OT: USWNT vs Spain
Enjoying day 1 of a quasi-vacation right now and happen to have the Women's World Cup on in the background. I enjoy watching the US take on other nations in major sporting events (especially when they're doing well), but I really don't consider myself a big soccer fan. Fun to watch, more enjoyable to play, but whenever I watch it (which is only the World Cup or Olypmics), I keep thinking along these lines:
Anyway.... USA! USA! USA!
Hockey guy all the way, but it would be different if the clock in hockey worked the way it does in soccer where feigning injury / exaggeration of pain / intentionally creating delay might improve your chance of winning the game depending on the situation.
Think about some of the massive advantages that faking injury might provide: adding on a second yellow to a previously booked player, getting an undeserved PK, erasing 4 minutes off the clock while leading that we all know won't be equally accounted for in stoppage time -- soccer's design just gives huge advantages to faking and exaggerating injury that other sports don't have.
Think of what it would be like if fighting was allowed to the extent in soccer as it is (or at least was) in hockey. Might solve more problems than it causes.
Fighting and soccer have a long and bloody history, although much different, and frankly, much worse than hockey. Hell, a sunday league soccer player in Michigan attacked and killed a ref not too long ago.
There are very good reasons that some stadiums have fencing surrounding the pitch and separating home and visiting fans.
You have to really look at the particular leagues also to evaluate flopping. The English Premier League flops waaaaay less than most leagues
Eh, hockey players have been well known to also dive and sell calls to gain an advantage, especially before recent rule changes. Saying that as someone who played both sports. Faking injuries has also been getting pretty frequent in football with offenses playing more uptempo. At the end of the day its athletes doing what it takes to gain a competitive advantage. If football, hockey, etc. had running clocks guys would be rolling around on the floor "in agony" toward the end of every game too.
Good point, but at least hockey has a rule against diving now.
Might be a good thing to have in football too...
I had to watch this several times to see what you wanted seen. Looks like a sniper got him!
Forgot to mention, score is tied 1-1 at the half. Apparently this was the first goal allowed by the US team in the tournament. Winner takes on the France team on Friday (tournament being held in France).
The US has their hands-full it appears . I read Sweden players didn't mind coming out of the group stage as the number 2 seed to avoid Spain and also then the hosts France the next round.
The Americans were in the worst group in the tournament, bar none. This will be a tough road to get through with a possible Spain, France, England, Germany route to the title. And Spain was supposed to be an easy one!
Goallllllllllllllllllll
2-1 US in the 76th minute
USA scores on penalty kick. 2-1 game with ~ 15 min left in regulation.
Was that a legit foul on Spain? Looked to me the USA player barely got touched if at all. If you can get a foul called on the opposition for something that slight it's no wonder players fake it all the time.
If there was contact then yes that is a legit foul. If you show studs and make contact with studs that is a foul in almost all occasions.
The last penalty (that led to the US going up 2-1) did seem light, but she spiked her in the calf in the box, and I believe that's why the penalty was called.
It might be small sample size but the women seem to engage in this behavior much less than the men.
It's a lot easier to watch when players don't get shot by a sniper every 2 seconds.
Only women's team I ever recall really putting on the theatrics was Brazil and hoo were they bad
Yes. They were at it again last night against France. Even though France is a stout team, I was glad they advanced to the quarters game against the US (now that they held up their end of the deal) instead of Brazil because watching Brazil's antics is so aggravating.
US wins 2-1! Onto the quarterfinals against host country France on Friday; should be the toughest match up of the whole tournament. Many predict whoever wins the match on Friday, will win it all.
Rapinoe was hot garbage once again today. Yes, she scored 2 PK goals, but she was slow and very turn over prone.
Shhhhh, criticism of that kind is deemed unpatriotic and discriminatory by many.
Not sure why you are getting down-voted for this. After the first penalty drawn by Heath, they were paying Heath and the right side much more attention. Because of this the US was free to attack down the left side. Rapinoe used to cut in more, but in the later stages of her game she tends to stay wide. Almost too wide not allowing for overlapping runs from Dunn and for Dunn to use her ability to stretch the field horizontally.
Yep. Rapinoe was terrible 90% of the game. Good thing Spain is bad. Overall we looked tired and uninterested. Dunn was bad too, making the left side a side of crap, really. I think Lavelle and Heath are the somewhat hidden keys to making the US go. I expect better from all 11 against France, although we might not get the same good result.
what would it have been like if the Hansen brothers played soccer?
Apparently England in the '80s was kind of like that. You couldn't get straight red cards, so if someone looked like they might score you'd just clean them out and take the yellow.
Aluminum foil sales would increase.
Horan should be starting over Ertz. She’s among the top players in the world and would settle things down. Not really knocking Ertz, who’s a great player, just not as good as Horan.
Horan didn't start bc she already had a yellow, and they didn't want to risk accumulation yellow, but it was clear by halftime that we may have needed her presence to avoid a huge upset.
Agree. Horan is much better on the ball and I think has better vision to be able to pick out that first pass. Ertz is great, but sometimes I think her on the ball ability to turn and quickly pick out a pass isn't as good as Horan and that is vital if you want to play the 6.
A 100% accurate meme.
Sidney Crosby.
It looked hot out there. They should have played in their underwear.
I saw a fair amount of “embellishing” during the Stanley Cup Finals. It’s sad to me to see that “win at all costs” garbage spread to the NHL. Sportsmanship and integrity are dying.
Watching Sweden/Canada now and our neighbors to the north are down 1-0 with around 7 minutes left. The flopping over some of these encounters has got to stop. Just play on!
Women actually do t.hat less than the men. Not sure why
Jill Ellis better get her ass out of her head (unlikely) with tactical decisions and substitution decision as well. A lot of people wanted her gone because her tactic is basically basic meant for youth soccer league. USWNT won games in spite of her IMO because they have so much talent on the roster that they can sleepwalk most of the match and still win it.
Rapione has been bad and should've been subbed out early for Christen Press. For a team that has a lot of talent and depth, Ellis didn't sub in until 85th min of the game which is unacceptable. Also, I think USWNT is better off with Horan as a midfielder and let Ertz sit on the bench. Horan is a better player.
USWNT has gotten by with talent disparity but their training/development isn't up to par for an elite team. Pretty soon, we'll see other countries catching up to them and pass them by because they have better development/training by the next World Cup. USA Soccer Federation must address the training issue in how they develop players because soccer is basically all about travel ball, not enough development.
It's got to be Lloyd, Horan, Press as starters. Lloyd is still the best forward in the world.
Morgan is great eye candy, but she is a no show under pressure. Pugh wilts too.