Luck, bad calls, ugly soccer, ...

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On corner kicks you could call a foul almost every single time There is pushing, grabbing, hugging, slapping, shirt tugging, jumping over the opponent using them as leverage. And if you don't have a "pick" somewhere in the scrum you aren't trying hard enough. This is not basketball. It's a contact sport where you have to be strong physically.

Girls are not strong physically.

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Girls are not strong physically.

Says the man who couldn't hang with the local U16 girls team.

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Says the man who couldn't hang with the local U16 girls team.

Might be true. Except for the ECNL teams, they would be easy to hang with.

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What about Klingenberg? She's tiny?? She did fine.

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What about Klingenberg? She's tiny?? She did fine.

She's very strong. Core strength to body weight ratio is high.

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What about Klingenberg? She's tiny?? She did fine.

in general, USA won based on physicality, athleticism, strength, speed. skills are nice, but they were secondary. otherwise japan wins.

we battle on here about skills vs raw athleticism. give me the athlete... we will give her some skill. can't go the other way around.

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in general, USA won based on physicality, athleticism, strength, speed. skills are nice, but they were secondary. otherwise japan wins.

we battle on here about skills vs raw athleticism. give me the athlete... we will give her some skill. can't go the other way around.

While I agree the US team has more athleticism, I think you're vastly underrating the skill level of the US ladies. They were better than I've seen in years at possessing and moving the ball down the field. The ability to transition out of tight quarters (like Tobin Heath did repeatedly - technically the best on either team) without simply booting the ball was tremendous. No, it doesn't hurt to have the athleticism, but this team didn't win on just having average skills or skills that were less than Japan.

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in general, USA won based on physicality, athleticism, strength, speed. skills are nice, but they were secondary. otherwise japan wins.

What game did you watch? 2011? To me this is a ridiculous statement. The US did so many things well in this game and it was not all athleticism. Conversely, Japan fell apart.

[Unregistered]

Sorry. Poster is absolutely correct. Japan ladies are more technical and skilled than the USA. Easily. That's not to say usa is poor technically. They are solid. But when you combine solid skills with a huge advantage in athleticism, strength, and speed... You get World Cup champs.

I 100% agree. Take a phenomenal athlete and give them some adequate skill. Take that all day long. You can't teach raw athleticism. Mediocre athletes with a ton of skill gets overwhelmed by the athlete. And we saw that loud and clear in the final.

Go USA!

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Some of the USA ladies are hot

[Unregistered]

Sorry. Poster is absolutely correct. Japan ladies are more technical and skilled than the USA. Easily. That's not to say usa is poor technically. They are solid. But when you combine solid skills with a huge advantage in athleticism, strength, and speed... You get World Cup champs.

I 100% agree. Take a phenomenal athlete and give them some adequate skill. Take that all day long. You can't teach raw athleticism. Mediocre athletes with a ton of skill gets overwhelmed by the athlete. And we saw that loud and clear in the final.

Go USA!

I see your point, but I think you're taking away from both teams. There was no showing that the US had phenominal athletes with "adequate" skills, nor did Japn have "mediocre" athletes with a ton of skill. For the first time in a long time, the US showed in this tournament that they have a lot of athletic AND very skilled players. You can't explain away the Germany game by the argument that the US "out-athleted" them. This argument that the US women win based on having better "athletes" with lesser skills should be put to rest once and for all.

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I see your point, but I think you're taking away from both teams. There was no showing that the US had phenominal athletes with "adequate" skills, nor did Japn have "mediocre" athletes with a ton of skill. For the first time in a long time, the US showed in this tournament that they have a lot of athletic AND very skilled players. You can't explain away the Germany game by the argument that the US "out-athleted" them. This argument that the US women win based on having better "athletes" with lesser skills should be put to rest once and for all.

The US has better athletes. That was the difference. The skill is coming. Improving. But make no mistake, it's the athleticism that puts them over the top. And as the sport grows in the US, it will get worse for the lesser athletes... Because the USNT will have its pick of athletes and skill. Lesser athletes cannot and will not make the team going forward.

[Unregistered]

Sorry. Poster is absolutely correct. Japan ladies are more technical and skilled than the USA. Easily. That's not to say usa is poor technically. They are solid. But when you combine solid skills with a huge advantage in athleticism, strength, and speed... You get World Cup champs.

I 100% agree. Take a phenomenal athlete and give them some adequate skill. Take that all day long. You can't teach raw athleticism. Mediocre athletes with a ton of skill gets overwhelmed by the athlete. And we saw that loud and clear in the final.

Go USA!

Disagree. Skill trumps athleticism. Exhibit A: L. Messi.

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Disagree. Skill trumps athleticism. Exhibit A: L. Messi.

Exhibit B: Non-year round competitive youth soccer teams at the select rather than premier level. These teams are usually the home of multi-sport athletes. Fantastic athletes, but not the same level of soccer skills as premier teams with soccer specialists. Any good premier level team will crush a select-level team, even a select-level team filled with fantastic, multi-sport athletes.

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I agree, but there is a tipping point. You can't throw the state champion football team out there against a good premier team.

But if you have two premier teams that play year round and both have good basics but one is highly skilled and above-average athletic vs a above-average skilled but highly athletic team (speed), then your bet might not be as clear cut.

It's not always fair, but speed kills.