I'll keep this part brief. The US enters as the defending champions but not necessarily the favorite. There is a lot of hype surrounding England, Germany, and France this year, and you know Japan is always going to put up a heck of a fight. And the Canadians are back, and they're always a tough out.
But, c'mon, you know we got this
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Certainly off to a good start, three goals in the first half of play.
Should have had at least one more right at the end of the half. They were dominating play, it was all Thailand could do to get to the whistle
Edit: And that 4th didn't take long in the second half... yikes!
Edit 2: Good lord, and the 5th....
Edit 3: lol they just scored 3 goals in 9 mins to open the 2nd half
Edit 4: 4 in 10....
And there's the 8th. Morgan hat trick
Just set a record for most goals in a World Cup game. They are humming up front, but man, the Thailand defense is.... bad
9th...
10... Morgan with her 4th
11th - now tied for largest ass whuppin in World Cup history
12th - oh come on, Alex Morgan just abused the defense on that one. Her 5th (!!!!) goal of the game
13th - Lloyd finally gets on the board. She's been juuuuust missing. Which is nuts, this really could be 15 or 16 to nothing.
And that's the final whistle.
10 goals in the 2nd half. Wow!
[MURICA INTENSIFIES]
9-nil in the 80th minute
10-nil in the 81st
11-nil in the 84th minute
12-nil in the 87th
More goals than UVA fans at their spring sugar cookie extravaganza.
13-nil in the 92nd
USMNT: They scored how many Goals at World Cup? Wow that's a lot in the group stage
USWNT: that was one game boys.
Anyone watch this in spanish. This would have been a good game in spanish.
Here, I'll add the transcript from the game: "Hello welcome to us vs thailand - gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal. Wow what a game, tha ks for watching"
Message sent.
For the record.
They scored as many points as the Patriots did in the Super Bowl this year.
Boat raced!
I'm really proud of our women's lacrosse team for blanking Thailand...Not lacrosse? Football? Ok, I guess 13-0 is good, not a very exciting game. Oh THAT kind of football.
That's a dumb tweet. The Thai women's players are literally amateurs. Shit, they have a player on their roster who plays for Kennesaw State University, a couple free agents, and the rest are women with day jobs in Thailand.
The fact of the matter is the women's world cup will never be competitive top to bottom until more than just a few countries start actually encouraging girls to play sports. The playing field is so slanted in favor of the U.S. and a handful of others that it's absurd.
Didn't the USMNT lose two games to really awful teams this month?
Granted. But in friendlies that don't matter and even those teams weren't nearly as bad as this team the women just whipped, in a relative sense.
Those results were not good ones, but about half of Venezuela's starters played the past season in a top 4 European league, compared to only one American. Venezuela is better. The Jamaica result was bad, yes, but why is that being brought up?
I just find it so odd that whenever the USWNT does anything, people have a fetish with bringing up the USMNT to compare for some reason. Idk if they are trying to imply the women should get equal money seeing how that has been an ongoing debate. Beating an amateur (again, these are women with day jobs or in college) team 13-0 is not proof that the women's team deserves equal compensation or whatever these people are trying to say. In fact, it is proof of why there is, unfortunately, less money available in women's sports.
Did you do any fact checking before typing?
The majority of the Thailand team plays professionally in Thailand which would mean they are not amateurs. Also, one of Thailand's best players played at Cal. Do you know who else played there? Alex Morgan.
Actually, yes I did. The Thai women's league is semi-pro at best. There are 11 teams including a U-16 team, a U-19, and a few colleges. It is not a legitimate pro league. And I've seen multiple things saying these players have day jobs, which is often true for semi-pro players.
Then you must know more than the Fox announcers during the game. They spoke highly of the Thai league during the game.
I'm of the opinion that we should celebrate countries who are trying to develop their sports programs, not tear them down when they are still growing. The fact that they have any sort of women's professional league should be celebrated because it will only make the game better around the world.
Well, looking at the scoreline and their amateur competition, I'll go out on a limb and say it sucks
considering fox has awful soccer announcers, it's possible
sort of /s
No /s. They suck.
wut?
Being realistic and saying the team is sub-par on an international level isn't tearing them down when its true. Its also not tearing down their pro league to point out that it is semi-pro where most of the women have to have a second job to make ends meet. That shows they're not dedicating all their time and effort into training for the game like other nations (namely, the US). That's not tearing them down, that's speaking the truth.
I mean good on them for even having a league, but lets take a step back from attacking anyone for showing the reality of the situation. Plus, I'm pretty sure that the Thai women's soccer program is going to be ok, regardless of what is said about them on The Key Play.
I did not attack. I stated facts and pointed out that I think we should be more kind.
And of course the Thai team will be fine. But like other threads, TKP does a lot of self moderation and I for one did not appreciate the tearing down of a growing program. Sure, they might not be 100% pro, but let's celebrate the fact that they have a league rather than saying their league isn't good enough.
If basing things on 2nd jobs most minor league players aren't professionals then.
Correct, they're semi-pro players who need to supplement their livelihoods with additional jobs to pay the bills.
That 'Thai League' is mostly a league in name. They haven't even held matches for the majority of the years it's been solvent.
I hope you understand any run-of-the-mill boys U-13 or 14 club team could beat the Thai National team. While it is worth celebrating a team exists, it's a little embarrassing that this is the highest level competition in the world, and it is inclusive of teams like this one.
How would you like for the tournament to be handled then? They don't get to play at all? They don't have a starting point...they have to come out of the box as a world power?
Stating about a U13 or 14 boys teams has ZERO relevance to the Thai team. It means nothing, and brings nothing to the conversation. Nobody cares about that, and it's completely apples and oranges.
It's the World Cup. Not everyone qualifies, nor should qualify, so yeah, I'm actually totally fine if a team like that 'doesn't get to play at all' in this tournament. Either smaller field or fewer spots to that geographic area - much as UEFA and CONMEBOL have more slots than CONCACAF, CAF, or AFC for the men.
And the comment about the boys is in-line with 'speaking highly of the league,' and putting context around what was clearly something the announcers were saying out of their ass. It's hardly a 'league'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_FIFA_Women%27s_World_Cup_qualification
In the 78th minute, Nigeria is beating South Korea 2-0. Nigeria is #38 in the FIFA world rankings. South Korea is #14. For additional reference, Thailand is #34. Don't blow up the system based on one game. All that qualified deserve to be there.
The salary range for the NWSL is $16,538-46,200. The team salary cap is $421,000, meaning if you have 1 player making the maximum, the rest of your roster averages a little over $19,000. Are we going to pretend the professional league here in America pays a living wage? These ladies that we watch play at the highest level are making much more money from their endorsements and USWNT pay, but that doesn't change the fact that our league is semi-pro as well.
You are correct, but that makes no difference on the general point being made.
The opportunities afforded to the US women's players are so much greater than those afforded to the Thai players. The Thai players do not have access to anywhere near the level training that the American players do. This is a huge problem with women's soccer btw. The best teams are the ones who invest the most $ in women's sports, which is very few countries. So there are very few high level teams because, unfortunately, most national soccer federations do not care at all about women's soccer. Sure the players here might be making little money, but to compare it to the conditions that players in countries such as Thailand would be incredibly misleading.
Makes you wonder if there is enough viable competition in the sport to justify a tournament of this size. Yikes...
Argentina drawing Japan earlier this week as one of the worst teams in the tournament on paper runs counter to that. I think today was just an exceptional result.
I remember Hungary beating El Salvador 10-1 in the 1982 World Cup...so it can happen on the men's side as well
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_v_Germany_(2014_FIFA_World_Cup)
Getting texts from my friend while at work today:
Him:
Morgan scored
Morgan scored
Morgan scored
Morgan scored
Morgan scored
Me:
Somethings up with your phone
Him:
No. There isn't
First cycle of the group stage in the books.
Current team goals scored standings:
USWNT: 8 goals
Alex Morgan: 5 goals
France: 4 goals
I know there is a lot of talk about the US running up the score and humiliating Thailand. I only half way agree. The US could have eased up on the attack and passed the ball around the midfield but by no means should they have been pulling back shots and passing the ball back out. While the score board would have looked a little better, Thailand knowing the US was passing up goals because they were no competition would have been humiliating and demoralizing. The US players continued to compete and play the game as they would against any team in the field, thus giving them the same respect as every other team in the tournament.
In a friendly, that's running up the score. In the first game of the largest tournament of the sport in the world, it's called staying focused. Once the hammer is dropped and the process started, you can't let up. They actually did to a bit, but its GO time. And they went.
This article does a good job explaining why players were so excited after scoring and why they scored so many goals. For many of them, it is their first World Cup which means it is their first goal in a World Cup. In other words, they had just accomplished something they dreamed about since they were little kids and something that very people people even get the opportunity to attempt.
SI Article
The reaction on the internet has been especially stunning. Given the long and sordid history of football culture in places like Europe and South America I can't believe the USWNT is getting dragged by foreign fans for celebrating a few goals.
We'll tell the ladies to stop carrying on when the English fans can go a full year without dumping an old man into a fountain, for example. And I say that as a longtime fan of the English game.
These same people would be apoplectic about embarrassing the Thai women if we just pulled back and passed the ball around for the last 45 minutes of the game.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. So fuck it, bury their asses and let everyone else whine about the result.
Yup. Like I said above, this wasn't a friendly, or exhibition to grow the game. If it was, that's bad taste. This is the World Cup.
USA beat Sui 8-0 in the women's ice hockey World Championship. Canada beat Russia 7-0. It's the largest tournament for the sport. Bring your game every minute.
They're just pissed we built up the score differential in case that comes into play later.
Not just foreign fans, I've seen some Americans getting bent out of shape about it too.
So I'll say what other people say when they defend it: don't like it, stop them
I don't mind the scoring - it's the WC, they should win 20-0 if they can. I also don't mind the first-timers celebrating goals.
However, Megan Rapinoe, who has 45 goals for the USWNT under her belt, doesn't need to be going to the ground doing some bogus celebration at 9-0 late in a game.
^^^THIS!!!^^^
I had no problems with continuing to score, but the over the top celebrations (running to the sideline and celebrating with the bench when it is 9+ -0) were a bit much I thought.
Yeah the Rapinoe celebration was a little over the top given the time and score. I can get the angst over that. But the others? Meh. Even Alex Morgan only celebrated pretty much out of disbelief on the dismantling she was personally doing.
But even still. Big time meh from me on the whole thing. Tired of the stuffy 'respect the game' cries that have been coming out about bat flips and the unwritten rules in baseball, postgame celebrations in hockey, and touchdown celebrations in football. Let the players have fun. If you don't want them to do it, don't let them do anything worth celebrating.
Plus, if there were no celebrations, we wouldn't be able to laugh at Leon Lett and the like for years to come.
I'm on a similar page as most folks here. I'm fine with continuing to score. Goal differential matters and each team in our group plays Thailand, which could result in similar scorelines. The amount of goals wasn't bothersome, just the celebrations seemed a bit much. Then again, I don't how I would react when scoring in the WC, even in a blowout.
The most horrifying/awesome thing about this score differential is that Thailand isn't the lowest ranked team in our group. Chile is.
Chile probably isn't above tactical fouling though
I was waiting for Thailand to start taking out US players just outside the box. I wouldn't mind seeing Morgan and Rapinoe start on the bench against Chile, with limited subs you don't want to risk your regular starters against a team you should handily pick up 3 points against. With the +13 goal differential and Sweden already playing Chile and only getting +2 goal differential, I think the US should be safe to start out against a Chile team that projects to be worse than Thailand without their stars. Morgan would love to set an unreachable World Cup goals record, so I doubt she sits at all in the tournament.
You play with the top squad all the way thru. Don't bounce around with lineups. There's not another chance for 4 more years, so bring it every game.
light rotation in group stage games isn't uncommon because you want to keep some legs stretched while minimizing injury risk. I wouldnt be surprised if a surefire starter or two gets dropped from the first XI only to come on around ~65-70 minutes
Morgan needs 6 to pass Akers for most goals in a single tournament and n+8 goals to pass Marta for all-time WC goals with n being the numbers of goals Marta scores in her remaining World Cup games.
Viva Brazil
Well Morgan and Rapinoe didn't play against Chile, the USWNT coach must TKP
They were clearly suspended for their horrible acts of unsportswomanlike conduct against Thailand
Absolute filth from the cameroon player in the last seconds of the game, dropping bodies like its nothing.
And then celebrated so hard that they just called the game.
Celebrate so hard they gotta take you off with a fucking stretcher thats some heavy metal shit there
GOAL!!!!
Dunn has been a liability at left back this first half. Mewis with some pinpoint passes tho
What a goal by Heath. Difficult angle and just popped over the head of the keeper
Keeper probably should've made that save, it was essentially a chip if you look at it from the side angle. Great goal nonetheless.
I'm not sure why, because I didn't see it, but FIFA is ruling Heath's goal as an own goal on Sweden.
Ricocheted off the defender's left leg
Carli should have passed it on that last attempt, someone was wide open in the middle of the box, but didn't need it anyway
Good match, USA controlled a lot of the game but they were sloppy a couple of times and Sweden could have scored a couple if they had been sharper, but the US could have scored a few more also
Expecting them to handle Spain on Monday, hopefully another shutout
US isn't capitalizing enough on their attacks and some lazy passing around their own goal is hurting them
This is unbelievable that the ref isn't pulling out cards here. Hard fouls by Spain every 30 seconds.
I was thinking the same. Spain seems to be getting more violent as the match goes on.
Mewis crushed that girl. MMA style. Spain was playing physical before the incident, but I have to believe the nastiness was payback.
Finally some payoff, hopefully.
There should be at least a single yellow for the silliness at the spot. Don't touch the ball there. And the ref shouldn't allow that.
GOAL!!!!!!!
US wins 2-1. Advances to face France on Friday at 3.
Rose Lavelle and Tobin Heath have been so fun to watch this tournament.
I wonder if press doesnt factor in more next game we felt a little lack luster at times and her pace on the wings in devastating.
Rose rocks, wish she got more touches
(Tobin's good too)
I was planning on coming here to say this. Rose Lavelle and Tobin Heath have looked like the best players on the US team so far this tournament. Crystal Dunn has also been a bright spot on the back line with the way she has been willing and able to push up to aid in the attack and still gets back to slam doors shut on the counter. Even though Rapinoe had two goals on PKs against Spain, I have not been impressed with her so far, she loses the ball too often and doesn't seem to know how to time her runs to stay onside. Heath has been much better on the opposite wing.
In the spain game, i found myself (on multiple occasions) thinking that Lavelle took too long to make the pass and either wound up catching Rapinoe offside or putting the ball behind her where she had to try to check back to control it
England scoring some nice goals today, hope USA looks like this tomorrow
Any idea of a livestream for someone without cable?
7 day free trial on FS1? Or FuboTV.
I think it is on network TV nationally - don't need no stinking cable
(of course I realize you may be a streamer only, but I'm just putting that out there if anyone else is looking for it on the old tv)
Going with the same starters that played like crap against Spain in this game against a much better France squad is some Bruce Arena level strategy from Jill Ellis. No Horan. No Press. Oof. This was always going to be a difficult game. Why the hell are we making it more difficult?
I guess they're thinking they'll rise to the occasion and get the win.
Worried about Dunn but she's still fast so maybe she's worked on her positioning over the week and will shut down her side
Hopefully they'll sub Horan and Lloyd (and/or anyone else) at the right time
Yes they can win the whole tournament but you can clearly see they had a hard time in the last game and it will not be an easy task for them going forward. I'm thinking the 2015 team was slightly stronger
PINOE!!!!!!
Cheeky lil slider.
Rose is off today
PINOE X2
Whew! Tense
woooo 'Murica!
LET'S GOOOOOOOO. For sure thought we were going down in this one leading up.
Great game all around.
The last 10 minutes (including 5 minutes of stoppage time) by France were a mess though. Really a clinic on how not to play if you're desperately trying to score.
I want to see a replay of that goal they voided (Dunn to Heath?) - I don't think Dunn was offsides - should have counted
They quickly showed the replay with the var lines. Her foot was offsides by maybe 6 inches?
I guess her toes were over the line, washes with the handball in the box
Megan, how many goals did you score today? What about vs Spain?
Pinoe was great today. Hope she keeps this hot goal streak going.
But Crystal Dunn was the player of the game for me. She absolutely played her ass off out there today.
For all you guys who want lineup changes , now you got em:
Press replacing Rapinoe in the starting lineup
Lavelle moved to Dunn's side
Horan back in replacing Mewes
(Mewes played well with Dunn last game)
They actually put Horan on Dunn's side, which I think makes more sense
why is Rapinoe not starting? this is a real head scratcher
Twitter suggesting a tactical decision, as she's a bit of a defensive liability -- Press is faster and matches up better with England's style of attack.
I'm guessing Ellis wants fresh legs in there, and maybe they'll sub her in the 2nd half and she'll have fresher legs than the defense
If it isnt disciplinary then its purely because press it more athletic and will track back which is because Bronze is playing out of this world right now and dunn is going to need help covering her. Not like press is a huge drop off from Rapinoe either she is electric on the wings and I really rate her play.
I wouldn't take her out considering how how she's been but the gist is two fold; one, the belief is Press matches up better with England given her speed and two, Pinoe is carrying a yellow and don't want to risk her missing the final. Also, Pinoe might be hurt
Yellows are wiped now. Clean slate.
Yeah, you're right. Forget they wiped them at the semis
If you can add speed early, run with England, and keep the option to bring in Pinoe and Carly Lloyd in the second half if you need to score, you're in a pretty good place.
Or she's injured and not even warming up, haha. Hope she can get back for the weekend.
GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good call starting Press huh
I forgot that the English side is a bunch of Neymars flopping all over the field
Should be a yellow on England hitting Morgan in the head
GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Morgan header
Woo, great save by Naeher
Our intern is British and so far we are both being quiet and nice to one another.
Probably because neither of us can find a stream and have to rely on the text updates of the game
FuboTV, Fox Sports, Hulu w/ Live TV, or Telemundo
All blocked... IT adapted from the last world cup
That's not cool! Times like this are when I'm thankful I work in software and nothing is blocked.
If my work did that I would just go home early anyway
We spent the first half allowing the stream on one computer. The one attached to the IT area TV. Everyone else is out of luck.
Happy birthday Alex Morgan! nice header!
If looks could kill rapinoe has it down right now. Beautiful couple goals by the US but man england came to play
Lavelle's really showing off her skills tonight
She's a queen and I'll hear nothing to the contrary.
2nd Half
So offsides
England subbing in Mead
Takeaway near the box by Press, takes a wild shot wide, should have passed
Crap, Lavelle goes out injured, Mewes subs in
hammy
White with the equalizer, offsides?
NO goal
VERY tight
Yep, offside
big change of events for the US
England subs out a good offensive player for a more defensive one
US playing with 5 backs
Heath down on the field, walking off now, will come back on
England missed a great chance
Lloyd subs in for Heath
VAR assesses penalty & yellow
PK
US has been badly outplayed in the last 20 mins. And now England has a penalty.
We should be losing right now
SAVED FUCK YES!
England is stepping up their game
Naeher saves!!!!
How can you reverse that call on VAR? I don't think Sauerbrun even touched her
I didn't see any contact. It was a bullshit VAR call
Saurbraun (I think) touched White's leg as she kicked, but I'm salty about it too
she hit her leg right before she went to kick the ball.
Buuuuuut... man that was iffy at best
Bright (england) gets a second yellow - she gone
Red card for the Brits.
Holy shit what a swing of emotion the last couple mins
Always good on the goalie when they save a PK but when a goalie is able to catch your PK, that's a bad PK....
Oh it was awful. No power whatsoever.
Another sub for England, and US had another one I missed
7 mins added, US stalling
Another yellow to England
Dunn makes a great block, Lloyd tackled
US WINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GK Naeher comes up big in the win
Pinoe and Rose have
54 days to heal for the finalWhatever happened to Rose's hammy, whether it was cramps or an actual pull, didn't look too bad. Think the sub was precautionary, but I'll be following that closely in the next few days.
edit: When asked by reports both Rapinoe and Rose said they will be fine for the Final. That's not confirmation from the medical staff, but it is at the very least a little more reason for optimism.
IDK, she was limping pretty hard after the game
Really good job killing the game off in the last 10 minutes. England probably only had about 35% possession after the 85th minute
Hell yeah
Apparently England was playing in an unusual formation for them in the first half, and in the 2nd they played where they were more comfortable and it showed - they played much better and sliced right through the US defense for 2 goals that should have tied or put them in the lead
Watched the game with our British CEO and British VP of engineering. A good time was had by all...at their expense.
Pinoe says she'll be ready for the final - Press did well though, might want to leave her in there, but probably can't
Put the PK save by Naeher up there with Wambach's goal against Brazil back in 2011. Let's get the job done this time ladies!
I won't be surprised if the Oranjes win, but 'm thinking Sweden will win tomorrow because they are the true nemesis of the US in big games and a rematch will be the perfect ending for this cup after the Swedes sat a few starters a couple of weeks ago when the US won
Seeing Piers shithead ass whipe morgan whining about Morgans celebration makes my day I absolutely loved the troll job on the celebration
am I the only one who saw this and thought, "if she tried to drink tea like that, she's got a drinking problem."
At first glance I thought it was a smoking a joint celebration and was confused
As I was thinking about it last night, that last award of the P.K. through VAR makes me think of the potential issues we will start see cropping up with the new PI replay rules in the NFL.
In slow motion, you can convince yourself that anything looks like a foul a lot of the time. That was a very iffy call yesterday, and obviously could have been a massive game changer if the goalie doesn't stamp herself in USWNT lore.
You're right if you're just speaking to the fact that the games will be longer with lots of stoppage, but neither side yesterday benefited from the VAR. The PK call for the Brits was weak at best, as was the offside call that helped the US.
Yeah, my initial reaction was that offside VAR call was sketchy as hell and England would feel justifiably robbed, and the penalty was a little soft but the contact from the defender clearly affected her ability to finish what should have been a gimme.
That said, with the way Piers Morgan, Phil Neville and the Daily Mail have been acting, I would like to see Pinoe and Morgan lead a victory parade through London wearing full colonial gear, smashing crates of tea and dumping them over the side of the bus while shotgunning Budweisers and blasting Bruce Springsteen. Regardless of what happens on Sunday. My overreaction has nothing to do with the fact this England team knocked Wales out of the World Cup in the last qualifying match, why do you ask?
The whiny brits made me think of what I wouldve done in that position and best I came up with was have a undershirt with "Declaration that you lost again" on it and have a sharpie hidden in the socks to sign my hancock on the declaration for the celebration
I dunno, I've played in high school games that equally as obvious offsides were called without the assistance of VAR. Should have been called in real time.
It was a soft pentaly but the defenders contact on her leg definetly threw her off on what shouldve been a tap in, that said the england player did make a meal of it but I think it was an okay call since the one angle showed the contact clearly.
This is where I ultimately landed. After seeing it over and over it did become clear that the defender put herself in a position so close to the attempted shooter that when she brought her leg back to shoot, it absolutely made contact with the defender, and it was enough to make her whiff on the shot. In real time, I don't have a problem with that call going either way, but I don't know how someone can still land at the take that the defender didn't obstruct her shot without making a play on the ball with all those replays. It was soft, minimal, and even unintentional probably, but if you make non-play-on-ball contact with a shooter's leg in the act of shooting in the box, that's a pen.
All that said, I happily participated in the BALL DON'T LIE twitter explosion.
My fav...Someone said "England blew a 13-0 colony lead to the USA, again."
how about the two offsides passes that led up to that play? If the english player had scored on the tap in, would they have reviewed those and overturned anyway? A penalty there was probably their best chance of scoring and they blew it.
#1776AllOverAgain
Neither pass was offside as I remember it. The pass to the shooter was behind the passer at the time of the pass (eliminates offside even if the player is behind the last defender) and I can't exactly remember the pass to the assister, but I don't recall it being offside either.
edit: Just found a video. If you watch it at .25 or .5 speed the first pass to the assister is clearly onside. The 2nd one is closer from this angle, but from the side angle on replays yesterday it was more clear.
The video was blocked from being embedded on other sites by the user: Here is a direct link. Start at 1:25 or so.
But maybe the BALL DON'T LIE because it was offsides? I agree that the call could have gone either way, but I think the 2 passes that set it up were potentially offsides, but no one looked.
Edit: I know. I know. I will drink.
windup space is not possessed... first come first serve... US defender clearly there first with NO INITIATION OF CONTACT... THAT GOOFY FORWARD initiated the contact with a windup that wasn't even called 4 given the situation she just needed to block the ball... that ref was out of her depth... time to admit some men into the women's side if thats all they have going on
EDIT: whoops! Looks like I gotta drink. That's ok. Lemme grab a pent.
Pinkie's out, good form, totally classy - USA has taken the celebration to new levels in the women's game
Levelle has been a beast at this tourney so far any updates on her condition she would be a big miss going into a final.
Then she became a beast.
Nonsense. She wasn't great against France, and THAT was the exception. She and Tobin Heath have been our most dangerous offensive players and creators this whole tournament. She puts in a high energy defensive shift as well.
Well, I saw most of the France game and she wasn't even close to a player that should have made the squad. And the Spain game was maybe a C game for her as well. The group games are what they are, but for the knockout games prior to yesterday, she was iffy...
She played a long ball through the defense to Rapinoe against Spain that was the best pass I've seen all tournament. Not her fault Rapinoe put it wide of the near post.
It's the first clip in this vid.
One pass. The rest that I saw she held the ball way too long and the runs played out. Then it was a straight turnover or missed pass...
Nah, she dribbles out of trouble and makes pinpoint passes,
2nd clip pass was perfect to the striker at the top of the box but Morgan (I think) didn't settle it and lost it
3rd clip she passes to Heath on the right who misses the cross
4th clip she passes to the left side for a cross that missed again
5th clip she takes a powerful shot from outside the box that barely misses
She's awesome, France was the aberration, hope she plays in the final
Sometimes she holds the ball too long or goes for aggressive passes that end up not going through. I'll absolutely live with that for the amount of penetrating dribbling runs, dangerous passes in the final third, and press resistance she provides. You don't realize how much you miss this kind of player until you don't have one, and you can't generate offense for shit.
Yeah, she's kind of like Steph Curry who dribbles out of control, sometimes loses the ball, but many times pulls it together and makes a great pass or shot that makes you go WOW!
She also has awareness, like when she lets the ball pass through to the corner for the service to Press for the first goal against England, or just small deflections as great passes
>>She also has awareness, like when she lets the ball pass through to the corner for the service to Press for the first goal against England, or just small deflections as great passes
Her dummy made a dummy of the best right back in the women's game... she didn't even contest or leave the ground for the header goal. Given another second or two thats contested.
Yeah, Bronze should have headed that ball out of there, but she stood there in cement and Press got the glory.
Lack of awareness, or stunned
First rule of soccer play your position. Second rule of soccer play other positions when it benefits your team.
The rub is "when it benefits your team" means so much to so many players it scares the hell out of coaches who want to win. So when that coach can win just by following rule number 1, they do it. This is the essence of Ellis as a coach imho. The second team is 100x more fun to watch than the 1st team, but they literally play for the beauty of the space in front of them without much for the repercussions of getting countered.
4 me thats what happened to Horan... if i had a nickel for every time i saw her contesting for a goal that she had a low probability chance on... if i didn't know better i'd think she was playing forward... as a middie on this team you can't come forward unless you have very clear goal scoring chance, mebbe with a clear cover player to pick up your spot
but back to rose... she has accomplished all that she has accomplished despite being on a team that basically played position football... when they started devastating Spain, it was because the high pressure high line was getting beaten by Rose's (and others) through balls... Spain decided to reduce the pressure on the high line and play to drop back. Rose was a little hesitant to take the space and bang from 25, but she has the sauce on at least one of her feet to do it. She will be perhaps the best playmaker of all time. Amazing this early she has already forced teams at the highest level to adjust their strategies. WIth a team whose forward and midfield lines are very static.
When you put her in with pugh, rapinoe, lloyd, drop morgan back to playmake, mix in any other middie, the dynamic outside backs... that is a team whose motion off ball is pretty amazing to watch, and a bunch of selfless players willing to send the ball to its most threatening path. Don't get me wrong I much preferred watching the SA Copa or what ever they call that tourney... but if the US had played this other team, I would have been glued to their games... Rose would have been more amazing and I think the US wins every game by 2-3 goals.
Not sure if Lloyd gets in at central forward in the next game, but watch what she does... she'll immediately force another forward to switch or she'll overload... with the first team in there... its just soooo static. If I have to stress a defense I'll take 50 position switches over 50 1v1s every day all day... not even close. JMHO
Yeah, I wish they would keep attacking instead of bunkering down to protect a one goal lead for 60mins (maybe not 60, but it seems like it), but I know they're afraid the defense won't hold up against counter attacks. But the prevent defense got sliced up pretty bad by England anyway (by White at least), so I say keep scoring, (but they won't).
With her hamstring issue, I don't know if they should even play Rose if she's only like 75%, she'll still be able to make some plays but probably won't be able to out run the Dutch midfielders.
They could try Carli in there at midfield for some playmaking ability but more for experience (even though she's a forward now), Mewis I think of as more defensive, Morgan Brian maybe, but not sure what's up with her.
I'd start Press for her speed over Pinoe except that could possibly ruffle her feathers and maybe hurt team morale.
It'll be interesting to see who starts and whether they'll keep the gas on longer, maybe turn it into a game like the 2015 final and get a multiple goal lead in the first half.
Truth!
Sunday 7/7 11am ET
World Cup Finals
USA vs Netherlands
The Dutch played their asses off against Sweden. I don't care how the next two games go, that was the best game of the tournament.
I couldn't decide if I was watching a really good game, or just a really even matchup. I tend to like more scoring, though.
NEDs finds a way to win and they play strong defense, but they got lucky a few times and I was really surprised the Swedes didn't score a couple when they had the chance.
Prediction: They will
This aged well (not /s).
I believe that we will win.
Who am I kidding? Everyone outside of the Netherlands and half he people in the Netherlands believe that we will win.
Can someone explain to me how the fuck the goddamned World Cup final is blacked out on DirecTV? The Mrs. is at her mother's and just called to make sure we had it at home and could record it because it is somehow blacked out there on DirecTV.
Well didn't score a goal in first 12 minutes, a first for the tournament.
This ref is.... Awful
Still waiting for a replay from the foul before the Dutch Breakaway.
Apparently we are facing the ghost of Tim Howard vs Belgium as well.
Right. Their keep is putting in work.
Rapino is not really giving us much of a chance with her worm burner corners today... Gotta get some air under those, she's just kicking right into the wall
Does TKP have flairs now? Did I miss something?
Edit: saw the meta post. Nice.
More importantly, this has been a solid game. Still frustrated about that top of the box foul on Lavelle going uncalled. Seemed obvious to me. Overall, I feel like we are the better side so far so I am calm.
We need to score more than they do!
This VAR could be huge
penalty ... Here we go!
GOAL!!!!!
RAPINOOOOOOOOOOOE
GOOOOOOOAAAALLLLL
ROSE!!!!!!
BOOM AGAIN
AGAIN!!
Oh, Tobin, that was yours
Rose Lavelle, my queen.
That ball handling and shot on goal was awesome.
Van De Sanden is mucho dangerous
Dunn passes that and Morgan has her 7th, but she should have scored anyway
So was looking at Pride game tickets and it just dawned on me the women's professional teams are playing during the World Cup? Why? Don't MLS teams take a break for World Cup play? So the best players and biggest name draws to NWSL games aren't there to play.
No MLS teams do not take a break either. It's due to American sporting leagues ignorance of the FIFA calendar. There are pretty designated dates for international games, tournaments, etc. MLS and NWSL dont stop because summer is prime season and they dont play in the winter, like England
It's pretty dumb. I agree. But in happier news for the NWSL, they did announce recently that their games and playoffs will be aired on ESPN in the coming weeks. That's a big step up in coverage for the league and women's professional soccer. Much better exposure than a random game on Lifetime once every 3 weeks.
Should I edit the OP or keep it for spoilers
I'd leave it as is, but your call
UnStoppAble!!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Great game, great tournament, very impressed that they withstood the pressure and did what they were expected to do.
Congrats USA!!!!
Great GK and great tourney for the NEDs. The pessimist in me was thinking they had a good shot since they've been stronger in the second half all tournament, but the US was relentless.
Naeher wasn't really challenged much, but when she was she made the right decisions
Glad Krieger got in, think she sparked them a little with some fresh energy on her side, O'Hara gave her all,
Ertz (had a great shot that was blocked), Sauerbrunn, Dahlkemper and Dunn were all solid (should have passed Crystal, but I would have gone for it too),
Mewis almost got a header in the first half, that would have been awesome, Press was all energy when she came in to close it out
Wish Alex Morgan had scored, that shot around the 40th minute first half was smoke but great save by GK
Pinoe gets player of the match? Sure ok, you get the boot, you score the game winner on PK, you get all the glory
Carli, thank you, hope you're there in 2023
Rose didn't have a great game in the first half offensively, but she was running down counter attacks like a madman, guess she was pacing herself and really showed up in the second half, happily surprised she ran well and finished the game - great goal that was really the play of the match
Olympics coming up, better bring that Gold home!
Huge sponsorship! Proud af of those women