As expected, U.S. soccer coach Greg Ryan is being roasted in the press. Here is an example. It is from Ann Killion’s column from The Mercury News:

“…Brazil still may have won with Solo in there, but we’ll never know. Ryan chose to disrupt his team in the middle of a World Cup. Now he is left to pick up the pieces of the mess he made, with one of the all-time coaching blunders. Ryan not only lost the game, he has also lost his team. And his one chance to grab his country’s attention. It was a devastating morning.”

link: Blame U.S. soccer coach for women’s lopsided World Cup loss to Brazil

Ouch! This is just one example. Some media articles are calling for Greg Ryan to be replaced as the national team coach. Of course, if the U.S. women had won, he would have been hailed as a ’soccer savant’ - a genius. The aftermath of his decision to play Brianna Scurry over Hope Solo is going to be blistering. Now we will find out how the team really feels about their coach.

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]soccer, greg ryan, u.s. women’s team, ann killion, news media[/tags]