The Champions League final was entertaining enough. When Juventus scored to level the match early in the second half, I had hopes for a exciting finish. Unfortunately, Barcelona was just the better side and earned their 3-1 win.
In World Cup action, the 3-1 scoreline overstates how the US women did against Australia. They deserved the win but didn't play very well. Sweden didn't look all that great either in their 3-3 tie with Nigeria, who perhaps played the best of the four sides in the group. Just watched Germany draw 1-1 against Norway; not a pretty match - choppy, lots of fouls, lots of should-have-been-fouls that weren't called. Japan didn't exactly overwhelm Switzerland. Brazil looked okay against Korea, Canada was okay against China and France wasn't too bad in beating England. According to Nate Silver's fivethirtyeight, the US and Germany remain the favorites, though the model hasn't been updated to reflected the Germany-Norway result. Watching Canada-New Zealand and uh-oh, another case of mistaken identity. Lauren Sesselman (right) gets the yellow card that belonged to Allysha Chapman. Not even the same hair color...
I try not to get too up or down off of international friendlies but the two wins by the USMNT against the Netherlands (4-3) and Germany (2-1) were pretty cool. Missed the first match and only saw the second half against Germany so I can't comment too much on how they played - which is way more important than the results - but thought the US looked really solid against Germany. Bobby Wood's game winner against Germany in the 88th minute is worth a second look.
The biggest downer of the week was the Union's 1-2 loss to NYCFC. The game was entertaining enough, not one of their cringe-worthy efforts but still. With the score 1-1 late I was thinking that a draw wasn't really good enough against the last place team. Then they didn't even get that. All that excellent work against the top clubs in the division seems wasted now. The Union has a few weeks away from MLS action but then faces LA and Seattle in consecutive matches - that doesn't seem like a good place to recover the lost momentum
On a more positive note, Newcastle have a new manager - Steve McClaren - and a rumored budget of 50 million pounds to spend in the summer transfer window. Names like strikers Charlie Austin (QPR) and Saido Berahino (West Brom) are being bandied about. It all sounds good but with the Magpies, until the signature is inked on the contract, it doesn't mean much.
Villa also look to get in on the transfer market and started by signing former Manchester City defender Micah Richards. Certainly not a blockbuster, but we did concede a hell of a lot of goals this season and he is almost certainly an upgrade. Benteke's name is still being tossed all over the place and the only thing that looks certain is that Villa will offer him a new contract. Tom Cleverley did indeed bolt for Everton and I highly doubt I will miss him and his mediocrity. Nothing major yet for the Villans, but they are certainly dipping their toes in the water.
Interesting fact I just learned today--in the women's world cup, instead of "seeding" two teams in each group like they do in the men's and randomly drawing, the groups are handpicked in order to create intrigue and maximize viewership. So FIFA doesn't just fix things behind the scenes--in the women's game they do it out in the open haha. If it is necessary for the success of the WWC, I kind of get it. But at the same time, it seems less pure to me. I guess it always come down to the fact that if you win your games you will become champion.
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