Throughout the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, we'll provide you with unique perspectives on the tournament from personnel throughout the Dash and Dynamo organization. First up, Dash managing director and 2006 USMNT World Cup member Brian Ching.
With the Women’s World Cup starting today I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to share some of my thoughts on the U.S. and Dash. When I look at this tournament, I see a very competitive field with a number of teams that have the opportunity to win it. I have the feeling that majority of the fans that don't follow the women’s game feel that the U.S. should win the tournament and are unaware of how close other teams are. Germany, for example, is just one percentage point behind the U.S. as favorites to win in FiveThiryEight's predictive model. The team that I think will be the most dangerous for the U.S. will be France, who beat the Americans 2-0 when they fielded their full squad after beating Germany and Brazil last year.
In recent years the women’s team seemed to have lost that air of invincibility while other countries have really begun to increase their levels of play. I attribute this to the fact that many of these countries have had women’s leagues that have been in existence for a number of years. Germany, France, Japan, Sweden, England, etc.. all have professional women’s leagues that have been around for a number of years. That is why it is so important for the future of U.S. women’s soccer that the NWSL survives. U.S. Soccer understands this and is a big reason why they are fully committed to make this work.
As an organization, we are extremely excited about this year’s World Cup because we have six players representing their countries. Three Canadians and three Americans that will all play significant roles for their squads. We are extremely proud of our players and look for them to return to the Dash with some hardware around their necks. The World Cup has the ability to unite our nation and put a huge spotlight on women’s soccer. We will use this to show Houstonians that we have an amazing team and that they will love the experience once they come out to BBVA and enjoy a Dash game. So make sure you join us at The Phoenix on Westheimer for all of our watch parties and get your tickets for our World Cup players' return on July 12 and beyond. The strength of our national team will come from the NWSL, and the viability of the NWSL comes from your support every weekend in the stands.
I love our Canadians, but I'm USA all the way this month.
USA! USA! USA!
-Brian Ching
