Can the USA PLEASE try to take a few more shots? The French are slamming shots at Hope all match long, and sooner or later they will sneak one in dammit! Mind you, the French don’t seem to understand the Offside rule (like the rest of the world, and half of the Refs out there), but I still don’t like the fact that they are getting off that many shots.
I am glad that Hope has 5 saves, but that is a lot of work for our Keeper dammit.
Note - I COULD stream at work, but might get IT mad at me. I am instead just keeping the ESPN gamecast going in the corner of my screen.
As an aside, I think that the next evolution for soccer in the US will be the development of better statistics and box scores so that Fantasy leagues can be created.
This has been a fascinating game. France was clearly the better team for much of the game, but now the US has finally started actually attacking. Game could go any way.
That is the way we were against Sweden - we were playing at 3/4 speed for much of the first half, and then woke up (too late). I am only watching the stats, so I don’t have a feel for the action other than the shots on goal, possession time, etc.
That is a critique I have heard about our team - too slow to start. Luckily we don’t seem to get discouraged, but giving an inch in early play can really hurt you. I have coached teams with this issue - very frustrating.
I’m not sure I know it exactly. On the crossing pass before the French goal, it looked like a different French player was offside. But then that player didn’t get the ball, so is that offsides or not?
Depends on if they impacted the play. If a defender is covering you, then you have impacted the play even if you didn’t receive the ball. You will (very rarely) sometimes see a player take a knee to try to take themselves out of the play rather than pull the offside call.
Well, that’s a wrap. Player for player, France was the better team. And they play that stylish, ball-control game that’s fun to watch. But goaltending… good God. Could Sapowicz possibly have been worse? Too bad they can’t finish, either. Their one goal was more or less an accident.
I’d like to see the whole play again. I thought I saw a player behind the American defense when the crossing pass was made, but the camera didn’t show the whole field so there may have been another defender out of shot. And then I’m not sure if that player was the one who had the chance at the header (and drew the attention of the keeper) before the ball went in the far post, which I think would count as impacting the play.
If any of our more soccer-savvy dopers got a better look at this, let me know.
Full credit to France, who were definitely the better team for large portions of the game. They’re going to be a real powerhouse in the years to come. But the USA definitely earned our goals, and our spot in the finals… either a rematch against Sweden, or a match against the giant slayers. Either way, looking forward to it.
Boy, I don’t agree. They have a better midfield, for sure, but we have better defenders, a way better keeper, and I’d argue better finishers, esp. Wambach. Also, they don’t have anyone like Rapinoe who seems to change the whole course of the match just by appearing on the pitch. We gave up too many corners, and our midfield did a piss poor job with possession until Rapinoe came on. But give our defense and keeper some credit!
France dominated the midfield, and therefore possession, but way too many of their shots on goal were lobs from outside the box, and easy for someone like Solo to stop.