Unified Sports is also an integral part of Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools, which was founded in 2008 and funded through the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education to use Special Olympics as a way to build inclusion and tolerance in schools. They say that everything happens for a reason, and those reasons would eventually come into focus, but at that moment, there were dark clouds hovering. The top two teams in each pool advanced to an eight-team single-elimination bracket. Enter Angela Hucles, to that match and eventually into U.S. Women’s National Team history. Into everything she done, she’s brought her soccer experiences and especially the lessons learned from a magical three weeks in China. [1] A minimum of two goalkeepers (plus one optional alternate goalkeeper) had to be included in the squad. We were knocking on the door to score and then the rain came. Sundhage would later be quoted as saying Ellis’ recommendation played a big part in her giving Hucles a shot up top. The women's tournament was a full international tournament with no restrictions on age. Brazil was riding high, as high as they’d ever been in their program’s history to date, or even since. games on TV than soccer. The women's association football tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing and four other cities in China from 6 to 21 August. “I remember the moment Abby went down really clearly,” said Hucles, who starred in college at the University of Virginia from 1996-1999 and debuted for the U.S. Women’s National Team in 2002. Group winners and runners-up advanced to the quarter-finals. Are they kidding?!?? But an injury to Abby Wambach gave Angela Hucles her chance to shine and -- with the help of her teammates and coaches -- she stepped up in historic fashion. Men's teams were allowed to augment their squads with up to three players over the age of 23. Ceremonies The men's football tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing and four other cities in the People's Republic of China from 7 August to 23 August. I thought that they'd have ALL of the Olympic games on TV. Hucles and O’Reilly celebrate a goal during the USA’s 4-0 win over New Zealand. It was a horrible moment by any measure. We were just trying to figure out a game plan that was different than the entire period leading up to the Olympics. Hucles closed out the match in place of Wambach as the USA triumphed 1-0 on a late goal from the Flyin’ Hawaiian, Natasha Kai. The outstanding player in China PR was none other than Messi. If there was a soccer problem to solve, Sundhage was not one to sulk. “We had other forwards who were playing and had played that position. The USA would need every ounce of the energy for the championship game. “That first game was pretty much crap,” said Hucles. “I remember the feeling standing on the sideline, not wanting to start bawling, but the emotions were welling up and I was trying to stifle that. 2008 U.S. Men's Olympic Team Roster August 6, 2008 10:00 PM No. With Wambach back in the USA recovering from surgery to insert a rod into her leg, Sundhage deployed two players up top with world class wheels, starting Kai in the first game and Amy Rodriguez in the remaining five matches. “We got to China and we hit the reset button. She retired from playing in 2009 but has continued to contribute to the sport and to society, serving as President of the Women’s Sports Foundation over 2015-2016, doing public speaking on leadership, the power of sport, equality and inclusion, advocating for LGBTQ+ rights and putting her expertise to use in soccer broadcasting. She was a hard worker, skillful and at that time, a really good option. After one of the first practices on the ground in China, Sundhage, who had also coached Hucles in the WUSA for the Boston Breakers, pulled her aside and outlined a new tactical plan. Reasons explained. The game was delayed for an hour and 39 minutes due to lightning. The Starting XI for the USA’s first match at the 2008 Olympics vs. Norway. In that first knockout game, Hucles opened scoring in the 12th minute before sheets of rain started falling. There was a lot about the experience that we didn’t necessarily understand at the time, but when I look back at the tournament more than a decade later, that’s how I feel.”. We felt a combination of all those things all at once. The adjustment was not seamless. It was an eerie feeling.”. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to send their full women's national teams and men's U-23 teams to participate. We just need to fit together a little better and keep that U.S. mentality. t. e. This article lists the team squads of Men's Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Olympics 2008 Olympics: Di Maria winner earns gold for Argentina ... A couple of days later, in front of 86,117 people in the Georgia Tech football stadium, they … Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification, Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads, Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Regulations of the Olympic Football Tournaments, "List of Referees & Assistant Referees appointed for the Olympic Football Tournaments Beijing 2008 – (Men's tournament)", "2008 Summer Olympics Soccer Results - Beijing, China - ESPN", "Programme of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing 2008", Olympic Football Tournaments Beijing 2008 - Men, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Football_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics_–_Men%27s_tournament&oldid=1000624277, Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament, International association football competitions hosted by China, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 15 January 2021, at 23:24. In that instant, I was able to transition to focusing on what I was being called to do, but we all knew what was going on. Abby Wambach had just bundled into a Brazilian defender in the 31st minute of the USA’s final warm-up match before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, snapping the tibia and fibula in her left leg. In the second group match, a must-win game after the loss to the Scandinavians, the USA pulled off a 1-0 victory against Japan on a goal from Lloyd and then finished group play with a 4-0 trouncing of New Zealand that saw O’Reilly score 40 seconds in (the quickest goal in Olympic history) and Hucles open her Olympic account. Relive full the Opening Ceremony from the Summer Olympic Games 2008 in beautiful Beijing, China. The real star of the football Olympics obviously, was the the little “atomic flea” from Barcelona: Messi was not even supposed to be here (after the Catalan club had won their late July CAS appeal), but in the end he was the first player to raise his gold medal high in the sky, his first big success with the Selección Argentina.. ESPN.com Illustration. The USA, in a rare moment as the underdog, rose to the occasion on the back of Hope Solo’s stellar play in goal, some incredibly stout defense and Lloyd’s overtime wonder strike to secure a 1-0 victory. All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8). But as anyone who has ever played for the USWNT knows, it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish, and the Americans – who became increasingly comfortable with each other and their responsibilities as the tournament progressed -- rolled off five straight wins to take the gold medal. There were so many positive strengths to come out of a high-intensity match like that.”. The teams were grouped into four pools of four teams each for a round-robin preliminary round. For these Games, the men competed in a 16-team tournament. “We felt she was a player who could hold the ball and get in behind. The media were definitely trying to thwart that mental fortitude, but we held strong and it paid off.”. For the men's tournament, each nation submitted a squad of 18 players, 15 of whom had to be born on or after 1 January 1985, and three of whom could be overage players, by 23 July 2008. Hucles started all six of the Olympic matches, scoring four goals over the final group match, the quarterfinal and the semifinal, and made an invaluable contribution to a tournament that also saw important scores from Carli Lloyd, Kai, Lindsay Tarpley, Heather O’Reilly and Lori Chalupny. It was almost as if you could drop a pin on the grass and we would have heard it on the bench. We all did. The men's football tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing and four other cities in the People's Republic of China from 7 August to 23 August. It was exhausting to keep mentally focused, but we showed what we were about, persevering and finding a way.”. Despite the dark, five-month winters in her native Sweden, Sundhage was, and still is, a perennial sunshine kind of person. In a split second, the gruesome injury ended Wambach’s Olympic dreams and, for many pundits, those of the entire U.S. Women’s National Team. While she was a huge loss, and maybe we would have completely dominated teams with her in the lineup, it almost felt like when she went down, she had sacrificed everything she had for the team to that point and then we had to come together and get it done for her too. 2008 united states olympic women's soccer team Players Pos. “As a team, we were like, ‘no, this isn’t going to happen.’ I think more than anything, we were shocked and stunned with the situation we were in. “That was a fun game,” said Hucles of the wet and wild match that saw the USA out-shoot Canada 34-8. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to send their full women's national teams and men's U-23 teams to participate. They say that everything happens for a reason. When the flame went out in Beijing, atheltes posted 43 world records and 132 Olympic records. The USA take on Japan in the semi final of the womens football tournament at the 2008 Olympics in bejing [1], On 22 April 2008, FIFA released the list of match referees that will officiate at the Olympics.[2]. They would deploy her as a forward. It has been on the programme of each edition of the Games ever since, with the exception of Los Angeles 1932. If it wasn’t for that perfect combination, I don’t know if I could have done all that I did, but I feel like it was the same for all of us on that team. Football first appeared on the programme of the Games of the II Olympiad, Paris 1900. Full schedule of all the 2008 Summer Olympics events from Beijing,China on ESPN.com. The goal was to play Hucles, who was no slouch in the speed department herself, off her pacey counterparts. Brazil was coming off a 4-1 semifinal win over 2007 FIFA World Cup champion Germany that shocked the women’s soccer world, and of course the Canarinhas had defeated the USA 4-0 a year earlier in the World Cup semifinal, a loss that remains the worst ever in U.S. history. Of his numerous accolades and awards, FC Barcelona and Argentina national team star Lionel Messi’s most cherished prize, as per his own admission, is the Olympic gold medal won at the Beijing 2008 Games.. “I take from that experience the satisfaction of so many valuable life lessons that have sustained me, but things that I can also share with others,” said Hucles. Men's teams were allowed to augment their squad with three players over the age of 23. Canada equalized soon after the restart, but a dramatic 101st minute diving header goal from Kai secured the 2-1 victory for the USA. Medal winners for all the 2008 Summer Olympics events from Beijing,China on ESPN.com. With four goals, Giuseppe Rossi of Italy was the top scorer in the tournament. We all knew that Abby was badly injured. And that’s how it came to pass that Hucles found herself in the starting lineup of the USA’s first 2008 Olympic match against Norway in Qinhuangdao, China, just 21 days after Wambach’s injury. Preliminary matches commenced on 7 August, the day before the Games' opening ceremony. “I really was just doing whatever I could in that moment, focusing on the task at hand,” said Hucles. BECOME A U.S. SOCCER INSIDER. The official match schedule for the Women's Olympic Football Tournament Tokyo 2020, where 12 teams will compete for gold from 21 July to 6 August 2021. Due to the wild results on the final day of Group G games, with the USA scoring four times and Japan unexpectedly trouncing Norway 5-1, the USA actually won the Group G on goal difference, which set up a quarterfinal clash with Canada. A National Olympic Committee may enter one men's team in football competitions. “The Olympics was a testament to why I love team spots. The women's football tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held from 6 to 21 August 2008. On 23 August 2008 Argentina beat Nigeria 1-0 in front of 89,102 fans at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing to win Olympic gold. “Having my role clearly outlined and having that guidance and vision from the coaching staff to focus on what they knew I could do within the system made all the difference. The USA claimed its third Olympic gold medal, a second for Hucles, who was a reserve on the 2004 Olympic Team.
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