Or possibly the worst

August 6, 2015 1:09 AM

The greatest game of women's soccer ever played. An oral history from the Globe and Mail of the US-Canada Women's Soccer match, played 3 years ago today at the London 2012 Olympics.
posted by jacquilynne (12 comments total)

Seems neither greatest nor worst, but an exciting, badly flawed game. May look different through Canadian eyes.
posted by Segundus at 3:37 AM on August 6, 2015

From Canadian eyes, I think it's the greatest game of women's soccer (or soccer in general) because it did more to interest Canadians in soccer than anything ever had. During the recent Women's World Cup, there was tons of interest in Canada in the team and the matches, and I think that can be directly traced back to the surge of interest that came from this game.

And honestly, I remember people feeling outraged by this game in 2012. It was a combination of feeling like we got kicked while we were down, as a country, and the egregiously messed-up nature of the calls being made against us.

I really enjoyed this article.
posted by hepta at 5:54 AM on August 6, 2015

From Canadian eyes, I think it's the greatest game of women's soccer (or soccer in general) because it did more to interest Canadians in soccer than anything ever had.

Yeah it's interesting. Nothing brings Canadians together as a nation quite like playing (and possibly beating) the US at anything. Soccer itself in North America is in the head-scratching situation of being very popular recreationally (especially with pre-teens) but not so much professionally, though I think it's changing a bit.

I too remember being outraged at the refereeing, but nevertheless impressed with the quality of play. Much like hockey, the international competitions in women's sport are top-heavy with only a few teams being competitive. The hockey, in particular, ends up being a US-Canada dual meet every time out. As a father of two daughters, I love seeing women's sport advance. The women's team play in hockey is often better to watch as it relies more on positional play than hitting. It reminds me of the men's hockey of 40-50 years ago. You also can't deny that the women's soccer is capable of drama and skill equivalent to any mens' match.
posted by jimmythefish at 6:49 AM on August 6, 2015

Many of these players are currently in the NWSL, and you can watch the games for free!

Upcoming games :

Fri. Aug 7 8:30 ET - Houston Dash vs. Sky Blue FC - available for free on Fox Sports Go
Houston Dash
- Erin McLeod
- Lauren Sesselmann
Sky Blue FC
- Jonelle Filigno

Sat. Aug 8 7:00 ET - Boston Breakers vs. Washington Spirit - available for free on the NWSL Youtube channel
Washington Spirit
- Diana Matheson

Also of note :
- Christine Sinclair plays for Portland, and had two assists last night in a 5-2 dismantling of Boston.
- Desiree Scott plays for Notts County, who lost in the FA Cup finals on Saturday.
- Sophie Schmidt just signed for current UEFA Champions League title holders 1. FFC Frankfurt.
posted by suckerpunch at 7:05 AM on August 6, 2015

The hockey, in particular, ends up being a US-Canada dual meet every time out

And nine times out of ten it's a sad exit for the USA. Canada! Canada! Canada!
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:12 AM on August 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Pretty good trolling: clickbait title "greatest game ever"; dramatic build-up "us vs our greatest rival"; back and forth play and then "they robbed us by working the refs!". Not a whole lot different than the way the US men's basketball team looks at the 72 olympic final against USSR, only they don't call it the greatest basketball game ever played by a long sight.
posted by OHenryPacey at 7:17 AM on August 6, 2015

I understand why the Canadian players are bitter about the six-second rule considering how rarely it's enforced, but McLeod admits that she was specifically warned about it at halftime but it just didn't sink in, so I don't have too much sympathy. And why is it poor sportsmanship for Wambach to count out loud? Sesselman claims Wambach was skipping numbers, and who knows if that's true, but it should be easy to go to the tape and figure out exactly how many times McLeod held the ball for more than six seconds even after being warned.

I agree that the handball call was bullshit, though.

It was such a good game that the controversy ended up half-spoiling it for me. I'd almost rather have had the Canadians win, and I wouldn't even have been mad.
posted by savetheclocktower at 7:24 AM on August 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Now I'm starting to remember so many things about this Olympics, like Sinc's face after her third goal, or everyone immediately becoming 12 years old when they had the Spice Girls as part of the Closing Ceremony, and OH MY GOD I TOTALLY FORGOT. Diana Matheson in : Olympic medals are like really heavy so maybe don't jump around while wearing them? (1) (2) (3)
posted by suckerpunch at 8:09 AM on August 6, 2015

For me, that sequence in the opening ceremony that culminated with the rings was the best ever. I doubt it'll ever be topped.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:16 AM on August 6, 2015

I was looking at my Facebook "On This Day" feed, and saw this status from a few years ago:
"Do you think if they tried really, really, really hard, the refs could find more opportunities to fuck Canada over?"

I couldn't remember what the status was actually about so I googled "August 6 2012 sports" and this article popped up at about the 3rd result.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:28 AM on August 6, 2015

I remember watching that game and just loving Abby Wambach. She is such a fierce competitor in all aspects of the game and was such a master of both play on the field and the "dark arts." (Not to take anything away from Sinclair, who is

(Usually, an oral history isn't quite this one-sided. It sounds like the Globe & Mail reached out to one U.S. player. Shouldn't they have tried harder?)
posted by Area Man at 9:41 AM on August 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

I don't watch sports very much anymore, but I do appreciate the effect it has on people. As an US-ian, I'm so sorry that this game was decided on questionable calls and not the awesome play which preceded it.
posted by TrishaLynn at 6:00 AM on August 7, 2015