NFT: WWC Semifinal--USA vs. Germany

Paul: agree on the non-call on Krahn manhandling of Rapinoe, that was an easy yellow and quite inconsistent with the yellow Sauerbrunn "earned", not.

FMiC: agree--as much as I was disheartened to see Wambach off the bench, it made sense and worked out: Rapinoe is a game changer with her ball skills, savvy, creativity, and high intensity style, but she had expended a lot and she was wasted.

Jeffrey: "a mature version of China", good way of putting it, and their size differential goes to my comment that Wambach may be a good situational sub later in the game, but a mistake to go back to the tactics in Group play. England has been impressive, Carney, Houghton, Chapman, Jill ? (the tall drink of water), they're a blue collar, lunchpail group. Also, their keeper, Bardsley (?), is very good, I think she plays with a West Coast college, maybe Santa Clara, 4th best keeper in the tournament, imo, after Solo, Angerer, Bouhadda (?) French, and ahead of the China keeper

I think it was Meier who had the egregious take down of Rapinoe, kicking her way up on the thigh after the ball was gone. If I'm not mistaken, she already had a yellow and may be the reason the ref didn't want to issue another yellow resulting in a red. But, shortly after that, someone else gave anice forearm shiver to the back of Rapinoe's neck, after what appears to be incidental contact on the back of her head. That may be the one you were referring to.

The play where Morgan was dragged down in the box, in my opinion, was more egregious. She was being held before she got the ball while she had the ball and it caused her to lose the ball. the whole sequence was a good 10 seconds, which should have stood out to the officials and was constant. It was not a subtle hold, grab, or takedown.

On the other hand, we may have gotten away with one when Johnston didn't get the red. We also got away with some other questionable tackles. Overall, I think it pretty much evened out. The officials tried to let them play as much as possible. there were a few occasions, for both sides, where a card looked obvious and the official opted to give them a talking to instead.

thread by posting on it, so there! lol

But I agree with each comment made by the FatOne, and Swirling Eddie to boot....

Paul, I'm with you: I don't know if the competing networks won't hire Ian Darke because of age, contractual restrictions, or what--I thought he did some of the USMNT matches in WC Qualifiers, but it's beneath him to saddle his expertise with the drudgery of the USMNT.

and as to chris r' comment over there, ignorance is bliss, but it was a very stupid statement and did seem a gender attack. Last night was flat out good football, entertainment, and drama.

If you took away her tatoos, Sydney Leroux is the one for me. there are some other cuties on both teams, but as a whole, I think the German team looks a whole lot scarier.

Agreed about your last comment. last night's match was just excellent soccer. It was one of the better matches I've watched in a while, for either gender. It was like watching a prize fight in boxing with two sluggers duking it out.

compared to the mens game makes it much more watchable for this casual fan

(chris r) has become a caricature of himself. A person who takes the opposite side of a topic just to be a dick.

Glad others are finally calling his stupidity out.

USA, USA, USA!!

Signed Beerman

thank you for the well wishes. (:

One accomplishment of last night is that it sets up the expectations Sunday for the USWNT sky high, certainly a prohibitive favorite. Can the women deal with this? There was a piece in NYT this AM that this group is so tired of playing under the shadow of the 1999 team (and, Beerman, we owe you for the poster who put up Brandi Chastain's iconic pic).

Actually, I think I will make a post over there, something just occurred to me.

i was referring to the take down by Meier. I actually thought the "forearm shiver" to Rapinoe's head was an exagerration by Rapinoe, lol.

Radar, I take it you don't watch college football or college basketball, then.

In other news, the match got a 6.1 overnight rating, which is huge.

In comment 12350666 PaulBlakeTSU said:

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they looked great last night with that formation, but it was a similar formation to what soccer fans have been clamoring for all tournament. The backline is playing tremendously well, with a huge out-of-nowhere boost from Johnston, who only made the team because of Rampone's injury. I do think it must be incredibly hard for her to deal with the appeal of players like Wambach, and the knowledge of what's best for the team moving forward.

Excellent points about the team and the coach. Now that they have had success everyone is coming out of the woodwork to say that the coach was wrongly criticized. I do not agree. The coach has been criticized for very valid reasons and not just by casual fans here at BBI an on other sites. She has been criticized by many long-time and credible soccer commentators, coaches and ex-national team players for her line-up and formation. Feel free to disagree but do not dismiss the criticisms as invalid.

Now Paul is raising an equally valid point in that Ellis may have been trying to deal with the Goliath that is the legacy of 1999 and the accomplishments of several legends in the world of women's soccer who are now past their prime. It is no simple problem and not easily done without fostering a revolt between old and new. I am sure that other coaches in other sports have wrestled with the same issue, including Girardi, Coughlin and whomever is the current coach of the Knicks.

So let's not diminish the magnitude of the problem faced by Ellis in this World Cup and her challenge to place a competent and winning team on the field without being viewed as disrespecting veteran stars. Yet the fact remains that she made some very questionable decisions in the buildup to the World Cup, by mouthing support for a new possession style game, while continuing to limit her roster unnecessarily to a combination of proven, though aging veterans no longer (and in some instances never) capable of playing the style Ellis wanted to implement.

Unlike Klinsman who has a revolving door over the past year to bring in new blood and intermix it with established veterans, Ellis chose to virtually stand pat with a relatively fixed roster for most of the year. Clearly talented but not necessarily the best combination of matching parts for the speed/possession approach.Recall that Julie Johnston, a candidate for MVP on this team was an injury addition to the roster and but for that fact would not be in the match or on the bench.

Ultimately who cares what happened or why. Hopefully, Ellis has successfully broken with the chains of the past and can proceed with her team and her professed style of play.

Long service to a Japanese forward to burned behind the England line and was pushed outside the box, but the ref gave a yellow and called it inside and a PK and Miyama put it away.

I wish soccer would use a review system to determine if a foul was inside our outside the box. Two nights in a row, refs messed up in awarding PKs that should not have been because the players were outside the box. And goals are too precious in soccer to award PKs on bad judgment that can so quickly and easily be verified.

and now a player on England just dove in the box, getting a bush league PK.

1-1

were highly questionable.

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Poor England :(

what shitty commentary. It was like the announcers weren't sure if it was a goal. They treated it like a situation in the 4th minute of a first round game.

What a horrid way to lose.

How devastating. I feel so sad right now

.

With virtually no time left and a 1-1 score

In comment 12352293 Pete in VA said:

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own goal, Japan wins

for that young woman. I feel terribly for her. What a nightmare.

Hopefully the US mops the fuckin floor with Japan.

pass it to the goalie? Deflection?

And clear the ball

It will be a tough game, I think

awful way to lose. She won't be able to sleep comfortably for a long time.

In comment 12352309 Bill L said:

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It will be a tough game, I think

Fuck Japan.

Hi Bill.

But I still think they will be tough

it ends Sunday. Revenge.

Not this time. The US ladies need to smell blood in the water on this one. Finish them.

In comment 12352336 Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy said:

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awful way to lose. She won't be able to sleep comfortably for a long time.

At least Pablo Escobar isn't around...

but I think we match up really well. The alignment we used the past 2 games has put a ton of pressure on. The Japanese play a patient game and look to counter which normally can do well against an attacking squad, but our back line has played so well that it will make it real tough on them if we keep the pressure on.

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It's time for 2011 redemption. The girls
Must be happy about this opportunity.

The Japanese use a very disciplined approach indicative of a team that has played together for a longer time. They make quick and decisive passes and their players play excellent positional soccer knowing where and when to make their runs. The final moments of last night's game , as sad as it was for the English player, were created solely by the Japanese style of play and a great pass into the box that literally left the English defense with no choice bu to try to kick it out for a corner. Even had it succeeded the Japanese would have had an opportunity to score in the final seconds.

If the Americans use their size and their speed, while continuing to maintain a stout defense in the back with the four on the back line plus Morgan Brian the game should go well. If they break down in their formation or leave too much space between midfield and the defense as they did earlier in the tournament, this is what the Japanese exploit.

Love her

In comment 12354869 MookGiants said:

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Love her

Don't care much for the ink but the "2" is strategically placed between the two.