One of the Best Soccer Matches I Have Ever Watched! US Women's National Team Advances to the FIFA Women's World Cup Semi-Finals! 7/10/11

Last year as the US Men's National Team was competing in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa I didn't miss a minute of their matches. I scheduled vacation days for their weekday matches. I had several people to my house for the England match. I scouted out a BW3 in Washington D.C. during our family vacation to watch the USMNT ultimately losing to Ghana in the round of 16.

Admittedly I was only marginally interested in this year's FIFA Women's World Cup. I noted the scores during group play, and was disappointed when the US Women lost to Sweden in group play.

But today I was going to sit down and watch the quarterfinal match between the US and Brazil live.

As it turns out it was one of the best soccer matches I have ever seen! From the Brazil own goal in the 2nd minute, to the foul and subsequent red card on the US's Rachel Buehler, to the penalty kick apparently saved by US goalkeeper Hope Solo but then allowed to be retaken and ultimately made due to a phantom encroachment call. Followed by a Brazil go-ahead goal in overtime to a Hail-Mary cross and goal by the US to tie the match. I'm exhausted just typing this out!

Ultimately the US Women prevailed in penalty kicks. The Abby Wambach extra-time equalizer off of a great cross from Megan Rapinoe will go down as one of the greatest goals in US Soccer History. My heart was beating as hard after this goal as when Landon Donovan scored against Algeria in last year's Men's World Cup!

Note to the Brazilian Women's team-faking injuries to delay the match wasn't a very good tactic. The extra time added gave the US the window they needed to tie the match!

I am very impressed with the heart the USWNT showed in this match. With only 10 players on the pitch, for most of the second half and overtime they continued to fight, with a resiliency that was amazing to watch.

I'm going to have to figure out a way to watch the US Women compete in the semi-finals live on Wednesday. But I'm not sure that match, or any other match I will watch will top today!

Qatar!?!?! Really?!?!?

Disappointing day today. FIFA decided to award Qatar, a country with a population of about 1.6 million people, the physical size of Connecticut and a National Soccer Team ranked 113th in the World, the 2022 World Cup.

I am not naive enough to think that the decision-making process that FIFA uses is clean. In fact, two members of the Executive Committee at FIFA were suspended for improprieties prior to the vote. But there is a real stink hovering over this decision.

No World Cup has made more money or had higher attendance since the United States hosted in 1994. Yet, by even FIFA's own analysis, they chose the bid with higher risk than the US bid for 2022.

I'm all for FIFA's mission to spread the "gospel" around the World. I also get the fact that the World Cup has never been held in the Middle East. But this decision was horrible. I'm sure we are going to hear a lot more about the decision-making process over the next few months. My guess? If a country is willing to pay (as reports about Qatar indicate) Zinedine Zidane $15 million to endorse them in the decision process, it is then logical to assume that this was just a great big money-grab by FIFA.

Postscript: At least FIFA's choice for the 2018, Russia, has a soccer culture, but I would have rather seen England or the Spain/Portugal bid to win.