I was working on campus yesterday but was able to leave early, so I got home just in time to see Team USA go up 2-0 on Nadeshiko Japan in the women's soccer gold metal game. At that point, the Full Metal Archivist was so frustrated with the referees and the announcers that we turned off the volume to watch the last 35 minutes of so. I blame myself for turning it back on right after Ogimi's goal brought Nadeshiko within 1 goal of the Americans. Not even onechan, imoto, the FMA, and I each eating a cherry tomato from our garden could overcome that mistake.
Seriously, what a great game! The level of play was so high--the closest team event in the London Olympics that I've seen to rival it was the US-China semifinal match in beach volleyball--it was just a shame that one team had to lose. In the end, we felt bad for Nadeshiko but happy for Rochester native Abby Wambach and all her teammates (at least onechan, imoto, and I did!). It wasn't the result we wanted, but it was a great experience watching it. Imoto was so nervous at times that she had to leave the room, while whenever Nadeshiko had a chance for a late goal (and they had so many!) the FMA, onechan, and imoto were jumping around the room yelling at the tv.
For more on the game itself, check out bangkokbobby's excellent post! I think we'll be seeing much more of this rivalry in years to come!
Showing posts with label soccer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soccer. Show all posts
Friday, August 10, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
OMG! Nadeshiko Japan vs. Team USA Rematch for Olympic Gold
The Constructivist household is going nuts for Nadeshiko Japan, who held on over the last 25 minutes of their semi-final match and held off a scrappy French team to get into the gold-metal game at the London Olympics. And when Team USA kept coming back against Canada and beat them in the final seconds of overtime, well, you know we can't wait for the rematch of the amazing 2011 World Cup finals! We love Abby Wambach (a western NYer!), Alex Morgan, and the rest of Team USA, but there's no doubt we'll be rooting for a Nadeshiko Japan repeat Thursday afternoon (our time)!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Nadeshiko Japan: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Champions!
How about that comeback win by Nadeshiko Japan over Team USA at the Women's World Cup finals yesterday? Onechan and imoto and I first watched it live with my parents in Clinton, then caught the tail end of the rebroadcast with the Full Metal Archivist back home in Hamburg. It was the 1st sporting event I've seen onechan really get into--and why not? More bullet-dodging in the 1st 30 minutes and last 3 than The Matrix, absolute coolness in the face of Morgan's and Wambach's heroics, and total brilliance from Sawa yet again!
Here are the highlights, 1st by European announcers...
...next by Japanese ones (this clip includes a number of near-goals, too!):
. I didn't notice till watching this one that it was Miyama, who got the opportunistic 1st goal for Japan late in regulation, whose corner kick near the end of the 2nd overtime period fed Sawa!
Loved how loose the Japanese coach and team were right before penalty kicks. All that smiling reminded me of So Yeon Ryu on U.S. Women's Open Monday! Let's hope Nadeshiko Japan's players start getting compensated like world champions soon--check out how most of them are barely eking out a living! Considering how they've inspired a nation--not to mention my favorite golfer, Ai Miyazato (who says here she couldn't stop crying!)--and provided the best news for Japan all year, they deserve nothing but the best.
Imoto was pretty low key about the match at Grandma and Grandpa's house, but she got more into it after the long drive home. Maybe she'll get even more excited about Nadeshiko Japan when she sees that they appeared on one of her favorite Japanese kids' tv shows:
Lots of western NY connections, with Wambach not only from Rochester but specifically from Pittsford, which hosts the Wegmans LPGA Championship, and Morgan a teammate of Marta's on the Western NY Flash. Looks like we'll be going to a game this summer!
Here are the highlights, 1st by European announcers...
...next by Japanese ones (this clip includes a number of near-goals, too!):
. I didn't notice till watching this one that it was Miyama, who got the opportunistic 1st goal for Japan late in regulation, whose corner kick near the end of the 2nd overtime period fed Sawa!
Loved how loose the Japanese coach and team were right before penalty kicks. All that smiling reminded me of So Yeon Ryu on U.S. Women's Open Monday! Let's hope Nadeshiko Japan's players start getting compensated like world champions soon--check out how most of them are barely eking out a living! Considering how they've inspired a nation--not to mention my favorite golfer, Ai Miyazato (who says here she couldn't stop crying!)--and provided the best news for Japan all year, they deserve nothing but the best.
Imoto was pretty low key about the match at Grandma and Grandpa's house, but she got more into it after the long drive home. Maybe she'll get even more excited about Nadeshiko Japan when she sees that they appeared on one of her favorite Japanese kids' tv shows:
Lots of western NY connections, with Wambach not only from Rochester but specifically from Pittsford, which hosts the Wegmans LPGA Championship, and Morgan a teammate of Marta's on the Western NY Flash. Looks like we'll be going to a game this summer!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Nadeshiko Japan! It's the Japanese Women's Soccer Team in the World Cup Finals against Team USA
Here are the highlights of Japan's women's soccer team's 3-1 victory over Sweden in the semifinals of the World Cup:
By the way, Tom Byer only gets part of the meaning of "nadeshiko" down. Yes, the term refers to a beautiful flower, but it has 2 additional connotations that are quite significant. First, it refers back to old-fashioned notions of the ideal Japanese woman, an image the women's soccer team is refashioning with every game; second, it suggests a kind of mental and physical toughness inside a fragile-seeming beauty, which the women's team is transposing from its domestic and WW II-era contexts into the world of sports.
My girls aren't sure who to root for in the final--Nadeshiko Japan or Team USA! I'm just hoping for an exciting game--and some inspiration for Japanese women golfers as they head into the LPGA's European swing next week!
By the way, Tom Byer only gets part of the meaning of "nadeshiko" down. Yes, the term refers to a beautiful flower, but it has 2 additional connotations that are quite significant. First, it refers back to old-fashioned notions of the ideal Japanese woman, an image the women's soccer team is refashioning with every game; second, it suggests a kind of mental and physical toughness inside a fragile-seeming beauty, which the women's team is transposing from its domestic and WW II-era contexts into the world of sports.
My girls aren't sure who to root for in the final--Nadeshiko Japan or Team USA! I'm just hoping for an exciting game--and some inspiration for Japanese women golfers as they head into the LPGA's European swing next week!
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