Japan women’s soccer cancels trip to United States due to swine flu; Wambach suspended for tackle on Daniela
May 12, 2009 by Megan Hueter
Filed under Soccer, Sports Headlines
This one made me laugh out loud in my chair.
A headline on USA Today reads Japan cancels games against U.S. women due to swine flu.
Japan was scheduled to play the U.S. team in Texas on May 20, and in Utah on May 23,. The team was also scheduled to travel to Canada for a game in Toronto on May 25.
“Japan’s health ministry confirmed the fourth case of swine flu on Sunday, a day after the country’s first three were reported. The ministry said the fourth case is a teenager who recently returned from Canada on a high school trip with the three others. The Japan Football Association, which announced the decision, said it may have to pay damages for breach of contract,” USA Today reported.
Can anyone say… overkill? This is like the 100th most dangerous thing in in the U.S. (and Mexico) right now. I feel like they run more of a risk getting sick by drinking tap water.
Haha I think they should be more afraid of running into Abby Wambach – she was suspended for her tackle on St. Louis star Daniela last Sunday – Daniela lost consciousness for several minutes after the hit. See picture below. UPDATE 5/13: I couldn’t find a picture of what happened, but below is a picture of Wambach tackling Daniela in a game between U.S. and Brazil.
To see the actual tackle for which she was suspended, watch this video. It happens exactly at the 2 minute mark.
FYI—-The picture you posted is not of the tackle she was suspeneded for. The one you have posted is the USWNT vs Brazil (yes it is Abby & Daniela) not Washington vs Saint Loius! Oh, and I seriously doubt Daniela lost consciousness, her injury was to her knee not her head!
Hi Jesse –
Thanks for your comment – I love it when people comment on here and correct me! I understand the picture above is not the one from the game where Daniela’s knee was injured, but I couldn’t find the actual picture from the game, so I just used this one. If you find a better picture somewhere, please send me the link – I’m happy to include it. I put a link to the video above to be clear (the tackle happens at the 2 minute mark).
As for her consciousness, I was simply reporting what Steve Goff from Washington Post Insider reported (indicated by the link: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2009/05/washington_freedom_forward_abb.html?wprss=soccerinsider)
Here’s what Steve said: “The incident occurred in the 80th minute after the Freedom had cut the deficit to 3-2. On the restart, St. Louis passed back to Daniela, whose heavy touch created a bit of separation between her and the ball. Wambach went in hard and low, sending Daniela to the turf, where she was treated for several minutes. She briefly lost consciousness because of the pain. Wambach received a yellow card.”
I have no problem with you posting whatever picture or comments you want but, your original blog here is very misleading. If I didn’t know anything about the incident I would have inferred from your post that the picture was showing the incident that prompted the suspension and that Wambach’s actions caused some sort of head injury. You are dealing with a person’s reputation here and the photo and comments need to be accurate. This has been a serious issue with regard to Wambach’s professionalism. You should have noted that the photo was not of the actual incident. If you are going to post comments and photos, be more responsible and remember how many people the internet reaches.
Thank you for your comment, Jesse. As you can see in my post, I made no such claims, and went through an extra effort to fix my previous post, per your suggestion.
Your comment, however, lends virtue to a bigger problem – there weren’t enough people talking about the slide tackle, and there are no pictures out there to prove what happened. Which, as you can see, led to this picture being posted. As you stated, can be harmful to the athlete’s reputation. Therefore, it’s the responsibility of the league and the athletes themselves (as well as fans) to correct the record (which you did).
When commenting in the future on this site, please keep in mind that this is not my professional occupation. This is a hobby. I will continue to try my best to be truthful and fact-check my posts. Thanks.