2023 Women's World Cup

[Shadow]

It a bit easier to put a ball in a hoop that score a goal. I never understand why people cheer a basket, there's going to be another one in 30 seconds

It's not as easy as you might think, but it wouldn't be if you had sliding tackles.

[Shadow]

And you want them to keep playing and risk injury???

Like every other sport. Lord have mercy, we wouldn't want to have that. At least make the whole ball have to penetrate the goal for it to be a goal, not just a loose stitch.

[NogbadTheBad]

Erm, that is the rule

[NogbadTheBad]

It's not as easy as you might think, but it wouldn't be if you had sliding tackles.

NBA averages something like 2 baskets per minute whereas the English Premier League averages two and a half goals per game. Harder to score by a factor of 200!

[moecurlythanu]

^ I would have guessed .03 gpg in the EPL.

[NogbadTheBad]

^ I would have guessed .03 gpg in the EPL.

You would have been wrong

[thedunno]

https://nypost.com/2023/08/07/trump-...orld-cup-loss/

And this about a player who won the world cup, Olympic champion, many goals and a 17 year international career. She gave it her very best.

[spellbound]

Megan Rapinoe is awesome, something her deranged lunatic critic will never be.

[Hal...]

Like every other sport. Lord have mercy, we wouldn't want to have that.

You're really resistant to reason, aren't you? You also remind me of my brother, who watched soccer for the first time during the last WWC, and criticized the stoppage time rule and said it was stupid. I guess because they don't stop the clock like in American rules football.

At least make the whole ball have to penetrate the goal for it to be a goal, not just a loose stitch.

WTH are you talking about? The whole ball did cross the goal line. They even showed a graphic of it:

[Hal...]

And this about a player who won the world cup, Olympic champion, many goals and a 17 year international career. She gave it her very best.

True. And at one time, she was one of my two favorite players, along with Carli Lloyd. I still think Rapinoe's "Olimpico" in the 2012 Olympics is the third greatest goal I've ever seen by a US player. Here it is, if you've never seen it:



(BTW, she has two Olimpicos! And for those who don't know, an Olimpico is when the kicker scores on a corner kick)

But I questioned whether she should go to this WC. And after her performances, now think she shouldn't have; she looked flat. But this wouldn't be the first time I questioned coach Vlatko Andonovski's choices. I didn't think "Offside Alex" Morgan deserved to go, either.

--------------------

Anyway, here are two goals that are often labelled as the greatest in the WWC:

Abby Wambach's header in the 122nd minute(!) in the quarterfinal against Brazil in the 2011 WC. The US was down 2-1 in extra time. The ref was about to blow the whistle at any second and it looked like Brazil was going to win. Megan Rapinoe offers up the perfect cross, like she had (and has) so many times:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B4q6di-3fg (FIFA's blocking this from being posted, but it works on YouTube)


Here's my favorite, from the final against Japan in the 2015 WC.



The 16th minute and Carli Lloyd had a hat trick, something no one has done in a WC final, man or woman, before or since. That goal is my choice for #1.

[spellbound]

Those are some incredible goals. Thanks for posting them.

[Hal...]

Those are some incredible goals. Thanks for posting them.

Sure thing.

BTW, take a look at this:

3rd Most Memorable Women’s World Cup™ Moment*

I saw three of Japan's games prior to the final, including the quarter- and semi-final games and they were surgical in their passing, controlling time of possession. So, I didn't begrudge them their win. In fact, I actually watched everything after that game instead of turning the TV off, and even felt happy for them, something I never do when my team loses.

The next year, the US & Japan played in the gold medal game of the 2012 Olympics in England. The US won, 2-1, which wasn't terribly surprising. No team has ever won the WC and then won gold in the Olympics the following year.

So in that respect, 2015 was the real rematch. And then this happened:

4th Most Memorable Women’s World Cup™ Moment

Lloyd won the Golden Ball (best player), Silver Boot (second most goals scored), and Goal of the Tournament awards in that '15 WC. She actually had the same number of goals and assists as Celia Sasic of Germany but Sasic played less minutes in the tournament so she won the Golden Boot.

As mentioned, the US beat Japan 2-1 in the '12 Olympics. Lloyd was the only person to score for the US.

In the 2008 Olympics, the US beat Brazil 1-0 in the gold medal match. Take a wild guess who the only person to score was.

In the year leading up to the 2019 WC, the leading goal scorer for the US was – yep, you guessed it: Carli Lloyd.

So what did Jill Ellis, the coach of the US, do for the 2019 WC? Kept Lloyd on the bench and treated her as a "super sub". What a fucking genius.

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*That video mentioned over 15,000 deaths. The official report, released in 2021, stated there were 19,759 deaths and 2,553 people missing. You probably already know this but the 2011 Japanese earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake recorded – and it lasted six minutes! (Wikipedia)

[Hal...]

Here's the schedule for the quarterfinals, beginning Thursday night/Friday morning. All matches are being shown on Fox and all times are central.

Thursday: Spain vs Netherlands. 8pm
Friday: Japan vs Sweden. 2:30am

Saturday: Australia vs France. 2am
Saturday: England vs Colombia. 5:30am


I honestly can't see any clear favorites for each of those matches.

I have no opinion on Spain/Netherlands except to say that I'd guess Spain will dominate possession. Whether they can convert is another matter.

Japan/Sweden will probably be the tightest of the lot. Japan has great possession skills while Sweden has probably the stoutest defense. This one will probably be more like a chess match and I could see it ending 1-0 or even go into penalty kicks. Could be boring or it could be fascinating. I'm expecting the latter.

Australia/France could be a real offensive battle. France has scored 12 goals, so far, while Australia has scored 9, but without Sam Kerr, the scoring dynamo. She actually played last night but didn't start nor score. Not that they needed her, surprisingly. They played really well in their defeat of Denmark. But expect to see Kerr in this match. Whether she stars and/or scores remains to be seen. Regardless, they have home field advantage.

I expect England/Colombia to be somewhat chaotic. And if Colombia plays England the way Nigeria did, England is going to be in for some trouble because the England/Nigeria game went into PKs, which means England may have some tired legs. The more I think about it, the more I fear for England.


I'll watch all four but I expect the best games will be Japan/Sweden and Australia/France, which should be the most entertaining.

[spellbound]

Since I last posted, I watched and enjoyed these games:

Spain/Netherlands

Japan/Sweden

Australia/France (after staying up through the conclusion of that game, I could no longer stay awake for England/Colombia. Was it good?)

[Hal...]

Since I last posted, I watched and enjoyed these games:

Spain/Netherlands

Japan/Sweden

Australia/France (after staying up through the conclusion of that game, I could no longer stay awake for England/Colombia. Was it good?)

I thought the England/Colombia match was almost is good as Australia/France, which I thought was the best of the four. Fortunately, England won in regulation time 2-1. I don't think I could have taken another round of PKs. Man, that was stressful.

I accidentally saw a score this morning before I saw any of the games but didn't know which so I was thrilled Australia and England both won. Unfortunately, they're going to be meeting in the semi-final and I would have preferred to see them play in the final.

I'll be rooting for England, since they're my favorite team (along with the US). But if Australia wins, I won't be disappointed (they're my 3rd favorite). They really are a great team. Plus, I'd like to see the country lose its mind if the Matilda's win It all. lol

[Rarebird]

Please can we keep politics out of it?

I probably should hope England wins, because they have a Dutch coach.

[Shadow]

Spain 2-1 over Sweden. This is what happens when lesser teams advance on penalty kicks.

[NogbadTheBad]

If you are referring to Sweden, they are ranked 3rd in the world and got to the final 4 of the World Cup. They finished 3rd in 2019 & 2011. Not a lesser team. The USA under performed and subjected themselves to the lottery of the penalty shoot out. Get over it.

[Shadow]

If you are referring to Sweden, they are ranked 3rd in the world and got to the final 4 of the World Cup. They finished 3rd in 2019 & 2011. Not a lesser team. The USA under performed and subjected themselves to the lottery of the penalty shoot out. Get over it.

When you take an eleven on eleven game and make it one on one that's bullshit and doesn't always advance the better team.

[NogbadTheBad]

When you take an eleven on eleven game and make it one on one that's bullshit and doesn't always advance the better team.

Damn I'd never realized that! I'm shocked, shocked I tell ya!

Does the best team always win in all the other sports? Must make it awfully predictable.

[moecurlythanu]

Does the best team always win in all the other sports? Must make it awfully predictable.

C'mon, Ian. You know better than that. The best team in the NFL has been denied the championship more times than I can count, as a result of being sabotaged by the referees and League office.

[interbellum]

I hadn't seen a full game yet (too early in the morning for me), but England - Australia was a fine duel. Won't spoil the result, but I can tell there were some goals (and one beauty).

[Shadow]

C'mon, Ian. You know better than that. The best team in the NFL has been denied the championship more times than I can count, as a result of being sabotaged by the referees and League office.

Common sense speaks again. How many teams had the lights turned off in the super bowl to benefit the other team and viewer ratings.

[Hal...]

.

Here's an idea: if you don't like the rules of soccer, don't fuckin' watch it! And don't bring your negative bullshit here. In fact, just drop out of the thread already.

[per anporth]

Lauren Hemp's run, then the stunning "no look" reverse pass to Russo (who, by the way, finished brilliantly) - highlight of this World Cup for me.