Women's World Cup

[Botnst]

USA vs Brasil was a well-fought, imperfectly refereed game. Excellent soccer.

[TheDon]

What is it with world cup ref's sucking at their job.

[The Swede]

What's a soccer?

[Botnst]

(Here it comes folks, a slow pitch, right across the plate....)

[The Clk Man]

I played soccer in HS and it's not an easy sport. You have to be in good physical condition.

[Mike D]

I thought it was a great match.

I wasn't happy with the officiating but I've seen a lot worse. The blatant "take down" in the box resulting in the send off was correctly called. Last defender, grabbing the jersey to deny a goal scoring opportunity and THEN sweeping the player's legs without making an attempt to play the ball? ANY one of those will get you sent off, let alone all three.

Defense encroaching during the PK? Correct call. Yellow card for the keeper? Ehhhh, pretty ticky-tack but I wasn't there to hear what was said. It is "un-sporting conduct" for the keeper to leave the penalty area to protest a call and I think that is what happened. Technically correct but I wouldn't want to have made the call. I'd have waved her away and booked her only if she refused to return to her area.

I'm torn on the offside call which resulted in the Brazilian goal but we got away with a couple of offsides in the first half from the same AR. Looking at the replay I gotta admit it was pretty close. The rule of thumb for calling a player offside is to not call it if you aren't absolutely positive and to err on the side of the offense. I wouldn't have argued it if it had been an American player making the goal.

Damned fine game, 'course I bet those women will be doing some heavy sleeping tonight. 80+ degrees, high humidity, 120 minutes plus in the match, playing down one player for 65 minutes and then going into kicks from the mark to decide it? Yikes! Let's see them candy-assed baseball multimillionaires try that!

[75Sv1]

I didn't see the match. I did play goalie on Jr High and HS teams and DYA leages. I did live in Germany and played against a few German teams. The goalie was never restricted to the box. Outside the box, the goalie can not touch the ball with his hands. I did get penalized for that once. The lines were not marked.
Tom

[Mike D]

It is "un-sporting conduct" for the keeper to leave the penalty area to protest a call


No restrictions on the keeper during active play. No restrictions on the keeper protesting a call inside the penalty area. However, when a keeper leaves the penalty box to protest a call then it is considered "time wasting" and falls under "Un-sporting conduct". Play can't resume until the keeper is back in position.

Don't know for sure if this is what was called but I'd imagine so.

Middle school, high school and DYA soccer do not follow FIFA rules and they allow a lot of latitude regarding interpretation and application of the laws of the game.

[Mike D]

Originally Posted by Botnst

(Here it comes folks, a slow pitch, right across the plate....)

Don't mix sports metaphors. You should have said, "Here it comes folks, a slow roller right across the pitch".

[cscmc1]

Incredible match! I disagree with Mike about the calls, but they're such a subjective element in soccer anyway. I did see the jersey grab on the takedown, but no "leg sweep" -- I saw a play on the ball. As for the PK, that was as ticky-tack as it gets. Never seen encroachment called with fewer than 2 or 3 steps into the box before. I have, however, seen encroachment NOT called with a step or two in by the defense MANY times. That was a curious call; technically correct, but common sense (and precedent) seems to say you don't blow the whistle.

In any case, it was poetry on the pitch by the end. Loved the goal in extra time; somewhat more satisfying with the fake injury at the end by the Brazilians. Good stuff.

[tbomachines]

Was coming out of the gym today and they had a sports talk show on...headline was:
"which is better, Jeter's home run or Women's World Cup?"

I should have stayed just to see how they could POSSIBLY compare the two. Worse than politics...This is why I can give very little respect to sports talking heads.

[tonkovich]

Originally Posted by tbomachines

Was coming out of the gym today and they had a sports talk show on...headline was:
"which is better, Jeter's home run or Women's World Cup?"

I should have stayed just to see how they could POSSIBLY compare the two. Worse than politics...This is why I can give very little respect to sports talking heads.

jeter = god

no discussion necessary.

[The Clk Man]

Originally Posted by tonkovich

jeter = god

no discussion necessary.

Jeter = Satan, Redsox RULE!!!!!

[MTI]

US advances to the finals to face Japan in Frankfurt on Sunday.

[Kuan]

I watched it this afternoon and won a bottle of French wine.