the ladder.

Because of feminism and the suburban appeal of soccer in the US, a huge number of American girls start playing the game early. Despite the usual attrition as the kids get older, the US has literally hundreds of college-level programs stocked with players of both talent and experience. Since they won the World Cup in 1991, the women of the USA have been dominant in soccer the way the USA used to dominate in Olympic basketball (until the 1972 farce gave the medal to the commies).

Yet, this dominance was artificial. The other nations of the world, having seen the success of the Americans, have started to respond. In the 16 years since the USA won its first Cup, an entire generation of Brazilian, German, Italian, Dutch, Argentine, Australian and English girls have grown into womanhood with a ball at their feet. The stomping the Americans took from Brazil (4-0) had nothing to do with the controversial goalkeeper selection and everything to do with the fact that a generation of Brazilian girls played on the beaches and in the favelas with their brothers (who can play a bit). America had to settle for third place after defeating Norway (their opponent in the 1991 championship game).

The final pitted the two traditional male soccer powerhouses against each other in a well-balanced and exciting game that could have gone either way. In the end, Brazil couldn’t convert its chances, and the German ladies did. Jorge Barcellos said, “Even though we lost, this result of making the final will bring more investors and will bring a lot of benefits to women’s football in Brazil.” And that should scare everyone else.

The Women’s United Soccer Association may well come out of hibernation next spring to capitalize on the success of this tournament. This journal felt when it folded that the business people behind the decision were idiots. One hopes they don’t screw it up again. Otherwise, the next Women’s World Cup might just be a repeat of yesterday’s match up solely for lack of effort by the nation that has been, till now, the 800-pound gorilla in the sport.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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