Canadian Soccer Association President Victor Montagliani said that record crowds for Saturday's FIFA Women's World Cup openers in Edmonton had to "open some eyes around the world," according to Terry Jones of the EDMONTON SUN. The attendance of 53,058 marked the "largest crowd for a national team game of either gender in soccer or any other sport." Montagliani said, "We knew this was a hell of an opportunity for our country, not just in women’s football, but in football in general. And now, with the things that have happened in the last two weeks, being the country that we are in terms of how we do things, I think it has put Canada in a different position in the international arena. ... It was a fantastic day Saturday. Edmonton really stepped up" (EDMONTON SUN, 6/8). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Paul Vieira noted the "hottest tickets among scheduled matches so far are for dates featuring the U.S. team." As of Friday afternoon, there were "no tickets available on the official ticket-sale site to the Americans’ first two matchups," against Australia today and facing Sweden on Friday (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/6).
PITCH NOT PERFECT: FS1’s Julie Stewart-Binks reported from Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium prior to the tournament-opening Canada-China match and noted the “temperature of the artificial pitch is very noticeable when you stand on it and when you touch it." She put a thermometer in the field "just to see how much heat was emanating from the pitch." Stewart-Binks: "Just to give you some context -- it's about 75 degrees out today, very sunny, beautiful. I just picked this thermometer up off of the ground, and if you can see, it reads about 120 Fahrenheit. It is almost breaking the needle here, so you can just tell how hot it is on the surface of the pitch here today.” FS1’s Heather Mitts said the "last thing you want to think about" prior to starting the tournament is whether "your feet are going to be hot.” The net’s Kelly Smith: “As a player, I absolutely hated playing on turf.” FS1’s Ariane Hingst said, “It is an issue and it’s going to go through the whole tournament” (“FIFA Women’s World Cup Today,” FS1, 6/6).
SOLO SHOT: Hope Solo is expected to be the starting goalie for the U.S. team during its opening match tonight, but USA TODAY's Nancy Armour writes in "choosing to stand by" Solo following domestic violence charges, U.S. Soccer and the women's national team "sacrificed their integrity for victory and the spoils that come with it." Solo has been "toxic and divisive with teammates, and her irresponsible and shameful behavior has tarnished both her team and her sport." New details emerged over the weekend about Solo's arrest last year, and in refusing to "hold Solo accountable for her transgressions -- as it certainly would have a less-talented player -- U.S. Soccer "contributed to the very muck it found itself wading through on the eve of its most prestigious tournament." U.S. Soccer has "always been careful to give Solo a wide berth, willing to bail her out of just about anything so long as she is doing the same in goal" (USA TODAY, 6/8). In N.Y., Filip Bondy writes U.S. Soccer "knew full well what it was getting when officials welcomed back" Solo this spring. It was a "straight-out, one-for-one deal." The U.S. got Solo’s "enormous, proven talents in goal, and in exchange they would put up with all the nonsense that goes with that." Bondy: "It’s just a matter of time before U.S. Soccer cuts the cord. After the World Cup? After the Rio Olympics?" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/8). YAHOO SPORTS' Eric Adelson wrote the "unwillingness of sports organizations to get all sides of a story in a criminal case is both disappointing and counterproductive." U.S. Soccer "went with the head-in-the-sand strategy and now we're right back where we were in October" when she was arrested (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/7).
