Nigeria played this game almost perfectly, given the circumstances. Mistakes happen in football otherwise there would be no goals.
Such a big Nigeria fan right now, when I don't remember ever cheering for them before. As if being outskilled across the field and a massive home crowd weren't enough, they have to be down a player and give up a goal on a VAR call that I think should be removed from the rules ... May they get the last third-place spot, please.
Not sure if it is a FIFA rule, but I believe Son (Tottenham) got a yellow for a halting PK which caused multiple players to enter the box prior to the kick.
Then FIFA would have awarded them a 3-0 loss. I think it's really no coincidence. South Africa got also screwed by bad refereeing vs. Spain. Something I noticed is that especially CAF teams have a hard time in FIFA tournaments. They suffer more often from bad refereeing than any other confederation. That's for sure.
90+9' (of +8') 0-1 Geyoro gets past Ayinde, pokes waist-high and kicks ball away. Chikwelu broad-jumps across Geyoro's path (a bit out of control), body-bumps Geyoro's torso. Geyoro goes down with -- a head injury? Foul, stoppage, yellow card on Chikwelu = 2nd, she misses Nigeria's next match. FT 0-1. France are A1, not sure if Nigeria advances as A3.
Brutal performance by France. May they finish so poorly in the knockout rounds. Got the large majority of luck in the match and only win 1-0?
Some Nigeria fans in the #NGAFRA thread are quite bitter about an early entry into penalty area infraction not also being called: Absolutely rubbish what a nonsense @FIFAcom @WorldCup_Womens #NGAFRA Am just in disbelieve of all this drama pic.twitter.com/psytORT2Zs— KingStone (@lordasphalt) June 17, 2019 FT: Nigeria 0-1 FranceThe Super Falcons finally bowed to the @FrenchTeam, with the only goal of the game coming through a retaken penalty by Wendie Renard.In a fully-packed Stadium in Rennes, our girls were gallant until that FIFA rule handed us the defeat.😫😫#NGAFRA pic.twitter.com/asvWoTFXsQ— Benny (@BenUgbana) June 17, 2019 The ref didn't see this?#NGAFRA #fifawwc #FIFAWWC19 pic.twitter.com/lPHurp5dyu— Shy Pope (@ShyPope) June 17, 2019 By rule ... they have a point
For the women... this is the first VAR competition. They are clearly still learning. Very inconsistent.
You got that right. Africa does not know how to play FIFA politics. It will keep happening until they learn. I remember the last WC in the Nigeria Argentina men's game where Mascherano was allowed to play almost the whole 2nd half of the game with blood streaming down his face. Of course Argentina were desperately trying to get a goal so it was not a problem for FIFA.
African teams have looked actually promising.South America has finally arrived. It is the the Asian part that has seriously taken a step down. Unless u valueChina settling down to become the new Uruguay.
Something happened between China 1999 and China 2015 - they became soft/less physical. They seem to be trying to regain their aggression.
France and Italy have won world cups like this on the men's side but tough to see this team going all the way.
FIFA official highlights of the game: With the VAR on, this is the cup of the minimal infractions being punished (talking about Nigerian GK moving from the line). I don't like that, I really don't like it. If it's a tournament with humans, don't punish infractions that human eyes can't possibly see. If you have to disallow goals for off-sides of half-inches or repeat PKs that look perfectly regular at normal speed, go playing with the robots, and leave humans to the human eye. It's not funny at all having most of the things that happen during a match suspended and sub judice. How do you stop your joy and put it aside to wait for the judgement? And how wrong is it to hurt emotions this way? We wouldn't be playing without emotions, and all of this robotic, surgical precision kills emotions. If this is our future, not only in football but also in life, I am not interested in being part of it. Sorry, but I plain hate the VAR. End of the rant. Sorry, I had to.
Poor Nigeria. I feel like VAR robbed them. I hope their 3 pats are still enough, cuz they fought valiantly
Well, folks, using the VAR will eliminate all human error and definitively settle every dispute. Oh, wait....
I get this. However, I quite like goal line technology, and that has involved decisions on the millimeter level. I have a bigger issue with the automatic yellow card, but nevertheless, I do understand frustrations with the retake decision in this case.