Other than the disappointment at the end, the takeaway for Houston is a scrappy team that works very hard. But it still has the same unaddressed problems. One of them continues to be a quality CB who can clear the ball on set pieces and this will likely be a continuing theme.
I think it's an optical illusion from the intermixed blue tracks. It just makes the Orange appear darker.
I thought Houston played well -- and Chicago was awful, very lucky to get a tie. I don't recall a single Chicago player who did well. Yeah, Chicago was missing some key players -- but that doesnt excuse its inability to connect any passes, win any 50/50 balls, or pose any threats to score -- until a lucky goal in the last 2 minutes of the game. A really poor performance on offense. . For Houston, to the contrary, several players had good games: Daly, Latsko, Mathalo, Brooks, and Shim. And of course the goal scorer, Keever -- whoever she may be. If I were the Houston coach I'd be impressed with the grit and spirit of my team. It's a shame they only got a tie out of the game.
The discussion has kind of moved on, but still I'll take a swing at this: The wording in the laws is deliberate handling, so yes, "deliberate" is a criteria. But the position of the arms is a consideration, or a clue, as to whether or not the handling was deliberate. Other clues are the movement of the arms and the distance away from the ball (and hence, time to react). All of the considerations/clues don't have to be present to have deliberate handling. You may only have one and still have deliberate handling. At the youth recreational level, the natural instinct of movement of the arms to protect the face probably should not be called as handling. At the professional level, its a different story. The view is more that if Sauerbrunn had time to react and move her arms in front of her face, she had time to react and keep them out of the way. However, in this case, from repeated viewing, I think the ball only hit her face with no contact from her arms. YET I can see that both the position and movement of Sauerbrunn's arms led the referee to think it was deliberate handling. If you think the ball hit Sauerbrunn's arm (I don't), then I think handling is the correct call here (again I don't).
Keever was their second round draft pick out of UW who had supposedly gone back to finish school. Tho a forward in college she was also supposed to be transitioned to OB tho maybe that changed with Mewis & Daly moving back to defense. Despite grabbing the goal I thought Prince was much more impactful.
i thought the ball hit her arm then her face. but i couldn't be sure. you have to weigh if the ref is normally a good ref.
Male players deliberately placing their hands in front of their privates during free kicks is clearly allowed. How is protecting your face with your hands any different? I feel level of play is irrelevant in this instance. When a ball is kicked at your face going 50-60 mph from 2 yards away there is no deliberation/thought about raising your hands to protect yourself, it is complete reflex. It doesn't matter if you are a U12 player or one of the best defenders in the world. Now, if Sauerbrunn had been farther away, like 7-10 yards, then I'd definitely agree with your level of play point. I guess this is an agree to disagree moment.
FIFA addresses this situation in their addendum publication, Advice to Referees (ATR): 12.9 DELIBERATE HANDLING The offense known as "handling the ball" involves deliberate contact with the ball by a player's hand or arm (including fingertips, upper arm, or outer shoulder). "Deliberate contact" means that the player could have avoided the touch but chose not to, that the player's arms were not in a normal playing position at the time, or that the player deliberately continued an initially accidental contact for the purpose of gaining an unfair advantage. Moving hands or arms instinctively to protect the body when suddenly faced with a fast approaching ball does not constitute deliberate contact unless there is subsequent action to direct the ball once contact is made. Likewise, placing hands or arms to protect the body at a free kick or similar restart is not likely to produce an infringement unless there is subsequent action to direct or control the ball. The fact that a player may benefit from the ball contacting the hand does not transform the otherwise accidental event into an infringement. A player infringes the Law regarding handling the ball even if direct contact is avoided by holding something in the hand (clothing, shinguard, etc.).
http://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/#power-rankings-let-it-reign NWSL deciding to be spicy for once and give Power Rankings that aren't just the ladder - Washington ranked below Portland, and Chicago ranked below both of them!
I, for one, am glad for the point! Chicago had a few moments, but were out-played. Wanted to note that McCaffrey was not suited up (hopefully nothing too serious ; she was injury-plagued for much of last season) - she is a player I want to reach her potential with CRS - she is good when she is good
Well, I am happy that Franch's save that I have called "outstanding" ended up being named "Save of the Week".
The camera angle in this video (see 2:45) should settle the Sauerbrunn "handball" incident once and for all. The ball careens directly off her face, never touching either arm. If we had VAR, the PK would not have been called. Alas the game proceeded as it did. But, with the benefit of slow motion replay and this camera angle, the yellow card against Sauerbrunn should be rescinded and the referee should retract her explanation of the play (the "deliberate handling" nonsense). A behind-the-scenes look at our first match. #MakeWay pic.twitter.com/R5U3TNezz7— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) March 30, 2018
In soccer, what the referee saw (and said she saw) happen is what happened. The league cannot change the call, including the yellow card, or the referee report. However, I think, in this case, the league could give Broon one additional yellow card before she has to sit a game. That would be a Commissioner-ish thing to do, but alas.
As long as the knee sprain was mild or moderate and the trainers don't rush her, I'd expect her back within the next few weeks. Knee sprains are usually not long-term injuries.
If I remember correctly, if she's on the D45 list, she's out for 45 days no matter what. I think this is a case, similar to some others, where they're exercising an abundance of caution (correctly, I think) given her importance to the WNT.