USA 3:0 Brasil 83rd Min? I just got a feed from an elf. Brasil may have one goal. Rebuilding and tooling is on by Jorge. Thanks Lima
overall, brasil is smaller and quicker which a slick field should favor them. take a peak at the last canada game. marta doesn't play on their backline, and it has issues left over from Lima. marta will carry them again, but an "on" usa, france or japan in the olympics will completely wreck them. there are some issues in the attack, given jorge was bring formiga into the attack and she was taking long shots ala france.
Absolutely! Also, Brazil is a powerhouse in the game mainly because of individual skill, but they don't have the fitness or resources to really keep up with us for 90. Another point to keep in mind is we simply have their number and they don't collectively have the mental strength to keep up with us once we get the lead.
i think you're going a bit over the top here. brasil had two goals in the WC game, and the USA was only able to come up with one manufactured goal which was assisted by erika, and daiana gave them there other goal. i don't think jorge has used the same lineup twice since he has been back. the thing i see is he has left marta off the pitch until recently, am guessing he has to see the mental strength of the girls without her. lima hurt several players mentally, esp erika, daiana, maurine and ester. lima failed to find a replacement for daniela. i've already said thais, debra, maya, paula, beatriz and the young core will be no match for the usa, france, germany and japan. their date for maturity will be 2015 as marta's mates. jorge has a lot of work ahead of him, but it's not happening in this olympics. but marta will give them an upset of someone important in london. don't be surprise if it is the uswnt if their offense goes south of the border in a tight game.
the top teams are not that consistent, even technical Japan. i wouldn't be surprise if any team gives us a surprise at London lol.
is there a trick to watchespn and espn2? i can't get comcast to connect. what's another location for the replay?
I'm not sure I'm getting what you're saying... You said I'm going a bit over the top, but then confirm majority of what I said. Secondly, the 2 goals Brazil scored, 1 on a PK from a clear dive Buehler gets the red, Solo makes the save, then the red calls it back for God only knows why, then Marta makes the 2nd attempt. So that 1 gifted by the ref. The second was offside. So hardly earned as you implied. On top of that US was down a player. Thirdly, yeah first goal was an own goal, but if Erika didn't put in the back of her own net, Abby would have. And the second goal was an absolute work of art from Pinoe. Even the most bitter of Brazil fans can appreciate that.
Is anyone watching the replay right now? Did that Brazil goal at 30 min look offside? I couldn't tell what was wrong with it.
I just want to let you know that my original comment had no malice intended in it and was simply stating facts. Brazil isnt as fit as the US(everyone knows the US is the most physically fit team in the world, and in Brazil's defense, not many teams can keep up for 90 with the US mentally or physically), the Brazilian football federation doesnt pour as much resources into the womens game as the US does. The head to head record is far and away in the US' favor("the US has their number"), and collectively they don't have the mental strength to battle for 90 mins with the US. Not only your comments in the initial response confirm that, but your latest comment does as well.... Lastly, Brazil has some of the most individually skilled and technical players on the planet bar none.
I didn't understand a few calls by that AR. She basically disallowed two goals. I'm also not sure there wasn't handling on the last goal. Brazil was physical early and around the middle part of the match. The head official let a lot go. I thought there should have been more cards and potentially even some ejections.
Alex Morgan's goal should have counted, but on ARod's goal it looked like there might have been a handball, I couldn't quite see. DiCicco said the call was for the ball going over the end line in the air, which seems to be what the assistant was indicating, but even on the replay it doesn't look possible for the ball to even have come close to doing that- just a strange decision.
I couldn't quite tell where the impact was either. It seemed like they were a little slow in the studio watching that trying to figure out if something else happened there too. I heard him say that, but it was hard to really see that happening in that situation. It did look like that was what the official was signaling though.
How the mighty have fallen, speaking of Brazil here. You can't blame Jorge Barcellos for being annoyed at this moment in time; he had put together a strong, cohesive team back in 2006-2008, only to have them devolve into a tactical mess a few years later. Brazil players have long been known for their individual flair, but today (as in the World Cup) they looked completely disjointed, with no purpose to their possession. Formiga tries, but at 34 she can only do so much. Marta's pace and trickery would have put the U.S. defenders under more pressure, but I don't think she would have helped team cohesion any. The last few times I've seen Marta play, she has looked terribly frustrated and impatient, as if she feels she has to put the team on her shoulders and do it all herself, to make up for their tactical shortcomings. Having said that, it should have been 2-1 in the first half. It wasn't clear to me the whole ball was across the line. In the interest of promoting goals and flowing play, you have to let that go unless it's obviously out. The U.S. was clearly the superior team today, but I still have concerns. There were no well orchestrated build-up goals in the run of play over two games (all three goals today came off set pieces, plus the scrappy Morgan goal against Japan). And there is still not enough link-up play between the midfield and forwards. If they decide to keep the 4-4-2, a diamond midfield would be better, with Cheney in the attacking spot and Rapinoe wide left. At least Engen and Klingenberg got to do some sightseeing in a foreign country, all expenses paid. I hope they don't get demoralized from this whole experience. Post Olympics, there will be a changing of the guard, and they will get their chance. So...do all the fans who bought tickets for this match get a refund? They moved it up by four hours, and the result was about 25 people in the stands. I hope the typhoon isn't too bad; anytime you hear natural disaster and Japan in the same sentence now, you get nervous.
It was very obvious as the match went on that the rain and wind were picking up so it looked like they made the right call to push it up. Frankly, the US showed many of the same issues they had against Japan, but Brazil was a much weaker side. The US made some horrible turnovers when pressured. It almost looks like the days of April when the defense wouldn't practice midfield or forwards so the team would be learning each other during matches. The back line doesn't connect with the midfield well and as a result the forwards are left with no good balls. Some of the best sequences continue to come from when forwards initiate the attack way too close to midfield. I was done with Pia by the run-up to the World Cup, but understood there would be no change at that point since that would likely hurt the team more than help. I hope USSF is looking for a replacement after the Olympics. The match is now available for replay on watch espn. I had missed the first couple of minutes and hadn't realized Abby hit the post in the first minute. Brazil was lucky not to have given up goals in the first five minutes.
Both this play and the last goal are examples of where I think they should use replay in soccer. It is a dead ball situation in either case (whether a goal, out of bounds or an infraction) and the result isn't just a scoring opportunity, but an actual goal, so getting the call right/wrong would make a definite change in the score of the game. Even if you don't use replay in other situations in the game, at least use it when the repercussions of an incorrect call are so big.
You simplify the matter too much. It's fairly easy to do a review on a dead ball situation but what do you if it's a live ball, ie. ball crosses the goal line but keeper picks it up and continues play?
Maybe you should review your own post. You gave examples of dead ball situations and call for replay. That is simple-minded. If you make laws, you need them to apply to all situations, not just some. What part of that did you not understand?
Aline - She proves why Wambach should be on the pitch for the USWNT. Morgan - Brasil can't defend set pieces but they can deal with a downhill runner. Hence, Morgan and Sydney on the pitch in the Olympics are a guaranteed upset against a team with a fast, young back-line. Erika - Lima raised her in the soccer clinics and the u20s, as a forward and attacking mid-fielder, but stuck her as a defender because of her height. Erika has major issues with forward getting behind her. Now, an offense-less MF, boxx, can score on her. Daiane - Her mind still isn't there after Lima destroyed it in that Qtr Final game against the USA. Formiga - She's as ageless as Rampone. USA backline - After the Rampone sub, if Cristaine and Rosana had any game, they could have got brasil back in the match. If I'm correct , Brasil won the possession game in the 2nd half. Daniela - Everyone talks about Cristaine, but she was the REAL lose. Brasil's youth movment - They look Costa Rica against the USA, but I said that before. They are scrappy and athletic, but are kids playing against women. Thais, Breatiz, Maya, Maye, Debra, Paula, etc will be serviceable in 2015. What did i get from the game? Formiga, Marta and Aline will keep them in the Olympics to the later rounds, and Marta will put 2 goals on someone and get them past a top team, but they aren't winning it all. People are out of their minds about Wambach. She commands the attention of your best and tallest defender. Aline was basically subbed in to mark her not Morgan, since the youth movement can run down hill with Morgan. As horrible as their possession game is, I don't see the USA finishing with anything less than Gold. Japan's clover is losing its' leaves, France doesn't have the heart to take it to them and Jorge just has too many problems.
I thought the US played more cohesive and possessed much better today...the very lax brazilian defense allowed for this. I did see some bright spots and many of the same problems. BACKLINE: Rampone played well again. Buehler had some very good 1v1 stops, a few silly fouls, decent game over all Ohara played very well first half and got forward, second half was a step down. Coxx looked out of place on the right, was out of position a few times and lost possession a few times. Becky S - was by far the best distributor of the ball once she stepped on the field. She's so calm and so much more technical than the other players, it's completely amazing she's not starting. Mids I thought Lloyd had a good game. She didn't turn the ball over too many times and got forward. She's growing a tarply like knack for being at the right time / place in front of goal. Cheney - i thought she played poorly the last two games. Looked uninspired, wasn't connecting her passes. I like her much more in middle. Hao - I don't remember her getting more than 2 crosses off the course of the two games. When pushed to the center she is much less effective and unfortunately becomes a one trick pony, at times. Rapinoe - sub'd in for Hao and it was fairly clear she's more technical and has more vision than Hao. She also turns the ball over more and sometimes makes silly mistakes. Heath - like her much more in the middle. She had some very nice passes, out of the middle. She's not a winger at this level, imo. She doesn't have the speed to get past defenders and is usually dispossessed when dripping to a corner. Boxx - looked bad imo. She had two good plays and Foudy, friend of 15 years, pointed them out. She was a turnover machine, was dispossessed often and her defense was average.. I'd love to see Becky S at this position. she's better at defense and from what i've seen, better at distribution. Forwards: Abby - looked very slow again. Very surprised she played a full 90 both games, say much more about Pia as a coach than it does her play. Morgan - fell into midfield often in the first 30, taking her out of the attack.. which also makes me think Pia had her fall back (and also has abby fall back) on purpose. I thought, despite Foudy's comments otherwise, the centerbacks were quick and good for Brazil and help all our forwards in check - that, and also, the mids weren't really connecting with morgan and abby. Arod - i'd prefer her on the wing, where she can take a step and run past a few defenders opening up the field. she's gotten a lot better with left footed crosses as well. Played fairly well out of the middle today tho. Commentators: watching women's games is much more different than men's. there is a certain amount of sugar coating and reluctancy to say anything negative and I can't help but think some of this is about sex.
I think at half time they said that the ball was bent out of bound by the winger before it was headed in.
Newsouth, you used to be so high on leroux. Now she is only in the same class as downhill runner Morgan. What made her take such a tumble in your mind? Japan's clover seems to be doing just fine. US has failed to defeat them in three straight tries. Do they need to win 20 straight against the US for you to believe they are legit? They completely outclassed the US on Sunday, and they did it without sawa. And surely the crafty and brilliant delie will be able to take france past the no good, downhill running Morgan? Or is rampone going to play hero and somehow single handedly win the gold for the Americans? BrooklynSoccer, I agree with your assessment. It's nice to see something intelligent after all the garbage newsouth put out.