ot to give credit where credits due: weve played good cricket and theyve played even better cricket.Bayliss now plans

While a labor dispute simmers at home, the U.S. womens national soccer team is set to travel across Brazil as the favorite to win its fourth straight Olympic gold medal.The Rio Games are happening as a U.S. federal agency looks at a wage discrimination complaint filed by a group of national team players who claim they make less money than their male counterparts. The teams union also is looking for a new contract with U.S. Soccer.Intrigue is nothing new for the top-ranked Americans.Unlike the mens tournament, which requires teams to field under-23 squads, womens Olympic soccer brings together the best players in the world.Seeking to clinch its fifth gold medal since womens soccer became an Olympic sport in 1996, the U.S. makes its debut against New Zealand on Aug. 3 -- two days before the opening ceremony in Rio. Thatll be followed by games against powerhouse France and Colombia in Group G.Second-ranked Germany, fifth-ranked Australia, sixth-ranked Sweden and host Brazil loom as potential quarterfinal opponents.The tournament will be played in seven venues across Brazil, including the jungle city of Manaus, in the Amazon rainforest, where the U.S. faces Colombia on Aug. 9.Last year, U.S. players led a protest against the artificial turf used in the World Cup in Canada before winning their third tittle in the tournament. Heading into the Olympics, the women have been vocal about gender equity in the sport as they seek a new collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Soccer.On the field one of the biggest issues for the Americans heading into the Olympics was the status of reigning FIFA Player of the Year Carli Lloyds right knee.Lloyd, who wowed fans with three goals in 16 minutes in the 5-2 win over Japan in Julys World Cup final, sprained her MCL in an April game with her club team, the Houston Dash. The team was cautious with her recovery, but it appears as if Lloyd is healthy and ready to play for her third gold medal.Lloyd also scored the deciding goals in the gold medal matches in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.ANOTHER KEY INJURY: Megan Rapinoes status, at least for the start of the games, is far less certain. The winger tore her right ACL during a training session in Hawaii before a scheduled World Cup victory tour match last year (the match was ultimately canceled because of poor artificial turf conditions). The injury required her third ACL surgery.On her blog, the 30-year-old Rapinoe wrote on June 9: My Olympic dream is still alive! This blonde aint gone! And coach Jill Ellis named her to the 18-player squad for the Olympics, a good sign. But she may not play in the group stage.MARTAS MOMENT: Marta is one of the biggest stars in womens soccer. The 30-year old Brazilian striker was voted FIFA Player of the Year for five consecutive years from 2006 to 2010. Yet despite her success she is not a household name in her country, where the focus will be on Neymar and the mens squad to win Brazils first Olympic gold.Marta and the rest of the Brazil womens team will face less pressure to win their first gold than their male counterparts, and the squad should benefit from friendly home crowds.The woman that Pele himself dubbed Pele in skirt showed she is ready for Olympic duty, scoring both goals in a 2-0 victory over Canada in Toronto in June.Brazil faces China, South Africa and Sweden in Group E.SILVIAS FINAL BOW: One of the games most respected coaches will be stepping down following the Olympics. Silvia Neid has been head coach of the German senior team since 2005. During her tenure the Germans won a World Cup (2007), two UEFA womens championships (2009, 2013) and the Olympic bronze medal in Beijing. Also a decorated former player for Germany, Neid has twice been honored as the FIFA womens coach of the year.She will continue as scouting coach for the Germans, while current assistant Steffi Jones will take over as head coach.Germany leads Group F with Canada, Australia and Zimbabwe.CANADAS REVENGE?: While the London Games showed that Canada is a team on the rise under coach John Herdman, the bronze medalists thought they could have done better.The Canadians fell 4-3 in an overtime semifinal match to the eventual gold medal-winning U.S. team, a game that featured a non-call on what appeared to be a missed handball by an American player in front of the U.S. goal.We feel like we didnt lose. We feel like it was taken from us, said Canada captain Christine Sinclair, who was later suspended four games for her comments. Its a shame in a game like that, which is so important, that the ref decided the result before the game started.WALTZING WITH THE MATILDAS: No other Australian senior national team -- male or female -- had won an elimination game in a World Cup until the Matildas last summer; they knocked off Brazil in the round of 16. While they were defeated by Japan, it was considered a big move toward future success.Australia went on to earn a spot in the Olympics, its first since 2004, in the Asian qualification tournament. As a result, its international ranking jumped four spots to No. 5.Australia has never advanced past the quarterfinals in two Olympic appearances. Authentic Custom Diamondbacks Jersey . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium. Custom Curt Schilling Jersey . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006. http://www.customdiamondbacksjersey.com/ . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. Diamondbacks Jerseys China . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys . Clarkson had been dealing with an elbow injury in early January and will be out of action for at least one week. He has three goals and five assists through 36 games with the Leafs this season. Trevor Bayliss has described speculation over Alastair Cooks future as captain as a pain in the backside and insisted that the dressing room is united in its support for him.Cooks future has been called into question since he gave an interview to the Cricketer magazine on the eve of the Bangladesh and India tours in which he said: Deep down I dont know how much longer I am going to carry on. It could be two months, it could be a year.Suspicions he was preparing to step down only escalated after Cook described Joe Root as ready to captain following defeat in the Mumbai Test. That result meant England had lost three Tests in succession, four of their last five and five of their last seven. From a position where England were a result or two from reaching the top of the Test rankings in August, they are now facing the prospect of dropping to fifth if they lose the final Test of the series against India in Chennai.But Bayliss, the England coach, is clearly in no doubt that he wants Cook to continue. Describing Cooks record as fantastic, Bayliss acknowledged that talk of him standing down had become a distraction.I think everyone, to a man, in the dressing room would be disappointed if he wasnt captain, Bayliss said. But when its constantly in the media all the time, its a bit of a pain in the backside. Especially when no one around the team believes that or thinks that. Its a little bit aggravating.I suppose anyone whos done the job for that long, theres always going to be questions towards the twilight of his career. But the job hes done with the group, I think,, has been fantastic.ddddddddddddBayliss was especially frustrated as talk over Cooks future had, he felt, detracted from all the good things England have achieved on the tour. And it is true that, while the scoreline is grim, England can take some comfort in the emergence of a couple of promising top-order batsmen, in Keaton Jennings and Haseeb Hameed, and the improvement in Adil Rashids legspin bowling.It takes the focus away from all the good things weve done on this tour, Bayliss said. I think weve played some good cricket here. Weve got to give credit where credits due: weve played good cricket and theyve played even better cricket.Bayliss now plans to speak to Cook and Andrew Strauss, the managing director of the England team, to resolve the uncertainty over the captaincy.Weve had some discussions in the past, he said. But those two guys - Cook and Strauss - have obviously had a big history. Im sure well have a chat between the two or three of us.Bayliss has previously stated that he expected Cook to be captain for the Ashes series in 12 months time. Hes talking about the next Ashes series and being out in Australia, Bayliss told the BBC last week. Sometimes there are little comments made along the way and they get blown out of all proportion.Hes certainly up for the fight. I havent had any discussion with him any other way and thats what weve been working towards. I was as surprised as anyone when I saw that in the papers. ' ' '