82' 1-3 #15 Megan Rapinoe high-steps a flick at 25m box left, deflects off backpedaling #4 Laura Georges -- perfectly behind France's high line into the stride of #13 Alex Morgan ahead of a blue sea through box top 6-left. Morgan chases it wide to 6m between 6-left and box left, #16 Berangere Sapowicz comes out in a bad pursuit curve, slides down to block a low blast -- Morgan lifts head and takes a peek, lobs her gently to the right back corner.
I thought Morgan was really struggling before that goal (really all tournament), but that sub finally paid off. Nice finish. I'm just wondering if that last sub for France changed the midfield battle for the worse for France.
Why do people consistently discount the value of leaving an impact player on the bench? Do you really think Morgan would look as good running against fresh-legged defenders? Better IMHO to have her come up running against a tired backline. Speed of the bench kills.
Not sure. Morgan's game is still pretty one-dimensional although she is a much better pure scorer than Rodriguez.
YES YES YES YES YES I think we should start a petition to Pia. Perhaps bribe her with money if necessary.
86' 1-3 #12 Elodie Thomis rattles the ball through her feet through box top wide right, crosses from 11m box right to #9 Eugenie Le Sommer at 9m center, she volleys high over. 87' 1-3 USA subs in (3 of 3) #17 Tobin Heath for #9 Heather O'Reilly.
Can't look any worse than A-Rod. She's had half-a-dozen chances as good as Morgan's and blown them all. Morgan's 1-for-1.
QFT! She's brought exactly what you'd like to see from a sub; spark, energy, good runs. And I think shifting Cheney over has helped as well. What sucks is that Morgan will still get stuck behind ARod for the final; waiting to come in during the second half. I'd like to see what she could do with an entire 90 minutes to play with.
I've watched AROD this competition, thus far, no impact. It's very Pia like to keep things as is. Throw Amy in off the bench if it helps. With your point, Amy looks like crap against fresh-legged defenders.
She won 4 corners against brazil when she was basically the lone forward... I think she can step up her game too, but she's been an improvement from Arod every game.
But you really limit yourself when you throw everything you have out there at the beginning of the game. Once in a while you really need some 'good enough' players out there to simply burn up minutes until you bring on a substitute who can take advantage of their fatigue.
88' 1-3 France clear(?) to center circle back. #20 Wambach runs onto it alone, heads sharply up the centerline, #13 Alex Morgan is in through box top right post! Shoots hard waist-high, #16 Sapowicz does well to palm it wide (her) right.