Friday sure seemed like a long day in Ottawa. Part of this was with us being in the Eastern Time zone, as the U.S. Women’s National Team game vs. China was later than normal. We were more used to games kicking off around 5 p.m. local time whereas last night, kickoff was at 7:30 p.m.
We still wanted to get to the stadium early, partly because of traffic, but mostly so we could watch as much of the Germany vs. France game. We had our normal morning meeting at 11 a.m., then we were free till our 3:30 drive to the stadium.
Having done a lot of homework already, I went for a good walk, which – weather permitting – is a part of my daily routine. Our hotel lobby wasn't just full of USA supporters, but the streets of Ottawa appeared to be red, white, and blue. It's not just the “American Outlaws” who have made their presence felt here.
We see lots of families and lots of young adults in groups in each venue we have been to. The most USA support was in Vancouver while the least amount was in Edmonton. That's attributed to the more difficult travel path one has to take to get to Edmonton.
Montreal, on Tuesday, may beat out Vancouver for the most USA support as we are so close to the American border and there are convenient direct flights here from many big cities.
Both analysts – Tony DiCicco and Cat Whitehill – were glued to computers and/or cell phones to watch the Germany-France game. I don't like to watch another game before mine so I don't cloud my head with other names and thoughts from that game.
I took cues from them as they reacted to missed opportunities for France, the France goal, and then the Germany game-tying goal.
I do confess though, that when it came down to penalty kicks, I was now watching.
Tough to bet against the Germans. Fox research tells us that the Germanys are 12-12 on penalty kicks taken in game… and now 5-5 in penalty kick shootouts.
So beware if the USA vs Germany goes to penalty kicks.
I watched with anticipation on each kick and when it was over, I felt badly for the French who had many chances to beat the Germans. That's tough luck for France to be in the same bracket as Germany. Also tough luck for both Germany and the USA to be in the same bracket, so while Tuesday's game in Montreal isn't a final, it will feel like it.
The USWNT played their best 90 minutes of soccer on Friday, with the first 45 being more entertaining. I have said that to beat Germany or France, the USA would have to up their level of play, not one notch, but two.
Friday night they went up a notch. In my opinion that still won't be good enough to beat Germany. If they can raise their level another notch, then they can get to the final, but it won't be easy.
Following the game, our group took off in three vans for a two-hour drive to Montreal. We checked into our hotel around 1:15 a.m. We'll enjoy a couple of days off, but as you know from reading these blogs, there's really no such thing as a complete day off at a World Cup.
It's been a great World Cup so far, and finally, we as a group can see the finish line. Two more games to go, then it’s back home.
