 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
Golden child U.S. women thrive with young Wagner at controlsPosted: Wednesday December 11, 2002 5:57 PMUpdated: Wednesday December 11, 2002 6:00 PM
By Scott French in Pasadena and Fullerton, Calif., Soccer America How best to assess what the U.S. women accomplished in their most important competition, in terms of what was at stake, since the 2000 Olympics? It's a difficult proposition. The Americans, for the most part, looked sensational in winning the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup and booking their trek to China for next year's fourth Women's World Cup. Their finishing wasn't perfect, by any means, but they created scads of chances while dictating play to every foe they faced. That none of their challengers, runner-up Canada aside, managed to even remotely challenge April Heinrichs' crew was evidence of something, although exactly what wasn't clear. No question none of the other seven teams, runner-up Canada included, are at the U.S. women's level; where that level lies is anybody's guess.
Here's one guess: Never before has the U.S. women's team, in all its years of glory, possessed the sort of weaponry, versatility, mobility, dynamism and depth as this bunch. It is capable of beautiful, flowing possession soccer; able to attack from any angle, from any distance, at any time; possessing a variety of personnel options, especially in midfield and up front, each one altering the squad's personality; solid defensively all over the field; and as technically gifted and tactically sound as it is athletic -- athleticism being for so long the Americans' trump card. All of that was apparent to anyone paying attention during the Gold Cup. How much of it was product of the competition -- 11 wackos off the street could school a team of kindergartners -- may not be clear until China, next September.
The Americans, showing great versatility within a young 4-4-2 alignment, thrived at the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup with Aly Wagner at the controls. What does it mean?SIMPLE TALE. This fall's storyline was simple: Americans dominate. Americans struggle to score. Americans score in bunches. Americans overcome difficult conditions to capture a trophy all but conceded to them before the tournament began. No odd plot twists or final-reel stunners, far richer in the details. Troubles in front of the net -- always against bunkered defenses, Canada's included -- led to unimpressive scorelines against Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago, a pair of 3-0 triumphs that left the U.S. victims claiming victory: T&T goalkeeper Lisa Jo Ramkissoon even talked afterward about "winning" the game. Barrages in the first half against Panama and second half against Costa Rica delivered the 2003 berth. Horrid field conditions -- and a talented Canadian team in a 5-4-1 formation -- kept the title-game outcome in doubt until Mia Hamm's overtime chip delivered a 2-1 victory in a soggy, foggy Rose Bowl. Young Aly Wagner, expertly manning the controls, and Tiffeny Milbrett, back to her old self after exhaustion forced a two-month break, were the stars of this show. The supporting roles were deftly cast, too. TIGHT DIAMOND. Heinrichs deserves a good deal of the credit: Her 4-month-old 4-4-2 system, defined by its tight-diamond midfield, seems to have revealed new attacking possibilities to the Americans while taking away some of the risk in the back. The U.S. coach demonstrated its versatility, choosing from among nearly a half-dozen world-class strikers to play the two spots in front of a diamond that changed shape and color depending on who surrounded Wagner. Captain Julie Foudy, defensive whiz Tiffany Roberts and attack-minded Angela Hucles all got a look on the right; Roberts and Foudy traded off at the deep slot; Kristine Lilly and Lorrie Fair, who also played on the back line, saw time on the left. Heinrichs has given her wide midfielders the freedom to choose how wide they go; the attacking roles of the outside backs, primarily Kate Sobrero on the right, Jenny Benson on the left and Cat Reddick on either side (Danielle Slaton pulled out to have her knee repaired) vary depending on which midfielder they're paired with. All of them, midfielders and defenders, fared well, no surprise. Only Canada challenged the Americans' defense, and then only on occasion; everyone, even center backs Joy Fawcett and Brandi Chastain, could join the attack. Up front, Heinrichs could mix and match size and styles, going quick and fast with tournament MVP Milbrett and Hamm, bringing on size with Cindy Parlow -- and, for a time, Abby Wambach -- or utilizing powerful, deceptive Shannon MacMillan from wide. Every proposition was win-win. UNPREDICTABILITY. Heinrichs says interchangeability and unpredictability were desired products of the switch from the Americans' long-lived (and -loved) 4-3-3 alignment. "If we're playing a three-front," she said, "you pretty much know where the three forwards are coming from. Playing in a 4-4-2, the way it is right now, I think we're going to make other teams more worried about where the attack is going to come from. It's not necessarily going to come up one flank and stay on that flank, because we have so many players with a green light to go forward." The pivotal factor was Wagner, a 22-year-old senior at Santa Clara University and the most gifted playmaker the United States has produced. She's a youngster on this team, still feeling out her place, but there's no doubt, you know? She's got spectacular vision and skills. She's otherworldly in creating opportunities for teammates -- with brilliant 30-yard balls that curl around defenses and onto teammates' steps. She's the deep-lying focal point of the possession game, moving balls here and there, from side to side, in and out until -- wham! -- she slices a ball through a seam to a sprinting forward for a goal. Wagner scored the Americans' first goal, first-timing a pass back from Lilly into Mexico's net, and set up their finale, powerfully heading Canadian goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc's goal kick over the Canada defense and onto Hamm's path, placed as nicely as if she's used a foot. The Gold Cup heralded her arrival. Not that you'd know it talking to her. "I definitely don't feel secure," she says when asked about her future with the U.S. women. "You can never feel content. There's a lot of things in my game I need to improve. And the World Cup's a long ways away. Hopefully, I can maintain in the pool of players. That's all I can hope for now." Uh, yeah. MAGICIAN. "Aly is one of those players," gushes Foudy, "it's, like, sometimes you catch yourself watching her on the field. You're like, 'Wait. C'mon, play.' ... She's one of those players a forward will run for anywhere, because you know the ball is going to be at your feet wherever you go. And you can see: When she gets the ball, the forwards just light up. Because they know." Wagner demonstrated this all Gold Cup. She was credited with eight assists -- best in the tournament -- but that's only because teammates didn't finish every golden opportunity she provided. In the first 22 minutes of the 9-0 romp over Panama -- a span in which the Americans scored six goals -- Wagner delivered seven passes of the oh-my-god variety, space-finding long balls to MacMillan on the flank, perfectly "textured" balls onto Tiffeny Milbrett's foot. Three of Milbrett's U.S. record-tying five goals were products of Wagner's magic. Everybody has a favorite. Hamm: "That ball she served me [to set up Cindy Parlow's goal in the opener against Mexico], probably anyone else would have [placed it] out of bounds, but she was able to bend it that it died. It wouldn't have gone out of bounds. It would have stopped before it went out of bounds. 'Cause I was actually able to slow down, look up and then drive it near post. If I had served that ball, it definitely would have gone out of bounds." Goalkeeper Briana Scurry: "There was one ball she played against, I think, Trinidad & Tobago with the outside of her right foot to Mia, who was running up the left flank. I could see the ball from behind her, the way it curled around the defense, curled in front of Mia and dipped right in front her. Unbelievable." "There's no doubt," said Chastain, "that she can pass when she has time and space," which Wagner had plenty of most of the Gold Cup. "The key for Aly will be when we play teams like China and teams like Norway and teams like Germany. What can she do in those circumstances?" How best to assess, indeed.
Scott French is a senior editor at Soccer America magazine.
|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
