Now that I can finally see a replay - I have to agree. If that's a PK, then a player can never be dispossessed from behind ! In my mind I had thought I was going to see one of those marginal PKs, but this is not. The only thing I can say was that it wasnt a dive. I agree about the winning goal too, as i imagined the strength of the Irish team was in DF. Instead both the #2 and the #4 were asleep; the first could have played the ball; the second should never turn her back when expecting a shot. Even at this level, they look very naive. Its a great cinderella achievement for Ireland, as its almost impossible to qualify out of Europe anyway. On top of that, they won the group of death despite an opening defeat.
I agree about the DPRK. I dont like where they are from; or what gets drilled into their heads; but the girls still have to go out and play the game. I would guess that, if I had to guess the WC winner (which I dont), I would have to suspect they are not going to allow more than one goal per game and that may be the winning advantage. Of course I hope Japan blows them away.
Actually I just saw a worse one. Did you see Spain's 2nd goal ? Clearly the Brasil DF was dispossed by a trip, in this case without playing the ball at all. Where were the officials ? This half of the field was totally un-crowded, anyone could see it.......baffling beyond belief. Actually Spain scored 2 horrible goals, and still Brasil almost saved the game. And someone said the Spanish GK was the best at the tournament - well she is very good, for sure. She looks about 12 years old and about 5 foot tall but she screams at her DFs. That might go a long way.
The lineswoman didn't give a corner. She didn't waive her flag for a foul because the ref immediately called the PK. Rather she went to take her position on the goal line at the edge of the box. Of course none of the Japanese players appealed... Even if you do win the ball on a tackle from behind (i.e. one that goes through/between the legs of a running player) it's still a foul (dangerous/reckless play). So yes, sliding tackles from behind are forbidden. It would have been a different story if Campbell's leg went to the ball from the right of Yokoyama's right leg, but that's not what happened, as you can clearly see in the highlights video.
I am not a rules excerpt, but I did look them up - and I dont see anything about tackling from behind. Instead it is up to the referee's judgment to decide what is dangerous / reckless. Unfortuntely the tackle was precise (played the ball) and posed no danger to the opposing player. On the other hand, take a look late on in Ireland's game v Canada - you can see a more obvious PK denied - and one with the goal at it's mercy. You could argue that the DF got a tiny piece of the ball, but that coincides with "getting" the player - and you cannot argue that it is not a tackle from behind.
I have to say there have been some crazy ref calls in this comp. Blatant fouls not getting called leading to soft goals, and firm but fair contact leading to dangerous free kicks and pens. Ireland have been great for a new kid on the block. In the short history of the U-17 their one of the most athletic sides I have seen so far. Even with all Japan ball movement Ireland looked fresher in the final 10 mins. Japan surprised me by only making one big mistake this time, their usually good for at least 3 suicide attempts. Japan managed to out manouver the most physical side left on route to a final, but their going to have to up the mental game to get past Korea DPR. Spain have surprised me so far. Two opportunistic goals agianst Brazil, but they played in a manner that made brazil look stupid at times. If they can create more shots on goal they would be out of sight in most games. They also knew how to look after them selves, fouling Brazil when ever they started to gain momentum to a move. Brazil were too reliant on the individual element to the game, but if they refine that, when they move up in age they will be a damm good side. I'd say this generation Brazil looks to have some of the better potential talents for senior selection in a long while. Beatriz & Thais look to be real rough diamonds.
Oh yeah, Japan's coach speaking before the tournement on the JFA website: "Every country is our rival, but among them Germany have been solid at all age levels in recent competitions. We want to study all of our opponents well to find out their characteristics, but that doesn’t mean we must change our style of play when we face them." Seems like he has the right idea for player development. It's U-17 people, leave the cynical nature for when it really matters. "cough cough" Korea DPR
“Careless” means that the player has shown a lack of attention or consideration when making a challenge or that he acted without precaution. This is what applies. Any sliding tackle from behind through the legs of a running player is always, always, always dangerous play, or careless play if contact is being made. Doesn't matter if the tackling player gets the ball a split second before getting the attacker. In this case, for Yokoyama it was impossible to avoid her leg being tangled up with Campbell's leg, and that does pose a threat of injury. Add to this that the refs had been instructed to be very strict with dangerous play of all kind at this U-17 WWC, and it's no wonder that PK was awarded. It was not a tackle from behind in the way the challenge on Yokoyama was; rather it was a tackle from the side. The defender didn't literally slide through the attacker's legs to reach the ball. The reason why the attacker was brought down at all was that the defender's body (not the leg) suddenly was where the ball had been. And it wasn't dangerous/careless play of any kind anyway. By the way, even if Ireland had been denied a valid PK, that still would have been no reason not to call that tackle on Yokoyama. I think if we want to discuss this any further we should take it to the refereeing forum. There are lots of knowledgeable people there. I've mostly watched the Japan games and the quarterfinals, but I haven't found the quality of officiating to be considerably bad, compared to similar tournaments. Of course the match Spain - Brazil was an exception.
I was so happy because South Korea barely beat Nigeria. I keep forgetting that Nigeria made 5 goals. *shudders* Now I'm worried about the defence.
It was never a penalty simply because it was never a foul. Re the cinderella comment we only reached the quarters. Losing in that fashion is hard to swallow when the potential was there to win the competition. The future is bright however. KOH
Yes it was obviously a desperately close game. And yes they had the potential to win the competition, given that they won the group-of-death. I hope they made headlines back home. Its remarkable because in Ireland there is Gaelic football which, although no-one calls it the beautiful game, is first on the hierarchy of sports, and therefore soaks up the time, local sponsorship and other support that other countries would give to soccer. And these girls had no precedent, such as a senior team or u-20 team, ever achieving anything - I dont know for sure but I doubt if Ireland ever even qualified for the European team championship at a higher level. Instead, every game for this team was a new planet.
Yeah it is a notable achievement for the Irish, let's hope they're trend-setters and women's footie grows there. They were promoted to the top tier by UEFA only in 2004, so they've had no time to achieve much. This could be the start.
No offense, but you seem to be a pretty biased Irish supporter. If that tackle had happened on the other end of the pitch you would have wanted the ref to call it.
In the first place, learning to play sound, organized defense is the most important part of becoming a good player. There are ways to manufacture goals without flair (set pieces, counterattacking), but teams that don't defend well don't take home titles. Given that these are U-17s and they have so much improving to do in every aspect of the game (even the individual technical skills), you can't expect to bring everything up to senior standard. You have to select some things and relatively neglect others, and there are many sound and reasonable ways of making that choice. I think that Ghana in this competition has been a really interesting illustration of this point. Their tactics were pretty rudimentary both in attack and defense, but their fitness and strength made them very competitive. From the beginning to end of their matches, they never gave opponents much time on the ball, and they won most of the physical challenges. Their federation clearly made the decision that introducing the girls to first-class strength and fitness training at an early age would pay the greatest long-term dividends. I'm suspect that having a roster on which fully half of the players were 14 years old or younger played a part in that decision. Most 13 and 14 year olds simply aren't going to be able to absorb all of the subtleties of sophisticated attacking and defending tactics anyway.
Haha, this time Spain are on the receiving end of goals scored by taking advantage of defensive errors. 2-1 Korea half time. Spain's goal was a beauty, and Putellas is still as dangerous as I remembered her from the match against Brazil. I'm not 100% sure if Sampedro really was onside though, I hope they show the goal from a good angle in the highlights later. And another error, Korea nearly scored a third there. I hope Japan can play Spain in the final. Error after error... Spain's DF line is looking really bad. Should have been 4-1 by now.
87' 2-1 #9 Paloma Lazaro does a cut-back at 15m box right, shakes 1 defender and gets into the box momentarily clear, tries curling on-the-run to the upper left 90, and it doesn't curl enough.
91' 2-1 #11 Alexia Putellas receives at 22m box left, dribbles in and backs her defender down, through box top. Fakes center, cuts up 6-left to 9m, shoots into the near side netting. Left corner pinged around, comes to #7 Gema Gili at 20m arc right, and she slices it badly, way wide right.
Game over, still 2-1 Korea. The winners of this tournament will be an Asian team. Damn, I wanted Spain to lose to Japan in the final.
FT 2-1. One Korea reaches the final, awaits the other FIFA says possession was 33%-67%. Live sideline interview with coach Choi Duck Joo, in Korean.
How are you able to see this in the USA ?? I did not (in fact not a SINGLE game in this WC yet) .... all I get are the statistics - which look overwhelming for Spain ? Statistics 10Shots24 1Corner kicks4 1Yellow cards0 0Second yellow card and red card0 0Red Cards0 34%Possession (%)66%
SopCast worked great for me. Spain tried SO hard to score in the last 20 minutes. I feel bad for them. Paloma Lazaro, keep that name in mind. She was part of every attempt Spain had, once she came in. Korea should have won 3-1 though. They missed a goal ready made for them: Geum Min Lee curved the shot over an already defeated Gallardo, but the ball went out a couple of feet wide to the right.
That was a good game, disappointing Spain didnt bring on a sub sooner. A WAY better way to view counter attacking football in action. Germany vs Korea DPR was simply one way traffic, this game had danger at both ends. If Spain have a goal scorer they win this game, but they showed alot of good attributes that suggest women's football in Spain could be a force one day. If you want to see a good final Japan have to win. If Korea DPR get through, it will be funny to watch two sides try to out defend and counter each other.
It USED to work great for me. I have it downloaded OK, but somehow it never does the log-in for me any more. Any clues ? Do I need to change a security setting ?