U.S. Women Advance to WWC Semifinals

[Funketown]

I don't know if anybody caught the US Women's quarterfinal match against Brazil, but they just won an incredible match against Brazil. They tied it in the 121st minute and then won in PK's. Brazil's first goal was an abomination; a penalty that was saved by Hope Solo was ordered to be retaken despite no violation by Solo.

 

Big congratulations to the US Women's National Team.

[trwi7]

Both of Brazil's goals shouldn't have counted.

 

1. The PK that they were given was an iffy call at best.

 

2. After Solo saved the first PK they were awarded a second PK for Solo going off the line even though replays clearly showed she didn't.

 

3. Their second goal was offsides.

[endaround]

It wasn't for Solo leaving the line. One US player entered the back of the box right as the kick was taken and encroachment was called. Its almost never called that close.

[Jimbo]

Yes, an exciting match to watch. Glad I stuck around to the end.

[sbrylski]

It was an insane match. I was more jacked up watching this one than the USA Men's - Algeria game.

[tristarscoop]

I was at The Highbury, a soccer bar in Bay View and it was so much fun to watch that game with a group of soccer-loving folk. The place went absolutely bonkers with Wambach's header.

 

I've played soccer for 20 years and it's amazing to see how many people are watching and wrapped up in this team.

 

Until Wambach equalized the game, I was saying that this was the type of game that people who hate soccer point to as a reason why. The diving and the whining and the poor refereeing - it could have been a real ugly story of FIFA.

[Funketown]

It wasn't for Solo leaving the line. One US player entered the back of the box right as the kick was taken and encroachment was called. Its almost never called that close.

That makes more sense, but I'm still pretty surprised it was called. The Brazilian (Erika?) who literally sprinted off of her stretcher should be ashamed of herself.

 

It seems to me like the officiating at the last couple FIFA World Cups has been significantly worse than the officiating you see at a mid-table premier league game. I watched a lot of Premier League football this last winter, and I can't recall this kind of garbage occurring very often.

[stoutdude04]

I do not watch soccer often...however I did watch the end of this game. I could not believe the Brazilian girl who acted hurt and then stormed back onto the field. That is the kind of stuff that makes the game almost unwatchable. There were a lot of dives and some odd calls.

[tristarscoop]

The Brazilian (Erika?) who literally sprinted off of her stretcher should be ashamed of herself.

Of course, we scored in the stoppage time that existed because of her theatrics.

Not that I'm legitimizing what she did, just saying that the delicious karma of it is pretty great.

[FVBrewerFan]

Both of Brazil's goals shouldn't have counted.

 

1. The PK that they were given was an iffy call at best.

 

2. After Solo saved the first PK they were awarded a second PK for Solo going off the line even though replays clearly showed she didn't.

 

3. Their second goal was offsides.

 

2nd goal was offside for sure. Exactly why every goal in World Cup and Olympics should use replay. Tehre are so few goals scored in a match, just makes sense to make sure and review every one of them. Would only take a couple minutes, well worth it.

 

I don't think the PK was questionable. She definitely "took her out" in the box. PK for sure in my opinion. Only question is yellow or red card, and the the red card could go either way.

 

 

 

[jason21nl]

by take her out do you mean they both jumped up and fell down? because that's what looked like happened.

[Menotti80]

It wasn't for Solo leaving the line. One US player entered the back of the box right as the kick was taken and encroachment was called. Its almost never called that close.

 

then why was Solo given a yellow card?

[tristarscoop]

I disagree that it should have been a card in the box. As a former referee, I wouldn't have called it. Once she chose to leave her feet, she was no longer in control of herself and its difficult to call a foul in that instance when the player is wild. She didn't dive, exactly, but she definitely put herself in the best position to draw the foul.

 

Solo got the yellow card for dissent. She, rightly so, questioned what the hell was going on.

[patrickgpe]

honestly, the women haven't finished less than 3rd in the history of the cup, so i don't see this as a big deal. I am not a soccer fan but if the men made a run to the semi's I may be more interested, as they have never won it.

[Baldkin]

A big 3-1 victory today over France, with two late goals. US moving on to the Finals, which will be played on Sunday.

 

Anyone know a soccer bar in Madison?

[FVBrewerFan]

There's a restauarant/bar owned by a British guy, famous for big gatherings for Olympics, World Cup, British Premiere Leugue,etc. One problem....can't remember the name for the life of me.

[yoshii8]

Hawks on State St. is a good soccer bar. My friend told me there were around 50 people watching the game today.

[sbrylski]

I also recommend Hawks.

[Eck17]

What a World Cup final! Crazy drama on both sides. The United States choked away 2 leads with less then 10 minutes left. But at least it was very exciting to watch.

[Baldkin]

A sad result for the ladies. They squandered about 15 good opportunities in the first 20 minutes, and then got a beautiful first goal (on another beautiful ball by Rapinoe). They really should've been up 2 or 3 at that point.

 

They completely stopped playing the ball wide, which seemed to generate a scoring chance every time they did. The US had no business losing the game.

[trwi7]

Marry me, Alex Morgan.

[danzig6767]

Two questions for the soccer fans out there

 

Why do they decide the Wold Cup in such a lame fashion as penalty kicks?

 

I almost never watch soccer, but watched a few of these US women's games, including the loss to Japan. They play this super exciting game, time runs out and it's tied 2-2. Instead of continuing on, the World Cup is basically decided on how often a goalie can guess correctly. Guess before the shot as to whether the person kicking the ball will kick left or right, then just dive in the direction of the guess. Obviously there is a little more to it than that, but basically the goalie is just guessing and if they guess right, they have a good chance at a save. Why not just keep playing instead until someone scores a real goal vs deciding the most important event in soccer on something so gimmicky?

 

Yea, those playing must be exhausted after 120 minutes, but tired athletes in sports generally leads to mistakes and someone eventually would score the winning goal. It would be like the Stanley Cup being decided in the 7th game on penalty shots instead of a real goal because the players are tired or the game is going on to long. That would be ridiculous.

 

My other question is, once the original 90 minutes ended up tied 1-1, why the hell isn't it then sudden death, next goal wins? It seems beyond silly to play 30 more minutes, have one team score to just take the lead, not win, but keep going which lead to the other team tying the game yet again. Then the game gets decided on the gimmicky penalty kicks scenario vs having the excitement robbed of a team scoring a winning goal in sudden death OT.

 

Just bizarre rules IMO.

 

FWIW, before anyone may say, well the US should have simply held on for 3 more minutes and it's a moot point, i get that. That doesn't change that the rules still strike me as stupid.

[FVBrewerFan]

Common complaints, and I don't entirely disagree. "Sudden death" is commonly used in soccer, just not in the World Cup. It's referred to the "Golden Goal." Personally, I agree that it should be used in the World Cup.

 

Shoot-outs hare hard to defend too, other than it's been part of the game for a long, long time. There does come a point in a match where the length of the game gets ridiculous. Common complaint is the game is too long and boring for casual American fans, so I don't think extending the match indefintely would help.

 

Probably the best solution would be to add two 15 minute period, and use Golden Goal. Chances are somebody scores i nthat time, but if not you go to shoot-outs.

[Funketown]

I've really started enjoying soccer since the 2010 World Cup, but I pretty much agree with the criticism of the penalty shootout. It just doesn't seem like a logical way to conclude the biggest matches on the world stage. I would rather see them give each team another substitute for each of two 30 (15+15) minute golden-goal extra time periods. Heck, give them two subs for each period. I don't like penalty shootouts, even when my team wins.

 

FWIW, the International Ice Hockey Federation only plays a 10 minute OT period, 4 v 4, before going into a shootout to decide games in the Olympics and the World Championships. I hate that as well, but it's more understandable given that during the Olympics players are on break from the NHL. I'd still like to see the World Championships decided with sudden death until the games finish.

 

I know there has been a lot of criticism for the US in the penalty kicks, especially Carli Lloyd who lofted her kick over the net, and I think a lot of it is unwarranted. I don't think people who don't watch much soccer understand that it's not that uncommon for players to miss the net; the difference between a perfect strike and putting it over can be as little as striking the ball a centimeter higher or lower. In the Men's World Cup, Ghana had a chance to advance on a penalty kick awarded in a tie game in the ~120th minute. I believe it was Jonathan Mensah or Asamoah Gyan who took the kick, and the ball sailed over the Uruguayan keeper and the net. Nicholas Anelka put a ball off the post in a shootout in the Champions League final a few years ago. It's not unprecedented for these things to occur and I feel horrible for Carli Lloyd about that missed penalty.

[Baldkin]

When I played in HS, at smaller tournaments, overtimes were two x 10 minutes and you played 10v10, no goalkeeper (you could put someone in the net, but they couldn't use their hands).

 

That would be a crazy thing to do on the world stage, but I could see them going to something like 8vs8 in a second OT, then penalty kicks after that. Who knows.