August 7, 2012

  • Canada/USA Olympic Soccer match and Sportsmanship

    On 8/6/2012 a thrilling soccer semifinal between Canada and USA ended in US victory over Canada. 

    I didn’t see the match, but oh did I read about the controversy.  What did I do?  I watched the highlights to see what all the fuss was about.  In my opinion Canada was unfortunate in the calls against them.  The delay of game penalty seemed BS, and what to do about the handball call?  This wasn’t a case of Maradona who previously used a handball to his advantage.  If you look at the replay, the Canadian player wasn’t even looking at the ball.  She was reacting to a blast from what, 20 feet in front of her, hands at her chest.  As the commenter suggested, the hands and arms were within the line of her body, but seriously she wasn’t even looking at the ball and was reacting in self-defense.  The ref could not be blind to that either since she had a good angle.  Does all this mean that Canada was robbed of the game?  No.  Perhaps it was unfair, but team Canada had to respond and it didn’t in extra time.

    Now here’s the sportsmanship part that I’m angry about.  Maybe I’ve only read news pieces with comments about the controversy, and maybe the comments are out of context, but I see poor…VERY poor sportsmanship on the part of the US players.  Here’s a link to the story:

    http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics--fresh-take--alex-morgan-s-last-second-goal-gives-u-s--the-win-over-a-bitter-canada.html

    Part of it is psychology.  When things go wrong you want to blame someone/thing else.  Canada was trying to blame the referee.  It’s like when people do poorly on exams, it is often the exam’s fault, not the test taker’s lack of studying.  Ms. Abby Wambach, you certainly can blame referees because they too are prone to error.  Or did you forget about a certain punch to the eye you received in a previous match?  Ms. Alex Morgan suggested instead that the Canadians were just not as physically fit as the Americans.  Could the Canadians been more prepared fitness-wise as Ms. Morgan suggested?  Maybe, but Ms. Morgan, just because your team won and you THINK you saw them on the ground more does not mean that team Canada was any less fit or less strong.  The fact that team USA played catch up for most of the match and that you happened to be at the right place at the right time until extra time nearly expired, suggests that the Canadians were equally up to the task. 

    Then came the brash comment by Ms. Hope Solo.  You would deny a brilliant performance by Ms. Christine Sinclair because team USA made her look good?  We (USA) didn’t win those aerial battles?  I am baffled by that comment.  Could it be that you didn’t win them because someone outplayed you?  The first goal wasn’t even in the air, but was blown past you.  Yes, you Hope Solo.  On the second goal Sinclair was in front of her defender and had position.  Only in the last goal was Sinclair behind the defender.  And then, she headed the ball right where you had one of your own teammates in the way, covering the far post since you were guarding the near post.  Just as Ms. Megan Rapinoe played a brilliant game, give credit where credit is due Ms. Solo.  Or do you think that hat tricks are common place among soccer players? 

    Finally, the last comment by Ms. Morgan just irked me.  You wanted to beat Canada so bad?  Why the Darwinian approach?  Coupled with your previous statement, it sounds like survival of the fittest.  The problem with this is that the love of the game has been co-opted for personal gain.  It’s not about the game anymore as it is about the team/individual, and this saddens me.  Competition is meant to bring out the best in us, not the worst.  As players we aspire to perform at higher and higher levels, but always with a respect for our opponents.  What you should have said was that you wanted to win so badly.  There’s a difference between that and beating a team.  One is based on the spirit of competition and performance, exactly what the Olympics are supposed to be about.  The other?  Well, the only words I can think of right now is selfish pride. 

    I sincerely hope that going forward, Team USA will be more humble in its comments and more respectful of its competition.