Stunned US lick their wounds!!
Excerpts:
Even coach Greg Ryan, while lauding as "exceptional" his side's chief tormentors, Marta and Cristiane, claimed that the scoreline and balance of the match did not offer an accurate reflection of the nations' respective strengths. He said: "Going forward, we obviously need to make sure we develop our own Martas and Cristianes. But I do think we have some great players coming through and you can't draw too many conclusions from this game."
Solo breaks ranks
Ryan will have expected and, to an extent, accepted the media mauling that has followed the pre-tournament favourites' dramatic exit. What will have been of considerably greater concern is the news that he could not even count on solidarity within his own squad, this after Solo launched a withering attack on his decision to drop her at such a vital stage of their China 2007 campaign.
"It was the wrong decision and I think anybody who knows anything about the game knows that," said the benched keeper. "There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves (for Brazil's second and fourth goals). You can't live on big names and what someone did in an Olympic match three years ago."
"If we look at how they developed with so little in their country, how they have come so far, it's a great achievement for them," Ryan said.
"I got two players to mark Marta. But she was fantastic." Wambach, for her part, admitted that she "had never seen Brazil play so well", while captain Kristine Lilly made the most simple admission of all: "They were the better team."
take dem chop gari
Linear Mode
