By Meg Linehan, Steph Yang, Jeff Rueter and Tamerra Griffin
The U.S. women’s national team’s match against Canada on Wednesday was marred by a waterlogged field that made normal soccer all but impossible in the semifinal of the W Gold Cup in San Diego, Ca.
Rain had been falling throughout the first semifinal of the regional championship for the women’s national teams of North America, Central America and the Caribbean, which featured Mexico and Brazil (an invited team). The rain continued to fall in the 90 minutes that separated full time of Brazil’s win and kickoff of the USWNT’s tilt against Canada to determine who would face the South Americans in the final.
It was clear within seconds of kickoff of the U.S. game that playing normally would be all but impossible.
The field was a Slip ‘N Slide, scattered with puddles glistening under the lights and making it impossible to predict where the ball would go, or how far. Combined with the chill — it was about 55 degrees at kickoff, which is freezing by Southern California standards — the conditions tested the teams more than they could test each other.
In fact, the conditions led directly to a U.S. goal, as forward Jaedyn Shaw put the U.S. up 1-0 in the 20th minute.
There were plenty of worrying incidents before that…
. The rain continued to fall in the 90 minutes that separated full time of Brazil’s win and kickoff of the USWNT’s...){kind=link}