I am having trouble with the time differences when it comes to the matches. I don’t want to sound like I’m copping out on watching. I try to stay up, but I fall asleep. Or I’ve been sleeping through my alarm. If the match isn’t at 9pm, then odds aren’t good that I will be able to watch live. What I am left with is reading and watching highlights. Not very exciting for me as I did watch all Team USA matches in 2019 and 2015. I am very proud of that fact, and sadly I am not sure I will be able to continue. USA plays Portugal on 8/1 at 3am Eastern. I’m planning on being there but I will have to fight for that one.
So, what have I seen?
USA v Vietnam: Seems the consensus about this match was that the USA was rusty, as they should have blown Vietnam out of the water. And that consensus is stupid by the way. 3-0 is a pretty serious drumming, and I get that Group E might come down to the point differential, but only Team USA would get scolded for not scoring enough points. My second take on this match is that Team USA would have had 7 goals is it wasn’t for Vietnam’s goalie, T. Thi Kim Tran. There was only so much Tran could do, and what she did was stop the American’s from rolling all over them.
England v Haiti: Caught the tail end of this one. I would have thought that England would have scored more, but a win is a win.
France v Jamaica: This was the second surprise of the tournament, after New Zealand beating Norway. Only saw highlights, and a tie is not a loss for France, but still surprising.
Germany v Morocco: Don’t mess with Germany. Germany made a loud statement with their 6-0 win that they came to win this Cup.
Brazil v Panama: And Brazil also made their statement with their 4-0 win, too.
Columbia v South Korea: Looking forward to this one. I know that these two are not high ranked teams, but South Korea has always been a scrappy team in my eye – fun to watch. Maybe them or Columbia could be the Dark House of the Tournament.