2023 Women's World Cup

[Hal...]

The Women's WC begins this Thursday with co-host New Zealand taking on Norway (3am ET) and co-host Australia taking on Ireland (6am ET).

Don't really have a dog in the fight wrt NZ-Nor but it may be a good game.

Australia - Ireland should be a good game if IRL can contain Sam Kerr, who's just about the best player in the world, right now.

Another game that may interest some of you is Canada - Nigeria. Canada should be playing well after winning gold at the Olympics.

The three matches I'm most interested in this opening weekend:

US - Vietnam, which should be a blow out. I'm mainly interested in seeing how the US plays their opening match.

Japan - Zambia. Really looking forward to see how Japan fares this WC.

England - Haiti. I'm mainly interested in seeing how England plays their opening match.

I could not have been happier that the Lionesses won the Euro last summer and I'm betting they'll be in the final this WC (I think I may be rooting for them over the US). Still, they're without their two most potent strikers: Her Majesty Ellen White, who retired, and Beth Mead, who was Player of the Tournament, Golden Boot winner, and Top Assist Provider at the Euros. Also missing are Fran Kirby, Leah Williamson, Ebony Salmon, and Nikita Parris. However, they still have a plethora of talent, including Lucy Bronze (the best right back in the world), Georgia Stanway (one of the best midfielders in the world), Lauren Hemp (who's superb at crosses), Keira Walsh (one of the two best 6's in the world), Chloe Kelly, and Rachel Daly, who's finally now playing as a forward where she belongs.



I have no prediction on who the other team in the final will be. I'd wager it will come down to either Germany (#2) or the US (#1), who's missing arguably the best forward in the world for the last year when she tore her patella tendon in a friendly against Ireland:



As you can see, her kneecap is missing.


As for any other teams, I think Canada (#7) is a real good possibility. They're playing tough.

Speaking of which, how are England, who won the Euros last summer, and Canada, who won gold at the 2020 Olympics, ranked 4th and 7th respectively???

Sweden (#3) could get in, too.

I don't think France (#5) or Spain (#6) have much of a chance, given what's been going on with management.

The other four teams that make up the top 11:

Australia (#10). There are quite a few players whose names I don't recognize but two things they have going for them are home field advantage and Sam Kerr. Can't count them out.

Brazil (#8) is always a threat.

I don't think the Netherlands (#9) is gonna have much of a chance with Vivienne Miedema being out. Not that she's the whole team, but she is one of the best strikers in the world.

I saw Japan (#11) play in the She Believes Cup in February and they did reasonably well, finishing 2nd and beating out Canada and Brazil due to point differential. One of the things that always gives Japan a chance is their control of the ball, which is usually the best in the world. They're tough to beat. But they also tend not to score all that much.


I'm really looking forward to this WWC. Anyone else?

[markwoll]

The last few I have seen are better on average than the men's competition.
The teams seem to go at it harder than the men's.
Less time killing, strategy stuff.
It's hard to make soccer less exciting, but the men's teams do that IMHO.
We usually watch at work. The boss coaches girls soccer and his daughter plays, so It's On.

[interbellum]

Who would have thought it would happen: VS-The Netherlands 1:1

[Hal...]

Who would have thought it would happen: US-The Netherlands 1:1

I thought The Netherlands outplayed the US in the first half. Other than when they were mugging Savannah DeMelo. How many fouls did NED commit against her?

Van de Donk's tackle of Lindsey Horan was unnecessary, imo. Lindsey's lucky her knee wasn't hyperextended. I know it really pissed Lindsey off, especially since they're teammates at Lyon and are also friends, as well. But it came back to bite NED in the ass when Lindsey scored. Talk about revenge.

It was heartwarming to see the two of them talking and smiling after the game.

[moecurlythanu]

What channel is carrying this?

[spellbound]

Watched the US vs Netherlands game. It happened to be on when I turned on the idiot box, and I watched all that was left of the game. Didn't notice what channel it was on, but we only have broadcast TV, so one of those. Hope they show more WWC games.

[interbellum]

I thought The Netherlands outplayed the US in the first half. Other than when they were mugging Savannah DeMelo. How many fouls did NED commit against her?

Van de Donk's tackle of Lindsey Horan was unnecessary, imo. Lindsey's lucky her knee wasn't hyperextended. I know it really pissed Lindsey off, especially since they're teammates at Lyon and are also friends, as well. But it came back to bite NED in the ass when Lindsey scored. Talk about revenge.

It was heartwarming to see the two of them talking and smiling after the game.

Interesting view. I only saw the highlights of the game (it was live on Dutch tv from 4:00 AM!) which didn't show the fouls. I did see a short comment from the Dutch coach who said the referee should have given both teams a yellow card sooner, because it was too hard on both sides. But I guess the US-team is so much more fysically trained other teams can only use fouls to keep up.

[Hal...]

What channel is carrying this?

Fox and FS1. I don't think FS2 has shown any.

[moecurlythanu]

^ Thx.

[Hal...]

Here's the schedule and channels for the next few days of some important matches; all times Central.

Today:
England vs Denmark. FS1. 9:30am

Tomorrow (7/29):
Sweden vs Italy. FS1. 2:30am
France vs Brazil. Fox. 5:00am. This should be a hell of a match and both are fighting to be #1 in Group F.

Sunday (7/30):
Germany v Colombia. FS1. 4:30am

Monday (7/31):
Japan vs Spain. Fox. 2:00am
Canada vs Australia. Fox. 5:00am

Tuesday (8/1):
Portugal vs United States. Fox. 2:00am
Vietnam vs Netherlands. FS1. 2:00am (9:00am Central European Summer Time)
China vs England. Fox. 6:00am.

Wednesday (8/2):
Argentina vs Sweden. Fox. 2:00am

I posted these because England, Sweden, France, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Spain, Canada, Australia, the US, and the Netherlands should all end up in the Round of 16, which begins Friday, August 4.

Incidentally, if you're wondering why the matches are late at night/early in the morning, it's because the WWC is being hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

[Hal...]

As for the quarterfinals, I think these will be the teams that make it, none of which should come as a surprise:

Brazil
England
Germany
Japan
Ned
Sweden
USA

I don't know who the eighth team will be but I'm certain it will come down to either Australia, Canada, or France, probably in that order. I'm hoping Australia because, well... Sam Kerr.

The semifinals are much more difficult to say. So far, from what I've seen, these are the strongest teams (in descending order):

Germany
Brazil
Japan
Tie: US, Ned

I'd love to see England make it but I'm not sure they have what it takes, due to some injuries. Still, their opening match showed a lot of potential and they have arguably the best right back in the world (Lucy Bronze), possibly the best winger in the world (Lauren Hemp), and one of the best midfielders in the world (Georgia Stanway). They're just missing one of the three best (imo) forwards in the world (Beth Mead).

Once Sam Kerr is added to the lineup, I expect Australia to become a contender, since Kerr is probably just about the best women's footballer in the world, right now. She's a scoring beast. She just hasn't played, yet, because of a mild injury sustained during training.

The US has some strong players but I'm not sure they're gelling right now, one keeps making stupid mistakes (Crystal Dunn), and another I find questionable (Andi Sullivan). Plus, they're missing one of the best, most experienced center backs in the world (Becky Sauerbrunn), one of the best midfielders in the world (Sam Mewis), as well as one of the three or four best (imo) forwards in the world (Mallory Swanson).

If you're wondering who the best forwards are, here's the shortlist, in descending order – imo:

Sam Kerr - Australia
Beth Mead - England (out)
Tie: Mallory Swanson - USA (out), Sophia Smith - USA
Vivienne Miedema - Netherlands (out)
Alexandra Popp - Germany

I'd be remiss in not mentioning Debinha, Ary, and Kerolin, all of whom have been playing really well in the NWSL and all of whom are starting for Brazil. They're also very dangerous.

But back to the US. The best players they have on the team – all of whom are some of the best in the world – and who have played in this WC so far are Sophia Smith (forward), Rose Lavelle (midfielder and best dribbler in the world), Lindsey Horan (midfielder), Julie Ertz (center back), Naomi Girma (center back), and Emily Fox (right back).

Alex Morgan, who's always championed as one of the best forwards in the history of women's football is – imo – one of the most overrated players in the history of women's football. That's not to say she doesn't have some talent; she ranks 8th all time for most goals. She's also quite fast. Her strengths, however, are that she can be good at providing crucial passes (though she doesn't have many assists) and more importantly pulls defenders away, creating space and lanes for her teammates. As for scoring, I saw a nickname for her not too long ago that I thought was funny: Offside Alex. She's also usually nowhere to be found when it comes to clutch scoring.

Conversely, Sophia Smith seems to be able to dribble through defenders on her way to scoring (I still don't know how she does it; she must have the kind of leg strength you see with NFL RBs), which she does a lot of, and Mal Swanson is the most unselfish forward I've ever seen. Last year, Morgan, Smith, and Swanson were all finalists for MVP in the NWSL. I voted for Swanson because, even though she didn't have as many goals as Morgan or Smith, she had twice as many assists as Smith and 3x as many as Morgan. Indeed, if you excluded penalty kicks (Morgan had five, Smith had three) and just looked at scoring impact (goals + assists), Swanson topped the list, playing two or three less games! If I were a manager of a soccer team, I'd much rather have a forward like Swanson, who maybe doesn't score as many goals but has nearly as many assists. That, to me, is an MVP.


FYI, Swanson is married to the Cubs' SS Dansby Swanson and Julie Ertz is married to the former Eagle and current Cardinals' TE Zack Ertz.

[Hal...]

Interesting view. I only saw the highlights of the game (it was live on Dutch tv from 4:00 AM!) which didn't show the fouls.

I thought at first it was a foul but when I saw the replay, it looked like a legit tackle. It was a hard tackle tho, which is why Horan was down for a few minutes and why she was pissed.

I did see a short comment from the Dutch coach who said the referee should have given both teams a yellow card sooner, because it was too hard on both sides.

I really don't know what's going on with refs not booking people. The US played Ireland this past spring in a friendly. Ireland played more like it was the WC final and it's what put Swanson out (see the photo in my first post). In fact, the Ireland games I've seen in this WC have all been pretty rough.

I thought for sure someone was going to get seriously injured in that US - Ned game. As I mentioned previously, DeMelo was fouled by Ned 4 or 5, maybe 6 times (I lost count). One time, a Ned player pulled DeMelo down by her ponytail. They finally backed off when she started fighting back and threw an elbow to get a player off of her.

And there have been some really bad, hard tackles and fouls in other games, as well. Vietnam played the US even harder than Ned did. New Zealand-Norway was rough, from what I recall, and Argentina-Italy (I think) was especially tough, from what I heard.

I think it mostly has to do with the individual ref. Some are quick to book and others seem not to want to book at all. But I could be wrong about that.

Here's what's stupid about going easy on players, tho: some of the refs seem to be treating it like a men's game and letting them play rough. The problem is that women are much more likely to sustain an ACL injury than men, due to the physique of women. I just heard a whole segment about it on the radio. And an ACL tear will put a player out for 9-12 months. Christen Press sustained one in June '22 and has still not fully recovered.

As much as we'd like our women to be tough and indestructible, they just aren't, because they're women and their skeletal structures are different than men's. That doesn't take away from the women's game, imo. It just means more care needs to be taken.

But I guess the US-team is so much more fysically trained other teams can only use fouls to keep up.

I've wondered about that.

One thing they could do to curtail a lot (or most) of the rough play is to add a monetary element to the Fair Play award. Give each player on a team who wins the award an extra €50,000 (or more) to their prize money. Might work.

[interbellum]

I thought at first it was a foul but when I saw the replay, it looked like a legit tackle. It was a hard tackle tho, which is why Horan was down for a few minutes and why she was pissed.


I really don't know what's going on with refs not booking people. The US played Ireland this past spring in a friendly. Ireland played more like it was the WC final and it's what put Swanson out (see the photo in my first post). In fact, the Ireland games I've seen in this WC have all been pretty rough.

I thought for sure someone was going to get seriously injured in that US - Ned game. As I mentioned previously, DeMelo was fouled by Ned 4 or 5, maybe 6 times (I lost count). One time, a Ned player pulled DeMelo down by her ponytail. They finally backed off when she started fighting back and threw an elbow to get a player off of her.

And there have been some really bad, hard tackles and fouls in other games, as well. Vietnam played the US even harder than Ned did. New Zealand-Norway was rough, from what I recall, and Argentina-Italy (I think) was especially tough, from what I heard.

I think it mostly has to do with the individual ref. Some are quick to book and others seem not to want to book at all. But I could be wrong about that.

Here's what's stupid about going easy on players, tho: some of the refs seem to be treating it like a men's game and letting them play rough. The problem is that women are much more likely to sustain an ACL injury than men, due to the physique of women. I just heard a whole segment about it on the radio. And an ACL tear will put a player out for 9-12 months. Christen Press sustained one in June '22 and has still not fully recovered.

As much as we'd like our women to be tough and indestructible, they just aren't, because they're women and their skeletal structures are different than men's. That doesn't take away from the women's game, imo. It just means more care needs to be taken.


I've wondered about that.

One thing they could do to curtail a lot (or most) of the rough play is to add a monetary element to the Fair Play award. Give each player on a team who wins the award an extra €50,000 (or more) to their prize money. Might work.

Thanks for your views. I pretty much agree. I believe even the acting of an injury is taken over from the men. Too bad.
The last point you make was being activated in an other form lately during a tournament for European teams under 18. When in the group-fase teams end up even (point/goals) the amount of yellow/red cards count.

[spellbound]

Thanks for your views. I pretty much agree. I believe even the acting of an injury is taken over from the men. Too bad.

Acting of an injury is one of the worst aspects of pro soccer (or football, to those of you on Earth). I didn't see any of it during the part of the US-Ned game I watched, but I must have missed something by not seeing the first part of the game. I hate to see fake injury used by the women. It's embarrassing enough watching the men do it.

[spellbound]

Now I noticed (D'oh!) that the times posted by Hal... for the games are Central Time. That means Portugal vs US will be on at midnight Monday here on the left coast. I can do that.

[Hal...]

I believe even the acting of an injury is taken over from the men.

Yeah, I've seen it a little bit. Usually by European teams, tho. The same for diving, but not nearly as bad as the men. And I've seen diving by almost every team. Of course, some players do it and others don't. But the refs are supposed to give yellow cards out for it and they don't. If they did, we'd see a lot less of it.

I think one of the main reasons for faking an injury - or making it appear worse than it is - is just to slow down the game, give it a chance to reset, give teammates a chance to rehydrate or to give coaches a chance to huddle with the players and talk strategy.

The thing that bugs me about FIFA is when the refs are motioning the injured player off the field. Most of the time it's warranted but if I sprained my ankle or tore my ACL, I definitely would not be walking off the field.

[interbellum]

I think one of the main reasons for faking an injury - or making it appear worse than it is - is just to slow down the game, give it a chance to reset, give teammates a chance to rehydrate or to give coaches a chance to huddle with the players and talk strategy.

You forgot "time wasting", especially when the score is in the benefit of the "injured". (Sometimes even teams that are behind fake injuries in the hope that the score doesn't end up in double figures for their opponents.)

Interesting result for Germany against Columbia: 1-2!

[chalkpie]

These AM games aren't working for me.

[spellbound]

I stayed up and watched New Zealand vs Switzerland the other night. Started at midnight and played to a 0-0 tie at 2:00 am. I got sleepy during the last 1/2 hour. Same happened last night/this morning watching Japan vs Spain (no spoilers here). Same start time, same sleepiness during the last 1/2 hour. Missed the final goal scored. But I'm thankful they are even showing Women's World Cup games on broadcast TV. I have no means to record the games for another viewing time. TV here is reticent to show women's professional sports most of the time. Broadcast TV didn't even show the Stanley Cup finals (they were only on cable TV). So it's a bonus for us that these games are on, even in the middle of the night. Maybe I'll have some tea and see if it helps me stay awake for Portugal vs US at midnight tonight.

[Hal...]

These AM games aren't working for me.

From Wikipedia: DVR

[interbellum]

Wow, Portugal nearly "killed" the USA. Great playing of the Dutch against Vietnam.

[NogbadTheBad]

Great result for England, crushed China

[Camelogue]

I usually have an interest but not watching this year.

[MudShark22]

Wow, Portugal nearly "killed" the USA. Great playing of the Dutch against Vietnam.

The player of the match was indeed the US goalpost.

[Hal...]

Wow, Portugal nearly "killed" the USA.

I have seen lots of criticism of the US' coach for a couple of years, now, which I thought was unwarranted, but now I agree he needs to go.

Great playing of the Dutch against Vietnam.

IKR? They doubled the US' score over Vietnam. Ned clearly deserved to win this group.

Great result for England, crushed China

Indeed. I couldn't have been happier. I'd been a touch worried given that the Lionesses are missing some key players, notably Beth Mead and Fran Kirby – and now Keira Walsh is out, too – but they've been playing really well (altho, Lucy Bronze made a couple of uncharacteristic stupid decisions against China). But the thing I love about them so much is how their passing is excellent (usually) and how unselfish they all seem to be.

I see England in the semifinals, hopefully in the final.

The player of the match was indeed the US goalpost.

Agreed. The US is not playing well and Carli Lloyd has been quite critical of them on the Fox WC show.

-----

So far, the teams that have impressed me the most have been England, Japan, Netherlands, France and Sweden. I'm still in the middle of the Jamaica - Brazil match (please, no spoilers) and don't know the outcome of the France - Panama game (please, no spoilers), but I've seen both Jamaica & Brazil play. Brazil definitely has some real talent but they're under-performing, I think. Jamaica gave France a real run for their money, and handled Panama with no problem, but with only the talented Shaw up front, I'm not sure how deep they can get in the tournament.

So, at this moment, I don't know who's going to make it out of that group. Last I saw, France was up over Panama 2-1 and Jamaica - Brazil was still tied at nil.

It doesn't help that it's taking me a while to catch up and that I can't see matches for 18+ hours after they've been played. Which is why I'm kind of avoiding this thread.

I think I tried watching too many games.