September 26, 2007

No, no, NO!!!

I just don't understand this at all. ESPN is reporting that the US will change keepers for the World Cup semifinal against Brazil on Thursday morning. Veteran Brianna Scurry would replace Hope Solo for the semifinal, but then Solo would return to her position for the final.

When did the World Cup turn into a U12 rec game? Why in the world would you make a change like that in a semifinal? If Solo is injured, that's a different story, but that's not how this report is written. There has been talk about a shoulder injury, but it doesn't appear to have been an issue for Solo.

Nothing against Scurry at all, she's been a great player for the US for a long time. However, she's no longer the best keeper for the national team and she shouldn't receive a token game in the World Cup semifinal.

EDIT: Here's a great article from Phillip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune that sheds more light on the situation. Still no injury, but Ryan feels that Scurry matches up better with Brazil than Solo. It still seems like a weird decision to me. Hersh sums up my thoughts with this excellent line: "That makes his surprising move analogous to a football coach benching a middle linebacker who is undefeated because his other middle linebacker is better against teams that excel at screen passes."

Steve Goff at the Soccer Insider also has his take on the situation here.

2 comments:

Jefa said...

Shoe loves Ho-ope, Shoe loves Ho-ope... na, na, na, na... na...na.

Dang, I hate that I can't taunt you anonymously!

Longshoe said...

Hey, I'll admit that I'm slightly biased.

It is an odd decision though, I'm really interested to see how this plays out.