Merely and opinion and observation.
For many years, womens's football has been little more than a joke. Poor skills, fitness, rubbish teamwork - nothing about it was of any merit.
Suddenly however, within the last three years it has blossomed. The current Women's world cup has had an abundance of skills strength and stamina. Some really good football on show.
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It makes a change from blokes chasing a ball around and kissing each other when they get it through the gate at the end of the field.
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>>Suddenly however, within the last three years it has blossomed>>
It happened a lot further back than within the last three years.
Like women's rugby, it's not been promoted enough in the media until comparatively recent times.
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>> >>Suddenly however, within the last three years it has blossomed>>
>>
>> It happened a lot further back than within the last three years.
>>
I saw it three years ago, and I can assure you it was crap
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The all knowing and ultimate judge of everything has given his judgmemt
All contrary opinions are wrong.
Opposition is futile.
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I'm enjoying this tournament more than any I've watched for a long while. Men's international football has become a bit sterile with teams playing not to lose rather than to win. The women's game is more open, a high standard with just enough mistakes to add to the interest.
if only the damn Germans weren't there.
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"Men's international football has become a bit sterile with teams playing not to lose rather than to win. The women's game is more open, a high standard with just enough mistakes to add to the interest."
I agree with all of that except that I wouldn't say ' a bit sterile', rather - 'boringly, dreadfully sterile'.
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You come from Norwich, WTF do you know about football.
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I live in Norfolk, I come from the same part of the world as you.
It's not just football. If you were occasionally to add " in my opinion" or " I think " to your pronouncements on all and sundry they would come across a lot better. You must have been a difficult chap to work with.
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>> I live in Norfolk, I come from the same part of the world as you.
>>
>> It's not just football. If you were occasionally to add " in my opinion" or
>> " I think " to your pronouncements on all and sundry they would come across
>> a lot better. You must have been a difficult chap to work with.
Have you tried reading the very very first line of the very very first post in this thread?
Hmmm?
And, in Football terms, Norfolk is like nowhere else.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 21 Jun 15 at 13:54
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A good start but you suffered a relapse a few posts up.
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>> A good start but you suffered a relapse a few posts up.
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>>
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No wonder you are not upset about wind farms, you can't remember the days before they arrived.
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In my favourite Paris boozer, a posh place on a boulevard, I was once introduced to a forward in the French women's rugby team. A nice jolly big blonde girl... when I said I'd been a prop forward at school - 'pilier', pillar, in French - , she told everyone around us about it, not without a certain muted but friendly sneer (she was much bigger and stronger than me).
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>> a forward in the French women's rugby team. A nice jolly big blonde girl.
She may even have been the captain, but I can't remember for sure. She had an authoritative style. Definitely the French women's first fifteen. I must find out if my Belgian buddy who lives round the corner from that boozer is still in touch with her.
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>>I saw it three years ago, and I can assure you it was crap>>
Well actually you can't, at least in my case. I used to be the manager of my town's women's football team in the mid-1970s (a fellow journalist was the coach) and we regularly topped the North West Women's Football League during the season.
The majority of the players were very skilful and, in the case of the powerful centre half, someone who could well have slotted into some male teams - she was the Police javelin throwing champion in the UK Police Athletics Championships.
I also covered the England national women's football matches when they were played at Deepdale or other major ground in the North West and, again, the skill level was high, although not to the same high standard as in recent times.
The women's game did take time to take off, a lot of it being down to those who would knock it, often on hearsay rather than actually seeing the girls in action. But of course you wouldn't do that, would you?
It also applied to the women's rugby game, in which the participants relied more on skill and speed than sheer strength. My daughter, who went to university in East Midlands, had a student flat mate who played rugby regularly on a Saturday morning around the Midlands.
It surprised a lot of people as she was a stunning willowy blonde who looked as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth...:-) My best mate, despite being married, was besotted with her...:-)
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>> >>I saw it three years ago, and I can assure you it was crap>>
>>
>> Well actually you can't, at least in my case. I used to be the manager
>> of my town's women's football team in the mid-1970s (a fellow journalist was the coach)
>> and we regularly topped the North West Women's Football League during the season.
That does not mean the standard was any good.
And if I hadn't seen any, I wouldn't have put a timescale on it would I. The last womens world cup, 4 years ago was very poor.
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>>That does not mean the standard was any good. >>
Clearly not in your part of the world...:-)
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It's the semi-final at midnight; anyone planning on staying awake to watch it?
Up the women!
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yes probably will, too warm to sleep anyway
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The Germany v USA semi-final proved a very intense encounter but, whoever the USA play in the final at the weekend, they will have had an extra 24 hours to recover - could be even more difficult for England after they've despatched Japan...:-)
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In a spectacular piece of planning I'm off work all week. This being the case the snacks and chilled white wine are in place and I'm ready to watch. Up the lionesses!
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Me too....I'll be watching the Manchester City girls thrash the Nippon ladies in their kimonos .
Bockle of cold wine in the fridgidaire and cheese and bics waiting.
Go 4 it girls !!
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Well. that's that then. Freaky own goal 1 minute before the whistle.
At least I won against the cold bottle of Pinot ! A sad nite nite all !
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"A sad nite nite all !"
I had a short nap before kick-off, then managed to stay awake throughout, aided by a couple of bottles of ice-cold Budvar, crisps, and cheese & biscuits. It was a terrible way to go out of the competition, made all the more frustrating because, IMO, England had looked the better side.
There was a bit of short speculation on the Bury Town forum about at what level the ladies would be competitive against a blokes' side. Nobody put up an alternative argument when someone suggested that a) they would thrash Bury - relegated from step 3 non-league to step 4 last season, and b) that they would be about equivalent to step 2 NL i.e. Conference N/S level.
Anyone got any thoughts on that?
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Very hard to say unless they played against a men's side. They could be more skilful than their opponents yet end up being muscled out of the game - as any long standing West Ham supporter will testify :-(
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Make any team from any of the teams in the current ladies world cup and they would not make it in any of the top 6 leagues of the UK
Its a game of skill, strength and speed. The ladies are always second best on the last two.
I was disappointed to see that dive to earn the English penalty.
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Despite the boots and socks and tight-bound tresses,
Own goals don't really make them useless prats.
Nevertheless, rather than Lionesses,
Perhaps they should be called the Pussycats.
(Sorry girls - William McGonigle)
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>> Its a game of skill, strength and speed. The ladies are always second best on the last two.
Granted that bigger, stronger, faster, stupider men with nothing else on their minds are going to be able to beat women of equal ability at football. But it's sometimes a mistake to underestimate the lightning speed and gouging ability of an annoyed woman, or even lady. One of the things I have learned in a life littered with embarrassing errors.
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Bit late but it's still 0-0 against Germany in the 3rd/4th place play-offs, with 25 mins to go. On BBC3.
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Oh dear - another 30 mins. Please don't let it go to penalties...
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Who cares, 3rd or 4th place means nothing to them or us.
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>> Who cares, 3rd or 4th place means nothing to them or us. >>
Your enthusiasm is utterly infectious.
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>> >> Who cares, 3rd or 4th place means nothing to them or us. >>
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>> Your enthusiasm is utterly infectious.
Its called a winning mentality, there are winners and nowhere else. No wonder you were happy with the utterly dire standard of womens football in the old days.
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>>Its called a winning mentality...>>
Don't you think that the England team had a winning mentality or that it was just luck that brought them to the level they reached in the World Cup?
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both.
And having a winning mentality, as I said, they wont care about third or forth place, its means nothing to them.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 5 Jul 15 at 14:24
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>> both.>> And having a winning mentality, as I said, they wont care about third or forth place, its means nothing to them. >>
Well judging by their uninhibited celebrations and the reaction of their manager after the final whistle, the England team might well treat that remark with unveiled disbelief.
At least they, like so many others, actually get out there and do something to succeed, rather than knock those who do from behind a computer keyboard.
Last edited by: Stuartli on Sun 5 Jul 15 at 14:32
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>> At least they, like so many others, actually get out there and do something to
>> succeed, rather than knock those who do from behind a computer keyboard.
Are you actually reading what I am writing? Where did it say I was knocking the team?
And as far as getting out there and doing something, clearly you know nothing about sporting achievement
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"its means nothing to them."
They seemed pretty pleased to have beaten Germany - something they hadn't done before.
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If they have a winning mentality they will care about winning all games even if it's a play off for third place.
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Tell me how much the Yanks or the Japanese celebrate when they win the world cup. The girls didn't go out to win third place, and they will come back with a burning desire to do better next time.
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Third place matters little at the time, but as years pass to be able to say you finished third in a World Cup takes on more importance, particularly for those players who finish their careers with little in the way of trophies.
Lionel Messi would give it scant regard, Vinnie Jones would have been proud of it.
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People can't all be top dog.
Most don't aspire to that, but would surely feel pleased and honoured to represent their nation in football, athletics or anything else. After all they must be pretty good to get into the team in the first place.
The Lionsses/Pussycats have every reason to be pleased with themselves, and I hope they are. They'll have a trophy of some sort to show their grandchildren.
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>> Third place matters little at the time, but as years pass to be able to
>> say you finished third in a World Cup takes on more importance, particularly for those
>> players who finish their careers with little in the way of trophies.
without looking it up, can you remember who came third in the last mens world cup?
>> Lionel Messi would give it scant regard, Vinnie Jones would have been proud of it.
Only if he had chinned Messi.
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Women can go back to being Mothers, Partners and Daughters according to deleted FA tweet:
www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jul/06/england-women-twitter-world-cup-mothers-partners-daughters
And they say sexism's dead.
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"And they say sexism's dead."
Good ol' Brompto demonstrates his versatility as he turns his hand to sexist-sniffing!
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Why are people so devoid of a sense of humour these days?
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Yes, and to compound it all, they refer to the ladies as "heroes" not "heroines".
Mind you the BBC refer to "actresses" as "actors".
Wurzels.
What next - referring to the present monarch as a king, not a queen?
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"What next - referring to the present monarch as a king, not a queen?"
In future, they will be known equally as 'Royal Persons'.
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If the rumours about King Edward II and Piers Gaveston are correct, then he was both a Queen and a King!
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>> If the rumours about King Edward II and Piers Gaveston are correct, then he was
>> both a Queen and a King!
>>
Or a quean!
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Just in case you haven't seen it, USA captain's goal from the half way line in the final (which they won 5-2 against Japan):
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33404887
I know they're the best in the world, but even so, to kick a ball that far, hard, accurately, under pressure... it ain't easy! (I know Beckham and others have done similar.)
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Womens World cup. - Old Navy
