Sunday, October 28, 2007

US Soccer President Sunil Gulati reached a swift decision to dismiss Greg Ryan as US Women’s Team coach, but he wasn’t as fast as one of his predecessors. In 1998, Alan Rothenberg took just four days to secure coach Steve Sampson’s resignation after the final Men’s National Team game in that year’s disastrous World Cup campaign.

One of the players on the squad at the time, Eric Wynalda, saw essential parallels between the two situations.

“You have a coach in both cases who basically destroys a team’s chances to be successful through terrible choices and decisions,” said Wynalda.

Ryan himself rejected the association, pointing out that the Women’s Team finished third in the competition. Yet for a country that had previously won more World Cups than any other, it was an undeniably disappointing tournament.

“We do bring a different expectation and standard to our women’s program,” said Gulati Monday during the media call that announced Ryan’s departure.

It should be a mark of pride for the women’s program that one distinction from the men is the higher standard of expected achievement. What’s troubling is that it isn’t the only ways the squads are dissimilar -- and other comparisons aren’t so flattering.

Of all the decisions Ryan made during the competition, the most puzzling was his choice to bench starting goalkeeper Hope Solo and replace her with little-used Briana Scurry against Brazil, the decision being justified by Scurry’s historic success versus the South Americans.

“To me, that was like having a pitcher who, at the height of his game, just pitched three shutouts, and then the manager says, ‘I know you’ve had four days rest and this is your rotation, but I’m going to go with someone else on a hunch’,” said Wynalda. “Then their team gets lit up for eight runs in the first inning. That athlete has to sit there and watch it happen.”

In a statement after that semifinal match, Solo fumed in disagreement over Ryan’s call.

“The way she reacted was completely human,” Wynalda said. “To go through something like that is horrible.”

What followed escalated the drama. Solo was barred from team meals, banned from the third-place match versus Norway, and denied the chance to be present during the FIFA medal ceremony. She was not allowed on the team flight back to the United States, and was instead given a separate ticket to travel alone.

Labels: soccer