SPORTS
July 20, 2015
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 9
Asian women’s soccer teams show up male rivals
By John Duerden
AP Sports Writer
EOUL, South Korea — The con-
trast between the fortunes of Asia’s
women’s soccer teams and their
male equivalents could not be more
striking.
At last year’s men’s World Cup, none of
the continent’s four teams won a game and
all finished bottom of their respective
groups. At the 2015 female version, all five
recorded a victory, with only Thailand
failing to make it to the knockout stage.
Japan, the defending champion, took on
the United States in the final in
Vancouver, and other teams put in strong
performances: South Korea defeated
Spain in dramatic fashion to progress past
the group stage for the first time in its
history; a young China team narrowly lost
0-1 to the United States in the last eight;
and Australia was a standout performer
and was narrowly defeated 0-1 by Japan at
the same quarterfinal stage.
Thailand, making its first World Cup
appearance, defeated Ivory Coast 3-2 in
one game.
Moya Dodd, a former vice president at
the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
and member of the Executive Committee
of Fédération Internationale de Football
Association (FIFA) as well as ex-
Australian international, said funding
was key to the success.
S
“Asian women footballers have always
done well, such as Taiwan in the ’80s and
China in the ’90s,” Dodd told The
Associated Press. “But specifically for this
edition, the AFC supported each of the five
Asian qualifying teams with a $200,000
preparation subsidy which enabled teams
to have solid blocks of preparation. For
example, Australia enjoyed almost five
months of almost full-time preparation.”
Tom Byer, a youth development expert
and football consultant to the Chinese
Ministry of Education, said Asian teams
q
Women’s World Cup final seen by record 26.7 million in U.S.
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. win over
Japan in the Women’s World Cup final was
the most viewed soccer game in the history
of American television.
The 5-2 victory, which gave the
Americans a record third title, was seen by
26.7 million viewers.
Fox said its English-language coverage
drew a 12.9 rating and was seen by an
average of 25.4 million, and NBC’s
Telemundo said its telecast averaged 1.27
million. The audience peaked at 30.9
million between 8:30pm and 8:45pm as the
game neared its end, and 43.2 million
tuned into some portion of the match.
Average viewership topped the previous
mark of 26.5 million set when Germany
beat Argentina in last year’s men’s World
Cup final. That was seen by 17.3 million on
ABC and 9.2 million on Spanish-language
Univision.
Fox’s viewership set a U.S. English-
language record for soccer, topping the
18.22 million who tuned in to ESPN for the
2-2 draw between the American men and
Portugal in the group stage on June 22 last
year.
The previous high for a women’s match
was 17,975,000 on ABC for the U.S. win in
penalty kicks over China in the 1999
Women’s World Cup final.
Fox’s viewership for this year’s final in
Vancouver, British Columbia, which
started at 7:00pm EDT, was nearly double
the 13,458,000 that watched Japan’s
penalty-kicks win over the United States
in the 2011 final. That game, played in
Frankfurt, Germany, started at 2:45pm
EDT.
Fox’s audience for the final exceeded the
viewers for San Francisco’s win over
Kansas City in Game 7 of last year’s World
Series on Fox (23.5 million), Golden State’s
NBA title-winning victory over Cleveland
last month on ABC (23,254,000), and
Chicago’s Stanley-Cup-winning victory in
Game 6 over Tampa Bay last month on
NBC (8,005,000).
It was the highest for any U.S. broadcast
since an average of 28.3 million saw Duke
beat Wisconsin on CBS to win the NCAA
men’s basketball title in April.
The 52 World Cup matches on Fox, Fox
Sports 1, and Fox Sports 2 averaged
1,824,000, a 21-percent increase from the
average of 1,511,000 for the 32 games of
the 2011 tournament on ESPN and
ESPN2.
St. Louis had the highest average for the
seven U.S. matches at 8.0, followed by
Kansas City (7.5), Washington, D.C. (7.3),
Austin, Texas (6.6), San Diego (6.4),
Richmond, Virginia (6.2), and Denver and
Baltimore (6.1).
An average of 232,000 unique streamers
watched the final on Fox Sports Go, a
record for the app.
In the other big soccer match the same
weekend, Chile’s penalty-kicks win over
Argentina in the finale of the Copa
America tournament was viewed by 1.46
million in the United States: 464,000 on
beIN Sports and 1 million on beIN Sports
en Espanol.
have more belief in their capabilities in the
women’s game than in the men’s.
“Japan winning the World Cup in 2011
gave Asian countries both hope and
confidence that they can win and that they
belong in these international competi-
tions,” said Byer.
The success is even more pronounced at
the junior level. Of the four under-17
Women’s World Cups held to date, three
have been won by Asian teams: Japan,
North Korea, and South Korea.
“There is now a belief that other Asian
countries can compete at the highest
level,” Byer said. “China sent the youngest
team to this World Cup hoping to build for
the future.”
In the men’s game, Asian teams are
often up against opponents who are bigger
and faster, whereas the physical
differences are not as pronounced in the
GIRL POWER. Team Japan’s Shinobu Ohno
(#11) dribbles the ball during a match at the
Women’s World Cup soccer tournament held in Van-
couver, British Columbia, Canada. The contrast be-
tween the fortunes of Asia’s women’s soccer teams
and their male equivalents could not be more striking.
At last year’s men’s World Cup, none of the conti-
nent’s four teams won a game and all finished bottom
of their respective groups. At the 2015 female version,
all five recorded a victory, with only Thailand failing to
make it to the knockout stage. (AR Photo/Jan Landis)
women’s game and the Asian focus upon
tactical discipline and preparation comes
to the fore.
“The level of discipline in Asia for both
sports and academics is valued much
more,” Byer said. “The Asian kids in
general practice and study more than
western kids therefore they tend to be
better technically. And at the older age
groups, technical ability often trumps
physical, more athletic ability.”
It has also helped that there has been
less competition to reach the summit of
women’s soccer, as some parts of the world
have been slower to put funding into the
female sport. While the men’s professional
game came east decades after it was
established in Europe and South America,
Asia has been an early adopter of the
women’s game.
“Many of the established world powers
in men’s football have been slow to take the
opportunity in women’s football,” Dodd
said.
“We are in for exciting times as more and
more of the established ‘old world’ football
nations realize the opportunity they are
missing. Imagine a tournament that
includes the likes of Italy, Portugal, and
Argentina with well-resourced women’s
teams. That will challenge today’s
top-ranked teams to reach even greater
heights.”
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