It's on! It's happening! It's exciting!
Are you watching? Who are you cheering for? Let's talk soccer/football!
LOL, it's ALWAYS on at our house.
So yes, we're watching, and England all the way...fingers crossed.
The premiere league starts soon, then, and things will get serious. This is a good non-serious filler for between seasons, although I'm quite interested in some of the lower-level teams in the WWC.
Quote from: backatit on June 14, 2019, 01:29:47 PM
LOL, it's ALWAYS on at our house.
So yes, we're watching, and England all the way...fingers crossed.
The premiere league starts soon, then, and things will get serious. This is a good non-serious filler for between seasons, although I'm quite interested in some of the lower-level teams in the WWC.
I don't know why the double post - I meant to edit and managed to quote - 1-0 now.
Eldest child will be home this weekend. Hoping we can watch a bit together.
Alas, I have to be out and about today during Canada's game. Even worse, although I've got a subscription to RDS so that I can watch the games, they don't have any way of watching past games, only live ones. So I probably won't get to watch it at all, just the highlights. Bummer. :(
I'm watching Canada/New Zealand in Spanish, since Fox is full of US Open golf this weekend. One of the NZ players is down; I hope she'll be ok.
On the provider we're using (NBC Gold, to get the UK premiere games) we don't get the Canada game till tomorrow, so we'll have to watch it then (they are usually really good about carrying the games - I am really aggravated about this). I'm reading the match updates though.
Plans fell through, so I caught the game. Much more exciting than Canada's showing against Cameroon!
Next question: how hard will team USA celebrate its goals tomorrow?
Answer: not so hard that it's unseemly. At least, not yet.
It's not an especially pretty match, but the USA looks quite strong (I didn't catch their previous match). I'm looking forward to seeing them play against a more robust opponent.
The Chile team looked quite good - I was pleased with their play. The sun was a huge factor in that match, though. My partner put it this was - the game was Sun 2 USA 1. I was particularly impressed with Chile's goalkeeper after the 1/2 - of course they were outmatched but they kept on pushing and gave the USA a good match.
Nigeria did a great job today, and that penalty on their keeper was pretty questionable. Yeah, fine, it's a new (bad!) rule. But her foot was hardly off the line, it had zero effect on the kick (which missed), and, crucially, the ref didn't call it at the time (nor is it clear that the VAR was consulted). The ref only called it after the penalty missed.
Also, what was up with the French medic groping the player at the end?
Well, I gotta agree with Dan Shaughnessy in the Boston Globe yesterday, wben he criticized the US team for running up the score against Thailand, and for the over the top excessive gloating celebrations after the goals, even after our team hit 10 goals.
Thailand's strategy was so weak, that the only way the US could have stopped scoring was to basically try to NOT score, so I'm not so much faulting them for the score itself. If you contrast that to the US/Chile match, where Chile's defense was much stronger, even though their players are not nearly matched, you can see the difference. When the US initiated an offense system, the Chile players responded with a corresponding strategy, whereas Thailand kept playing the same strategy over and over again. They are not a pro team, and it showed.
Contrast the US players in that game, though, to the behavior of England in the England vs. San Marino Men's World Cup matches in the early 90's (I've linked one example below). England kicked them to the curb, often 9-0, but they handled it much differently - they were very quiet about it and almost sheepish, and after a goal, watch what happens - there is a little hand to hand (and maybe one quick hug), but no big celebration. They were almost embarrassed (and certainly subdued) that they were rousting them to that level. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwo3...9fU6Nh3znQn-BY
This is not the first time the US has faced criticism for their choreographed celebrations, and I think it's reflective of the difference in sport psychology between the US and the European teams, especially. It's not seen as sporting, in the UK especially, to trounce an opponent (you don't want to LOSE, of course, but sportsmanship and being an underdog are as valued as a winning season and there is a storied history of supporting losing clubs. The Premier system of teams rising and falling promotes that, because no matter how high you rise (unless you have the wealth of Man City), you could be down within a couple of bad seasons, so better not get too cocky.
England-Japan was a very interesting game. Japan was great at creating breaks for itself, but never quite managed to follow through.
I see I missed some more pently-line drama in Scotland-Argentina.
I was flipping back and forth between the games - horrible, horrible game for Scotland, and I feel gutted for them. I'm not going to say much about the calls except that I am not happy with the way VAR is being applied here.
I'm really excited about the Japanese team; they have a very cool backstory, and a very cohesive team and it shows. They also have INCREDIBLE stamina - if we could have that for England...
Most of the players still only play part-time, and funding is very limited. I'm really hopeful, though, that Japan wins its bid to host the next WC :D. We aren't going to Quatar for the men's WC because of logistics, but I would love to go to the Women's WC particularly if it's in Japan.
The Guardian had a really nice article on the Japanese team before the game:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/when-saturday-comes-blog/2019/jun/10/womens-world-cup-rise-stall-football-japan
Eepeepeep. CAD-NED is a real nail-biter, with NED dominant in the first half. CAD's looking somewhat flat-footed; I think the main issue is possession, especially somewhere at the midfield level.
EDIT: Agh! Still, at least we're still qualified, although Sweden could be a tough draw (assuming they lose today). Unfoetunately, I have to teach now, so I'll miss the game. I'm glad Canada managed to turn on the taps for the last 15
If only they'd played like that all match!
I so wanted Canada to have a better day!
Yes, I'm terribly sorry about that. It was a difficult match.
I'll be travelling today, so I won't see the game. But: Go Canada!
Aaand I'm crushed, especially because I missed it.
Well, that was a dull semi-final. I hope Asllani's OK, though. It didn't look bad at all, but you never know with a head hit, and she seemed seriously down for the count.
I don't think the Netherlands have anything close to what it takes to beat the US in the final, but I guess we'll see.
There are two points, running up the score, and excessive celebrations after goals. It may well be impossible not to score a great amount against a manifestly inferior team from a small country that lacks the financial resources to establish and maintain a world class team, but excessive celebrations after goals, especially after you've hit double figures, is juvenile and unbecoming, quite unsportsmanlike. It really just is, especially when the opponent is outclassed and more or less just there to represent its country on the world stage as best it can.
We haven't been watching (not great TV access during travels) but have been following. I'm very proud of the excellent play by the US team. I hope they win the final game against the Netherlands, but I also hope it's a good game for the spectators.
I am bracing for the next round. I was sort of pulling for Sweden to advance, but the Netherlands has a lot of good players (a lot of their team plays on the Arsenal women's team) and while I don't think they're competitive against the US, I am looking forward to watching them play.
And I was surprised at how gutted I was at England's loss. I thought I was more conflicted with that game but apparently I misjudged my loyalties ;).
Well, the third-place game sure was exciting! I'm glad that Asllani's more or less OK, too.
Here's hoping tomorrow's game is as good.
It was quite a show!
Congratulations on the win. I'd say it was a good game up until the first goal, at which point the Netherlands sort of collapsed. I'm glad it wasn't decided on a penalty, though.
Quote from: Parasaurolophus on July 07, 2019, 10:00:00 AM
Congratulations on the win. I'd say it was a good game up until the first goal, at which point the Netherlands sort of collapsed. I'm glad it wasn't decided on a penalty, though.
I was really not thrilled with the penalty (and I'm really glad that the Premier League has said that they're not going to implement VAR in the same way, as I think it changes the character of the game in a not positive way). I thought that both goalkeepers did an especially good job. The Netherlands had a strong defense, particularly the first half, but they did lose momentum in the 2nd. The VAR penalty calls were very uneven (Argentina vs. Chile, anyone?) and I do hope they get that ironed out before next time.
Edit: as I clarified the PL use of VAR to include only major decisions, and it will be publicly broadcast, rather than a private consultation.
All I saw were 15 graceless boors who don't think it's a win unless you've rubbed your opponents face in it. I'm surprised Rapinoe does not want to meet Trump. The only class either of them have is low.
And yes, I would say the exact same thing if a male team had acted this way. The ugly American abroad. It's a thing.
Can I ask what your previous experience with soccer is? I don't agree with you about Rapinoe (I think she's actually an excellent player, and one of the few on the US team whose ability lives up to the hype) but in general, US soccer is stronger mostly because of weakness in the European system and strengths in the American (look at how they used VAR to their advantage, for example - the way they implemented it in this tourney played to their style of play). I'm hoping this will be corrected in coming years - the Dutch are playing on English teams now with decent coaches, and if they can get their act together and develop their attack better, they may be a real challenge in the future. The English women DO have a really good coach (his credentials are impeccable even if his personal style is a little...questionable) but England has a long history of being able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in world cup play so I don't see them changing that any time soon, either women OR men (we almost brought it home this past year, sniff).
I'm happy to discuss specifics of THAT, but your generalities leave me at a loss for having a real discussion about the game.