Tonight's Germany-U.S. Women's World Cup semifinal game will see a "huge, pro-American crowd" at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, as "more than 46,000 tickets were sold at the start of the week and the final attendance could easily clear 50,000," according to Jonathan Tannenwald of PHILLY.com. Montreal's streets "have been awash in red, white, and blue, as has been the case in every Canadian city" where the U.S. has played (PHILLY.com, 6/30).
FEELING THEIR ABSENCE: Canada was eliminated from the World Cup after losing Saturday to England in the quarterfinals, and USA Today's Christine Brennan said the host country's absence moving forward “hurts attendance." Brennan: "You want to have, with women’s sports, that home team there for the great draw for the weekend. It won’t be that way anymore” (“NewsHour,” PBS, 6/29). In L.A., Kevin Baxter noted Canada was "purposefully placed in the lower half of the bracket," while Germany, the U.S., France and Sweden "were all drawn into the other half." The brackets set up a U.S-Germany semifinal that "could come close to selling out the 61,000-seat Olympic Stadium," and the final is "already sold out." Baxter: "What if the organizers manipulated the brackets to sell tickets to many of the other games?" Countries "aren't exactly lining up to stage the event." Canada was the "only one to bid on this tournament," and only France and South Korea "bid for the next one." If organizers "aren't given a chance to make a profit from the event, few countries will bid in the future." The only way for Canada to profit was for both the U.S. and the host country "to go deep into the tournament, because 95% of the tickets for this World Cup were purchased in those two countries." Both teams have "rewarded that logic by selling out multiple games -- with Canada twice breaking the record for largest crowd to attend a national team game." The more games the U.S. plays, the "closer Canadian organizers get to wiping out the debt they incurred to put on the event." With only four games left, the tournament "has drawn more than 880,000 fans" (L.A. TIMES, 6/28).
NORTHERN LIGHTS? Canadian Soccer Association President Victor Montagliani said of Canada’s national pride and enthusiasm for hosting the World Cup, “It has been overwhelming ... just seeing the jerseys, the merchandise flying out the door, TV audiences through the roof, stadiums full." He said, "It's just been a pretty proud moment for ... Canadian soccer fans.” Montagliani added, “We haven't traditionally been known as what you call a soccer country. But I think what we have shown over the last few years, not just with this tournament, but even, for instance, we were the No. 1 country in terms of attending the men's World Cup ... outside of the participating nations. And then this World Cup, showing the numbers that we have shown, I think to say that we are not a football country is probably the wrong message. The message is we are a footballing country.” Meanwhile, Montagliani said the decision play the Women's World Cup on turf was one that was "jointly made with, obviously, FIFA." Montagliani: "When we put in the bid, we had more than six cities, a couple of the cities had already natural turf, but the six that we picked, five had. They’re community buildings as well and the decision was made years ago that we would go on within the rules of the game, and the decision was made, and we carried it out” (“FIFA Women’s World Cup Today,” FS1, 6/27).
THEN THERE WERE FOUR: FS1’s Leslie Osborne said it is "not a coincidence" that the four teams remaining in the World Cup -- the U.S., Germany, England and Japan -- are from "federations that are investing in their domestic professional leagues." Osborne: "It’s about this World Cup and what ... these countries are going to do in their federations the next four years. ... This World Cup showed what the countries can do and I can't wait for the next World Cup.” FS1’s Rob Stone said while money "doesn't solve all the problems, it certainly helps." Stone: "There is growth, there is opportunity out there and the gospel is being spread. That’s why I love that there's more nations involved in this World Cup. Whether you had great levels of success here or not, they take that message back home and the young women back in those countries -- back in those continents, even -- can watch it and see the success” (“FIFA Women’s World Cup Tonight,” FS1, 6/28).
