OT: so.... UK or US to win the game today?

[ultraman6970]

Just got home to watch it and they have only the spanish commentaries, I like the ones in english for some reason for the female games. More serious IMO.

Hope Fiore is not doing commentaries!!! darn....

[rnhood]

Not a soccer fan so it doesn't matter to me. Being American, I'll vote for the US but, I won't be watching it. Regardless, I hope its a good game.

[Jaybee]

Press for Rapinoe, whether strategic or injury driven, was a good call.

[merckx]

I’m in Lyon now watching. Halftime at the moment. US looks strong and currently up one goal.

[Idris Icabod]

As a proud Brit, I'll just say it is England not the UK playing. But USA will win.

[Ozz]

As a proud Brit, I'll just say it is England not the UK playing. But USA will win.

Proud Welshmen, Scots and Northern Irish would agree....;)

[Clean39T]

Great goals, tight calls, and a solid game.

[cribbit]

VAR proving its worth. No way a ref could've gotten that offsides or pen call right in real time.

[ultraman6970]

I have to give you this one, just got tback from watching the game and realized i made a mistake after few minutes I posted the thread.. my apologies...!!!

As a proud Brit, I'll just say it is England not the UK playing. But USA will win.

[Jaybee]

VAR proving its worth. No way a ref could've gotten that offsides or pen call right in real time.

I'd exchange that for no VAR. Replay ruins sports.

Fabulous job by the USWNT. Chapeau to England for a hard fought game.

[ultraman6970]

IMO, for the next World cup the team to look will be spain.

[BobC]

Nervy game with plenty of drama.

All three goals were quality. The dummy on the US's second was sublime.
Passing was spotty & deteriorated as both sides tired. Tough to watch at times with all the errant passes (both sides should have tightened up their triangles & gone back to a 2 touch rhythm vice 1 touch. That's pretty basic).

Neville is going to have to watch his negative comments about other sides. He was spot on about Cameroon & should be applauded for it, but if he keeps it up he'll be the Women's football version of Neil Warnock (and one Neil Warnock is already 1 too many).

[BobC]

Oh yeah Bright should have received a straight red vice a second yellow. studs up challenge over the ball. That's 100% red every time.

Ref should have issued more yellows earlier. Got chippy because she let the game get chippy.

[kevinvc]

What a match! It wasn't the best soccer, but it was such a close and exciting game. It's common for teams to be not at their best at this stage in a major tourney; everyone is physically and mentally drained. This is part of why the US is so dominant, they have a ridiculously deep squad. Still, hopefully Rapinoe's and Lavelle's hamstrings are better by Sunday. You always want to see the best players out there.

The VAR corrected a couple of very close but incorrect calls. I have such mixed feelings about it. You want the calls to be right, but I hate the interruption of the flow of the game.

I thought the ref did a pretty good job overall. She let a lot go rather than inserting herself into the game and slogging it down with too many whistles. She tilted towards being too lenient early in the second half and it's fortunate that there weren't any serious injuries because of it. Bright absolutely deserved a straight red for that challenge, but it was still a gutsy move by the ref to give her a second yellow and remove her from the game. A lot of refs would refuse to make a team a player down in such an important match.

I think the US celebrations have gotten too much attention and there is definitely a gender angle to it. Rapinoe's "are you not entertained" pose and Morgan's tea sipping were both blown way out of proportion. Messi went on an expletive filled tirade against the refs in the Copa America yesterday, but what little coverage I've seen spins it as him just being a fierce competitor. I guarantee if it had been White complaining about her goal being overturned she would have been portrayed as a whiny poor sport.

The narrative is that the US has already won the cup, but I think it's far from over. They're better than either of the remaining teams, but Sweden and the Netherlands are both good squads and either could pull the upset.

This has all been so much fun to watch.

[rst72]

I don't mind goal celebrations when they are spontaneous and show real emotion in the moment.

the best...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UdgoeIevhY

Brandi Chastain is another great moment.

[ColonelJLloyd]

I'd exchange that for no VAR. Replay ruins sports.

Curious if you regularly watch MLB?

[Jaybee]

Curious if you regularly watch MLB?

Not regularly. Mostly NBA, aware of issues w other sports except hockey, which I don’t follow at all.

[echappist]

Nervy game with plenty of drama.

All three goals were quality. The dummy on the US's second was sublime.
Passing was spotty & deteriorated as both sides tired. Tough to watch at times with all the errant passes (both sides should have tightened up their triangles & gone back to a 2 touch rhythm vice 1 touch. That's pretty basic).

Neville is going to have to watch his negative comments about other sides. He was spot on about Cameroon & should be applauded for it, but if he keeps it up he'll be the Women's football version of Neil Warnock (and one Neil Warnock is already 1 too many).

that's the most grating thing about this tournament, all the errant and shyte passing. And i'm not talking about line-bypassing through balls in the final third, which are difficult to make. Instead, a simple out ball to the outside backs are often over or under hit. You'd think that at least the Dutch would have a semblance of fluid attacking, but even they too often resort appear to prefer the Pulis/Pardew School of Football to that of Cruijff. The only team to have played any sort of attractive football was Japan, but they were unlucky to have pinged two off of the woodwork (and otherwise failing to hit the broad side of a barn door).

Everyone else is relying on physicality. Really, no thank you. If I wanted to watch that, i'd go watch League Two. Slower speed (as compared to the men's game) is perfectly fine, but the lack of fundamentals is not. Set aside height of the centerbacks and GK, the average height of the Swedish players is comparable to that of the men's team at Man City and Barca (less their respective CBs and GK). Stature is not necessary to the implementation of attractive football; some technical skills and good tactics are.

[echappist]

I'd exchange that for no VAR. Replay ruins sports.

Fabulous job by the USWNT. Chapeau to England for a hard fought game.

in a sport where goals are few and far in between, it is necessary that calls are made correctly. One team may only get one or two very good chances per game (cf. points galore that is basketball).

Top of my head, England got hard-done by the lack of replay (in this case, goal line technology) in 2010, just as Germany did back in 1966.

Thierry Henry stole the chance of the Irish for qualifying for the 2010 World Cup with a deliberate hand ball, and I don't need to remind anyone what that scoundrel Maradonna did.

Officiating errors do not even out over the span of a league season, much less in tournament play. Unless one values continuous play over the integrity of the game, there are very good reasons for why replays are needed.

[pdmtong]

that's the most grating thing about this tournament, all the errant and shyte passing. And i'm not talking about line-bypassing through balls in the final third, which are difficult to make. Instead, a simple out ball to the outside backs are often over or under hit. You'd think that at least the Dutch would have a semblance of fluid attacking, but even they too often resort appear to prefer the Pulis/Pardew School of Football to that of Cruijff. The only team to have played any sort of attractive football was Japan, but they were unlucky to have pinged two off of the woodwork (and otherwise failing to hit the broad side of a barn door).

Everyone else is relying on physicality. Really, no thank you. If I wanted to watch that, i'd go watch League Two. Slower speed (as compared to the men's game) is perfectly fine, but the lack of fundamentals is not. Set aside height of the centerbacks and GK, the average height of the Swedish players is comparable to that of the men's team at Man City and Barca (less their respective CBs and GK). Stature is not necessary to the implementation of attractive football; some technical skills and good tactics are.

I'm no futbol expert but am a fan of all sports, saw what you wrote but had no vocabulary to articulate. thanks for the cogent summary.

[pdmtong]

in a sport where goals are few and far in between, it is necessary that calls are made correctly. One team may only get one or two very good chances per game (cf. points galore that is basketball).

Top of my head, England got hard-done by the lack of replay (in this case, goal line technology) in 2010, just as Germany did back in 1966.

Thierry Henry stole the chance of the Irish for qualifying for the 2010 World Cup with a deliberate hand ball, and I don't need to remind anyone what that scoundrel Maradonna did.

Officiating errors do not even out over the span of a league season, much less in tournament play. Unless one values continuous play over the integrity of the game, there are very good reasons for why replays are needed.

^same with this too. I'm ok when every scoring play or significant chance is reviewed. otherwise, ref's call it as you see it.

[tuscanyswe]

I dont mind var for goal situations. I dont mind var for potential handballs and or penalty situations either.

What i dont like so far this WC and in other games is when var is used for offsides call so close that even the video referees need 5 min to come to a conclusion and half of your friends think it is offside and the other half is confident there was no offside.. I think if its that close than it shouldent be offside anyways. I prefer to give ok to all goals that came of a potential offsides as long as its not "obvious" when looking at a rerun.

[Ozz]

I dont mind var for goal situations. I dont mind var for potential handballs and or penalty situations either.

What i dont like so far this WC and in other games is when var is used for offsides call so close that even the video referees need 5 min to come to a conclusion and half of your friends think it is offside and the other half is confident there was no offside.. I think if its that close than it shouldent be offside anyways. I prefer to give ok to all goals that came of a potential offsides as long as its not "obvious" when looking at a rerun.

I am not really a fan of replay in any sport...complaining about refs and how your team coulda' shoulda' woulda' if not for the ref is part of the game.

However I get that some people like precision....but after watching it in the NFL, I believe half the fans still disagree with the replay decisions....

For soccer, goals and offsides seem to make the most sense...since the ARs can't seem to get it right without help apparently.

I'd rather leave fouls and handballs as judgment calls by the officials at full speed.

If the VAR had called back the goal by Maradona, then he would not be known as the biggest cheater ever....and I kind of like it that is his legacy. Oh, and otherwise he was an ok player too.;)

[echappist]

I'm no futbol expert but am a fan of all sports, saw what you wrote but had no vocabulary to articulate. thanks for the cogent summary.

thanks for the kind words; the vocabs you'll pick up when you watch more. Fwiw, Champion's League is great, as almost every round you have some of the best teams playing attractive football.

International games (those played by national teams) in general are harder on the eye, as a lot of those passing sequences require weeks of gear meshing to allow the players to fully sync into movements of their teammates. In the international game, players may get 10 days at most to gel with their teammates, and things get a lot more uneven.

Perhaps Lyon ladies (the strongest women's team) play as well as one would expect.

^same with this too. I'm ok when every scoring play or significant chance is reviewed. otherwise, ref's call it as you see it.

Mostly agreed

I dont mind var for goal situations. I dont mind var for potential handballs and or penalty situations either.

What i dont like so far this WC and in other games is when var is used for offsides call so close that even the video referees need 5 min to come to a conclusion and half of your friends think it is offside and the other half is confident there was no offside.. I think if its that close than it shouldent be offside anyways. I prefer to give ok to all goals that came of a potential offsides as long as its not "obvious" when looking at a rerun.

I think the only downside to this is that some legit passes gets flagged for off-sides, and there's no redress for those. In the alternative (current VAR procedure), all passes are assumed to be on-side, and VAR overturns the ones that are off-sides (even those that are barely so). That's the tradeoff made. Both have unpleasant consequences

[Clean39T]

Anybody watching the final this morning? The second goal was a cracker..

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[ultraman6970]

They played this morning??? Thought was going to be around 3pm

Who won? Let me check... hmmm... of course... lets see what rapinoe says this time :P

Pfff.... totally mised that one...

Im more focused in Brazil vs Peru later on today :p

[rustychisel]

Anybody watching the final this morning? The second goal was a cracker..

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk


Fair result. US are a great team, and yes, the second goal was a scorcher.

My problem lies in the fact that the penalty was soft, yet inevitably changed the entire game perspective.

[Ozz]

Fair result. US are a great team, and yes, the second goal was a scorcher.

My problem lies in the fact that the penalty was soft, yet inevitably changed the entire game perspective.

agree on the second goal...shot by Lavelle was great...defense looked to be defending a pass to Morgan, Rapinoe or Heath and just let her run too far.

Disagree with the assessment of a "soft" penalty....ref let a bunch of hits on the USA players go, especially a prior hit on Morgan from behind in the box.

A "studs up" hit around a players head / shoulders should get a call every time....I will give you that the player was after the ball and not making a tackle, but contact was made and it was dangerous.

[cgolvin]

A "studs up" hit around a players head / shoulders should get a call every time....I will give you that the player was after the ball and not making a tackle, but contact was made and it was dangerous.

No question, dangerous play. Of all the penalties awarded via VAR during the tournament (that I remember), that one was the most clear.

I know it's a striker's job to be the target of the defense but Morgan really took a beating through the elimination rounds and at times it seemed quite deliberate (looking at you, Jill Scott).

[Jaybee]

No question, dangerous play. Of all the penalties awarded via VAR during the tournament (that I remember), that one was the most clear.

I know it's a striker's job to be the target of the defense but Morgan really took a beating through the elimination rounds and at times it seemed quite deliberate (looking at you, Jill Scott).


Beating her up is about the only way to stop Alex Morgan. Spain provided the blueprint, and every subsequent opponent followed it. Props to her - she stayed strong, got back up, rolled her eyes like "this BS again." and kept on occupying the middle of the field, leaving space for Rapinoe, Heath and Press to work on the edges.

[echappist]

No question, dangerous play. Of all the penalties awarded via VAR during the tournament (that I remember), that one was the most clear.

I know it's a striker's job to be the target of the defense but Morgan really took a beating through the elimination rounds and at times it seemed quite deliberate (looking at you, Jill Scott).

I was hesitant at first, but that boot was way high, and that boot didnt strike the ball. Of course, Morgan couldnt make a play on the ball, but that’s not the point.

Any higher, and it would have been red (reminescent of Mane on Ederson). Penalty all day

[Clean39T]

I was hesitant at first, but that boot was way high, and that boot didnt strike the ball. Of course, Morgan couldnt make a play on the ball, but that’s not the point.

Any higher, and it would have been red (reminescent of Mane on Ederson). Penalty all day

I tried to explain it to my wife with a basketball analogy: if you swat someone's hand on a fast-break, it's a foul, and usually gets called - if you undercut someone in the air on a fast-break from behind, it's a flagrant foul, gets called every time, and most likely will get you ejected and fined. It's about protecting the players in vulnerable situations. If Alex had been diving for a header or falling down, maybe it's a different story - but defenders know that if you've got a boot up above waist-level, you'd better be sure no players are around..

[pdmtong]

Fair result. US are a great team, and yes, the second goal was a scorcher.
My problem lies in the fact that the penalty was soft, yet inevitably changed the entire game perspective.
That stutter step move mid-run was awesome.

[summilux]

I wore orange yesterday and was hanging out with similarly attired people and I've got no issue with the foul. I'm only surprised that a VAR was needed to call it. Seemed pretty obvious to me and a yellow was fair. A poorer ref might have shown red. The ref did seem to let a lot of fouls pass but I much prefer that to the alternative of a ref taking too much control.

I don't think the penalty really affected the outcome. To me, the Netherlands were just hanging on for dear life most of the match. The Dutch keeper made some spectacular saves in the first half; otherwise the score would have been really lopsided. The only real opposition to the US I saw this World Cup was England.

[echappist]

I wore orange yesterday and was hanging out with similarly attired people and I've got no issue with the foul. I'm only surprised that a VAR was needed to call it. Seemed pretty obvious to me and a yellow was fair. A poorer ref might have shown red. The ref did seem to let a lot of fouls pass but I much prefer that to the alternative of a ref taking too much control.

I don't think the penalty really affected the outcome. To me, the Netherlands were just hanging on for dear life most of the match. The Dutch keeper made some spectacular saves in the first half; otherwise the score would have been really lopsided. The only real opposition to the US I saw this World Cup was England.

do you know why this Dutch side seems to s***e at passing? I mean, after all, this is the land of Cruijff and the Ajax academy, where almost any footballer would know how to pass triangles around the opposition. Yet they looked so disjointed...

[Dino Suegiù]

Rose Lavelle has top-notch touch, control, speed, quickness, smarts. Her run, cross-over, shot and goal was super.

Almost Marta level at only 24, she is going to be great. For all the talk of Tobin Heath's dribbling, Lavelle is superior imo. If she had won the Silver or even Golden Ball it would not have been outrageous.

Bright future.

[pdmtong]

Rose Lavelle has top-notch touch, control, speed, quickness, smarts. Her run, cross-over, shot and goal was super.

Almost Marta level at only 24, she is going to be great. For all the talk of Tobin Heath's dribbling, Lavelle is superior imo. If she had won the Silver or even Golden Ball it would not have been outrageous.

Bright future.

Heath stutters a lot left-right forward-back in close quarters before exploding - to me (who has never played) it looks like deft control.

Lavelle...well she absolutely killed it in her time to shine. yea, that through the legs pass versus france was oh-so-tricky but full gas run stutter then spin/split the defense and send a rocket to the upper outer? doesnt take a rocket scientist to know that's uncommon skill.

[Dino Suegiù]

Heath stutters a lot left-right forward-back in close quarters before exploding - to me (who has never played) it looks like deft control.

Lavelle...well she absolutely killed it in her time to shine. yea, that through the legs pass versus france was oh-so-tricky but full gas run stutter then spin/split the defense and send a rocket to the upper outer? doesnt take a rocket scientist to know that's uncommon skill.

Of course Heath is good, she's a 2x WC winning starter. But, she does lose a fair amount of balls, and seems more predictable with that "nutmeg" move, than Lavelle does. Lavelle is really intuitive and creative at high speed, while covering a lot of ground. I suspect she sees the field and developing action better than Heath does, and sure can quickly react/orchestrate accordingly. But, I'm not a rocket scientist. ;)

[Louis]

For old-times sake:

https://youtu.be/1wVho3I0NtU