British newspaper declares Canada-USA “the greatest knockout match” in three decades

Amidst all the comments, controversy, and FIFA investigations, it would be easy to overlook that the Americans' 4-3 win over Canada in the women's Olympic soccer semifinals Monday was one heck of a match. As everyone from the players and coaches involved (on both sides) to Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper to Vancouver Whitecaps' coaches and executives to former Canadian men's players is busy throwing in their two cents on the officiating controversies and the fallout from them, there hasn't been much discussion of the merits of the game itself in the U.S. or Canada. However, there might be a clearer neutral perspective from overseas, where Scott Murray, a columnist for Britain's The Guardian, declared Monday's clash "The greatest knockout match in major-tournament football since 1982." Here are the highlights of what Murray had to say:

[Slideshow: Canadian disappointments in London]

It's particularly miraculous to see that kind of praise for women's soccer in Britain, where the attention paid to the women's game (at both the club and country level) has long lagged behind that given to the men's. Women's soccer doesn't always receive a huge amount of attention in Canada or the U.S., either, but it can at times; a remarkable average of 3.82 million Canadians tuned into Monday's game on TSN, CTV and V, the second-highest number ever for an Olympic event on TSN (behind only the men's hockey gold medal game in 2010) and not far behind massive annual events like the Grey Cup. Comments like this from The Guardian suggest the potential audience for women's soccer is well beyond just partisans in the competing nations, though. Murray's absolutely right that this was one of the most-entertaining and best all-around matches in the last several decades, women's or men's, and spreading the word about that might help further build the global audience for the women's game by the time the next Women's World Cup is played in Canada in 2015.

That's not to say the debates over refereeing, Abby Wambach's actions, the responses from the Canadians, FIFA's intervention or anything else need to end. The sheer interest in this game across North America is phenomenal, and it's great that it's got people talking; it's also a debate with so many angles that it could easily be analyzed for weeks or months. However, it's worth remembering that even with all the controversy and even with an ending that ticked off a lot of Canadians, this was still an unbelievable match (and one that may have provided the country with an Olympic hero). As Canadian head coach John Herdman said on a conference call Tuesday about his team, "They achieved something last night without achieving something." Indeed they did, and so did the Americans; both sides combined to give the world a show that won't soon be forgotten.

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