As statements go, this one – “The United States women’s soccer team has things too easy” – wouldn’t immediately strike you as a remark most people would think has much merit. Warning heeded, let’s move forward anyways. Here we go … the U.S. women’s soccer team has things too easy. It is not their fault and they wish more than anything it wasn’t so, but there is not a lot they can do to change it and it’s not a particularly fair categorization. As the Tokyo Olympics finally get underway, that’s the reality they are faced with. Heading into the second most significant event in women’s soccer, behind only the World Cup, the U.S. is facing a field weakened enough that is guarantees to take some shine off the gold medal, whoever ends up winning it. Two years ago, through a glorious French summer, the Americans were utterly supreme. Led by a star-studded group including Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Rose Lavelle, they began the World Cup with a 13-0 demolition of Thailand and never eased up from there, sinking the host nation in the quarterfinal, England in the semis and the Netherlands in the championship game. Back then, the U.S. was solely focused on adding to its haul of international hardware but, ahead of the semifinal, Rapinoe still found time to speak out on the bizarre method used to pick the Olympic field of just 12 teams, four less than the men’s tournament. “It’s not equal and it’s not right,” Rapinoe told me. “There are teams and players that should have the opportunity to be there. We always want to play the best – and some of the best won’t be there.” The World Cup win in 2019 was the second straight triumph for the U.S. in that competition and it came with the knowledge that there were no arguments because there couldn’t be any. They were the best and they had proved it. They had outlasted everyone, each of the leading nations in women’s soccer. If only things were going to be the same in Tokyo. This is sad and unfortunate and deeply unjust, but the Olympic soccer tournament, for the women, remains embarrassingly truncated. Sure, having 24 teams like the Women’s World Cup (soon to rise to 32) would be impractical given the limited timeframe of the Olympic schedule. However, the paltry field of 12 teams ensures the feel of an invitational exhibition series rather than an event which confers the glorious prize of Olympic gold. The U.S. team kicks off in the early hours of Wednesday morning against Sweden, the team that eliminated them from the 2016 Olympics. However, even a third-place finish in the four-team group will probably be enough to advance to the quarterfinals. To make matters worse, on the female side there is no proper global qualifying competition. While men’s squads get the opportunity to earn their way into the Games, the women’s field – most particularly in Europe – is chosen in a lazy and ineffective way. With no qualifiers, the three European competitors are picked based off their results at the last World Cup. That means France, which had the misfortune of landing against the U.S. in the quarters two years ago, is out – despite being ranked third in the world. Out too is Germany, which was protected by neither its No. 2 world ranking nor the fact that it won the Olympic title five years ago in Rio de Janeiro. “It is to the detriment of soccer,” FOX Sports soccer analyst Alexi Lalas told me. “It is disappointing that in this emerging world of women’s soccer that’s getting stronger all the time, all of the great teams will not be there. The Americans have made no secret of the fact they want more competition, they want more teams trying to knock them off their pedestal.” Being part of such a dominant team does not come without ever-present adversity. The fight for greater recognition – and for equal pay – persists, while the simple truth of being the team everyone else wants to beat more than any other is always there. Facing the strongest teams are a further opportunity to add to the national team’s extraordinary legacy. This time, it is denied that chance. If present, France and Germany would be considered the two strongest and most dangerous threats to the American bid for gold. This column is in the business of sports writing and not sports administration but there appears to be a swift and simple fix for this issue, if indeed there is any serious desire to remedy this injustice. Put the field at 16, like on the men’s side and implement a system of regional qualification for Europe, while giving that region two of the added four spots. If not, this issue is going to creep up again and again. “We are hurt,” France defender Wendi Renard told me, after her team was knocked out of the last World Cup, sealing their Olympic absence, too. “In two ways.” Having the luck of the draw in the World Cup bracket effectively decide who gets to take part in an Olympics is absurd, laughable and just plain wrong. It is improper that so many fine players won’t get the chance to play in the Olympics – and unfair to a U.S. squad that deserves the right to say they beat the best of the best if they are able to claim gold. The U.S. is an absolute juggernaut beyond compare. Since 1991 there have been a combined 14 Women’s World Cups and Olympic tournaments. The Americans have won eight of them. The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, where Sweden was too strong in a penalty shootout, was one of the rare disappointments. “You have to remember that this is not just the best team in the world but a collection of rockstars,” Lalas added. “We should expect them to win gold and anything else will be a failure. The way the group of teams that is playing has been reached could be a lot better – although the likelihood is that the outcome will be the same.” Throughout its history, the U.S. women have never shied away from the opportunity for further challenges, for the sternest of tests. To be without that chance now, with such a monumental prize on the line, doesn’t feel right, doesn’t feel fair and certainly doesn’t feel very Olympian. Here’s what others have said … Abby Wambach, former USWNT captain: “There has to be something that changes this. UEFA needs to spend the money and do a proper qualifying tournament. France is too good not to be at Olympics. Total shame.” Doug McIntyre, FOX Sports: “Victory is expected but never guaranteed. As everyone involved in these long-delayed Games already knows, things don’t always go according to plan.” Kevin Draper, Sports Illustrated: “Anything less than a gold medal will be viewed — by casual fans and devoted ones, by the players and the federation and especially by (Vlatko) Andonovski — as a failure.” |
