While waiting for Barack Obama's e-mail on his Vice Presidential pick, I decided to take a break today and enjoy some footie.
It was the U.S. vs. Brazil with the Gold Medal on the line. Unlike many past matches of this type, the better team did not win.
The U.S. did.
The game illustrated the two schools of soccer, or futbol, or football -- the beautiful game. Brazil played beautifully. They had better players. They passed us silly the first half, back-and-forth across the pitch. They looked deadly early in the second half, firing shot-after-shot at goalie Hope Solo (right). It was one-way traffic until they tired, and the Americans gave up their own short passing game for long breakaways up the middle.
The U.S. goal, by a girl named Carli Lloyd, came seemingly out of nothing, a quick flip to get space and a screamer past the goalie, across the face of goal. Then it was back to hang in there baby, Brazil coming in from all angles, attack after attack, corner after corner, the issue not decided until their last missed by inches less than a minute from time.
We call this grinding it out. When my daughter Robin played, through high school, she became a specialist at this sort of thing. It's not pretty. It's exhausting to watch. It's physical, tackling and getting in front of people, banging the ball downfield just to get a breath.
But it works. At all levels. The balance between the beauty of a Brazil and the grinding it out mentality is what makes the game so compelling. Because you can see the same balance in a U-10 rec game as in a game played by pros.
Speaking of the pros...













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