Women's World Cup

[Stout]

Great karate kick finish to seal it at 2-0. Awesome win, and on to the final. I hope it's England--that would be a fun game to watch.

Where in the hell was Solo on the play that resulted in the penalty. That ball was lofted in there and I kept waiting for her to charge forward and pluck it from the air with ease. I think Johnson did too, which is why she was caught off-guard. I mean, 10 times out of 10, that's the keeper's ball. WTF, Solo? Is it because she hasn't had much to do in this tourney?

 

[cardfaninfl]

Great karate kick finish to seal it at 2-0. Awesome win, and on to the final. I hope it's England--that would be a fun game to watch.

Where in the hell was Solo on the play that resulted in the penalty. That ball was lofted in there and I kept waiting for her to charge forward and pluck it from the air with ease. I think Johnson did too, which is why she was caught off-guard. I mean, 10 times out of 10, that's the keeper's ball. WTF, Solo? Is it because she hasn't had much to do in this tourney?

Kelley O'Hara's finish was great, and her back step during Lloyd's run caused the defender to lose O'Hara from her line of sight. That was brilliant. You could tell that run, cross, finish combination was practiced by those two over-and-over.

Hard to blame Solo on the penalty. The ball initially landed about 5 yards outside the box. It just took a goofy turf-bounce, high and deep into the penalty area. By the time Hope recognized the trajectory, the ball was too far away with too many bodies for an aggressive charge. Its really one of those 1/3 blame on Johnson for assuming that blocking the attacker would delay enough for help, 1/3 blame on the other 3 defenders for not coming in (with a much better angle) to clear the ball, and maybe a little more than 1/3 on Solo for not communicating with her back-line. I think everyone was just plain fooled into laziness by the weak loft, then panicked by the speed and distance of the bounce.

Morgan selling the foul (that was awarded the penalty) was really brave. To do it, she knew a hard fall on the fuzzy concrete was needed. That rug burn is gonna leave a mark.

 

[Zeno]

Great karate kick finish to seal it at 2-0. Awesome win, and on to the final.

I hope for England too, Japan beat us last time around.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

USA got a lot of luck in that game. I immediately yelled 'Oh no, red card' for Johnston. I'm still not sure that it wasn't. The Morgan penalty that wasn't definitely helped as well.

Throw in the fact that Germany came at us like gangbusters for the first 5-10 minutes, I felt the USA Belgium/Germany WC games all over again.

With that said, USA was the better team for at least 60-70 minutes of the match. We completely dominated the midfield for once. We didn't deserve to win 2-0, but we did deserve at least 1-0.

A lot was made of Germany's goal scoring prowess, but the fact that they scores half of their goals against one opponent was overlooked. Their offense was pretty much non-existent. I don't see any team scoring against us unless it is a set piece.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Hard to blame Solo on the penalty. The ball initially landed about 5 yards outside the box. It just took a goofy turf-bounce, high and deep into the penalty area. By the time Hope recognized the trajectory, the ball was too far away with too many bodies for an aggressive charge. Its really one of those 1/3 blame on Johnson for assuming that blocking the attacker would delay enough for help, 1/3 blame on the other 3 defenders for not coming in (with a much better angle) to clear the ball, and maybe a little more than 1/3 on Solo for not communicating with her back-line. I think everyone was just plain fooled into laziness by the weak loft, then panicked by the speed and distance of the bounce.

Agreed. At least 2/3 of the blame goes to Johnston. She easily could have headed the ball to Solo or away for the corner, but she didn't realize that she didn't have time to do so and then she let the ball hit the ground again, really inexcusable and committed the red card. I'm going to call it a red card because that's what it should have been.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

We have to wait all the way until Sunday to see this team play again?

I didn't get to see the game last night, but I'm excited for Sunday!

 

[Ronin]

I didn't get to see the game last night, but I'm excited for Sunday!

 

[Lorenzo]

Well I agree the USA got some luck on both penalties but you didn't leave the game feeling they deserved to lose and Germany got screwed. If you ask me Germany Was a little lucky to beat France and after playing 120 mins expecting to beat a fresh USA team was asking a lot.

The usa were the superior team from start to finish. They withstood the high pressure from Germany early by allowing their defenders to build the play from the back. Then they brilliantly ran wild at germany for 20 mins. The Germans tried to match the pace, but were out of gas by that point. from that point on germany basically backed off and allowed the usa to dictate the pace and settled for counter attacks which is a sign they were overmatched.

As far as the penalty I felt that was a 5-10 min period in the second half where Germany were getting more of the ball. It was a dangerous ball played in that just took a bad bounce. In live motion I didn't even see a clear foul. The replay was obvious and should have been a red, but that would be tough to see in live motion. The USA were better off not to foul and let the German player have a difficult finish. The penalty was a better chance for them and they missed. The Morgan penalty was lucky. It was a borderline foul at best and should have been out of the box. I'm glad they scored a second goal to seal it and validate their performance. By that point Germany should have been equalizing and at no point did they look capable.

 

[Stout]

Agreed. At least 2/3 of the blame goes to Johnston. She easily could have headed the ball to Solo or away for the corner, but she didn't realize that she didn't have time to do so and then she let the ball hit the ground again, really inexcusable and committed the red card. I'm going to call it a red card because that's what it should have been.

See, I didn't view it that way. I saw a defender get caught flatfooted when she clearly thought--as I thought--that Solo was going to come for the ball. Granted, even if Solo should have come for the ball, Johnston should have been prepared.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Oh, England.

 

[jw7]

Oh, England.

Yeah. Losing is one thing. Losing on an own goal has to be devastating. Feel bad for that woman.

 

[ajcardfan]

Yeah. Losing is one thing. Losing on an own goal has to be devastating. Feel bad for that woman.

If she was Colombian her life would be in danger.

Unfortunately for myself, the clearest memory I have of my own play in soccer is an own goal I did to my team. It was far from the stakes of the World Cup, but it was just awful to know you screwed your teammates with a mistake like that.

 

[Zeno]

If she was Colombian her life would be in danger.

Unfortunately for myself, the clearest memory I have of my own play in soccer is an own goal I did to my team. It was far from the stakes of the World Cup, but it was just awful to know you screwed your teammates with a mistake like that.

When I was coaching I had a kid score 3 own goals in one game...if they weren't such mind blowing flukes you would have thought they were intentional. We ended up drawing that game 3-3...he was one of my more steady defenders, rarely panicked, always seemed to be in the right place but he had awful luck that day.

 

[Stout]

Yeah. Losing is one thing. Losing on an own goal has to be devastating. Feel bad for that woman.

I had to go check it out after reading this. Wow, just wow. She was absolutely sobbing afterwards, and no wonder. True, she was a stalwart for the team, and England wouldn't have made it that far without her, but this will haunt her forever. How can it not? She'll get past it and play back up to her talent level, but she'll carry it as mental baggage for the rest of her life.

 

[Cardsfanstl]

I had to go check it out after reading this. Wow, just wow. She was absolutely sobbing afterwards, and no wonder. True, she was a stalwart for the team, and England wouldn't have made it that far without her, but this will haunt her forever. How can it not? She'll get past it and play back up to her talent level, but she'll carry it as mental baggage for the rest of her life.

The image of her laying facedown on the ground watching the ball go into the goal was just devastating. Almost as bad as when the game ended she was crying and being consoled by the coach and teammates. Felt so bad for her.

 

[Cardsfanstl]

When I was coaching I had a kid score 3 own goals in one game...if they weren't such mind blowing flukes you would have thought they were intentional. We ended up drawing that game 3-3...he was one of my more steady defenders, rarely panicked, always seemed to be in the right place but he had awful luck that day.

I played defense and an opponent had a breakaway so I did what I had to and took him out not realizing I was in the penalty area. Received a yellow card and they socred on the PK. Oh did I mention I was 14 and it was the City/County championship game and we lost 3-2.

 

[Zeno]

Did any of you watch the post match interview with the England coach? He was barely able to hold back the tears. What a devastating way to lose.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Did any of you watch the post match interview with the England coach? He was barely able to hold back the tears. What a devastating way to lose.

Yeah I saw that. It was pretty awesome to see true emotion come out like that.

 

[Lorenzo]

I saw the ending to that game. Was just stating to think wow the USA is going to get another tired opponenent in the final and then the own goal happened. It was hard to believe. England should have won.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Did any of you watch the post match interview with the England coach? He was barely able to hold back the tears. What a devastating way to lose.

Was it because they lost or because he felt bad for his player who had the own-goal? Or both?

 

[Ronin]

All of the fox analyst pick USA to win the game! Go USA!

 

[Zeno]

Was it because they lost or because he felt bad for his player who had the own-goal? Or both?

Both would be my guess. Engalnd deserved to win and just were undone by bad luck.

 

[Zeno]

My prediction 2-0 U.S. Champs again finally.

 

[Ronin]

Yessssssssssssssss!

 

[Ronin]

Lloyd again! 2-0!