Yeah, definitely got at least that one wrong. Will teach me to eyeball standings and assume my immediate response is right.
They have an unbelievable counter-attack. Every time Spain gave up the ball around midfield, Japan was immediately going forward quickly. And they are FAST.
The Matildas made short work of our squad. I wish they would stop making announcements about pay and equity in the middle of important tournaments. I’m proud of them. But Les Canadiennes should probably have done better. Not sure they even had a shot on goal in the first half.
At least some frank words were inadvertently caught on microphone…
Any other insomniacs watching USA/Portugal? Game is tied, 0-0 at halftime. USA had a couple of chances early, but didn’t do much after that.
Netherlands is crushing Vietnam 5-0 in the other game. So the Dutch will likely win the group, regardless of the outcome of the USA game. But the USA needs to get their offense going.
I’m watching.
The U.S. is lucky it’s still tied.
Holy crap. DAMN lucky. Thank you, post.
I always find thanking the post a bit funny. If the post didn’t exist the goal wouldn’t exist either and you’d concede no goals at all.
Is it just my brain that works like this?
I wouldn’t have phrased it in exactly that way, but it is a little odd. Sports fans do irrational stuff like that all the time, though.
Hey, one of the TV announcers said it during the post-game analysis!
I just watched the highlights, but that yellow card against Lavelle was BS, and now she’s out for the next game.
Anyway, this is not the team that will win the World Cup. No ability to finish.
Nattering Nabobs of Negativism!
But seriously if the US go into the match with Sweden as favorites it will be because punters are going off of reputation, not form.
Meh to post. The US had 2.4 xG to Portugal’s 0.3 xG. The US had given up 0.6 xG through 3 games. While they’re super disappointing (like, seriously bad) offensively, their defense has been very good.
Sweden is going to be rough, but squeaking out 1-0 wins or winning on PKs can get you to the finals just like winning every game by 3. Now, my prediction is going to be that the US goes out in disappointing fashion, but the devil’s advocate in me is shouting about the defense (counter argument being that only the Netherlands is any good amongst the opponents).
With Rose Lavelle out, I really hope the defense steps up. She has been a great offensive playmaker.
Let’s look at the rest of the top 10:
Germany lost to Colombia
Sweden looks solid
England looked good today but struggled to beat Haiti
France drew with Jamaica
Spain was thrashed by Japan
Canada is out
Brazil hasn’t looked great
Netherlands look solid
Australia lost to Nigeria
#11 Japan are looking a lot better than #11. Three solid wins.
Sweden, Netherlands and Japan look the form sides, but I wouldn’t bet against the USA against any of them.
Maybe at the start of the tournament USA were 30% to win the whole thing and now that are 25%. Winning four games in a row against top teams is always iffy. Even if you’re 70% going into each game that’s only 24% of winning all four.
There’s more depth in the women’s game than there was 25 years ago. I don’t think anyone’s going to go into the World Cup with a 50%+ chance of winning it ever again.
Yeah, the rapidity of the depth appearing is pretty shocking actually, and I’ve been on the “world is catching up” bandwagon for a while. Last WC you had like 6 decent teams. Every WC before that you had maybe 3-4. Now you have ~10 and really only one big blowout game. Hell 40+ rated teams are coming up with wins.
It wouldn’t be the first time a team that struggled through the group stages has gone on to win a competition like this. The team that wins often grows during the tournament and peaks at the right time. So it might be a good time to have a cheeky bet on the US. I sort of feel they are like the Germany of the women’s game.
That’s an apt comparison, though the last two WCs proved otherwise for Germany’s men’s team. Italy have also been always very good at it, in the 1982 WC they hardly made it out of the group with three draws, only to later win the title.
Edit: wrong thread. My bad.
Let’s not forget that over on the men’s side, Argentina lost to frickin’ SAUDIA ARABIA their first game of the tournament and then went on to win it all. So… who knows?
That said, the USA has been a bit weird this tournament. In their two matches against quality opponents (Netherlands and Portugal), they had less possession, but WAY more threatening-possession, but barely any actual chances, and equal goals. Put all that together and yeah, hard to see them winning it all, but who knows? Are they past-their-prime-and-overrated? Or just-having-bad-luck-on-finishing? Or sleeping-giants? Or still-shaking-off-the-cobwebs?
That said, Sweden (likely round-of-16 opponent) has just had the US’s number seemingly forever. So… not feeling great about things.