Morgan may be finishing well, mostly. But being offside against a horrible team like Haiti is NOT good soccer. Offside in a scramble is understandable but off side in the run of play, particularly when the defensive team is not playing a trap, is just lazy and stupid.
if a normal penalty kick is touched by the goalie, then any other offensive player, including the one who took the initial kick, is allowed to play it and score. The only time there would be an offside situation is if the ball hits off the frame and then is played again by the initial kicker.
On the one early in the 2nd half where she scored (but was offside), she was breaking on the initial pass over the top which was flicked on.
Huh? That's not offside, that's just touching the ball twice off a direct kick. You can't be offside if you're the one that plays the ball to yourself (even if it's off the post) and you can't be offside if you're behind the ball... both of which are true of the kicker on a PK.
Speaking of offside, another goal called back (correctly). On this one Rapinoe was off (would have assisted on a Purce goal). But I liked the run from Sanchez that led up to it.
For a 3-0 (at this time) match this is one of the most boring I have seen. The s.l.o.w. play by both sides is not helping either. Also, although the VAR calls have been correct, the extremely slow decisions by VAR have added an extra layer to the slowness of the match. Of course now Haiti is fatigued so that makes the US look like they are playing faster.
FT 3-0. 3 points in the group. On to the next. We've got some things to work on...a bit too much sloppiness in giveaways on passes, final touches in the offensive third, and defense. But it was good enough.
disagree as to the first. The red card was not a C&O error, and should not have been sent down. But of course VAR is going to be slower when many of those involved are new at it (though the actual VAR is a PRO VAR—but being asked to apply different standards than in MLS. I don’t think the VAR would have sent the red card down for review in an MLS game.
Everything was off. Backline shaky, too many errant passes, too many players with subpar games. They looked like the 20th best team in the world. First game of the tournament or not, the team should have been sharper. Only good thing is they won, but if they don't improve they could be vulnerable against Mexico and will get their clocks cleaned by Canada.
I guess a boring and slow and sloppy 3-0 win is better that an exciting loss or draw, by any score. But it seems that steps to make CONCACAF "better" are not working at this time. But this crap is what is to be expected from CONCACAF. Only in Africa is the officiating worse and are so many players truly bad. BTW: Should the US play like this against the rest of the group they will win anyway as there is no quality at all in CONCACAF women's soccer except for the US and Canada. Mexico was good at one time but their current incarnation is quite bad. They might well get beaten by Jamaica and could well struggle against even this pathetic Haiti team. But the matches must be played and both Jamaica and Haiti are just bad enough to allow most any team to beat them. At least we have the Women's Euros playing this week. There may even be an occasional really good game from there. They have more good teams that we do so the odds of two good team playing each other and both playing well is greater so he odds of good matches is greatly increased.
Well the US and Canada will not play each other at least until the semis and, by then, both team will be qualified for the WWC. Of course the Olympics are also on the line but I think I heard that only the winner of this tournament goes to the Olympics so the semis and the final actually have import.
Interesting comment in post game. Andy Sullivan could not handle Haiti's strikers. Horan had a bad game. Rose couldn't do anything inside the middle due to Haiti's athletes and their box of defenders. I wasn't impressed with Smith tonight. She couldn't break anyone down and her passes were awful. Pinoe had some great long balls in, the quality is still there in her boot. Felt at times like I was re watching USA in the Olympics... Goal, nope offsides. Goal, nope offsides.
Winner goes directly to the Olympics, but 2nd and 3rd place teams will have a playoff for the 2nd CONCACAF spot at the Olympics.
As a general comment, Paramount+ is putting on a good show. Lots of analysis between games. Worth the money.
100% agree. I have no idea why that was sent down for review for a downgrade from Red. My biggest issue with VAR is that the ref on the field always agrees with the VAR. I think they feel obligated to agree with VAR because the only reason they're receiving the VAR review in the first place is for something Clear and Obvious. So, by default, the on field ref should change their call 100% if it truly was Clear and Obvious. Another issue here for me is the ref made the correct call on the field, but apparently, VAR only sent down one view/angle, which almost completely hid the force of the contact, making it look like she was barely touched. One of the other angles clearly showed her getting raked in the arm and then raked and kicked in the side. Either way, ref should have seen that and ignored VAR and upheld her correct initial decision, but I understand why she didn't if she truly only saw the one camera angle.
the R is entitled to ask for other angles. But with this tournament, it is likely this is this refs first experience with VAR. Like anything, this takes time and repetition to learn to do well.
Wow. It felt like I was watching a replay of the Olympics. Midfield was horrible and those offsides will be extremely crucial against better teams.
Uh-oh. This US team is currently not good. Physically slow and mentally slow in too many spots. Really hope we find out they all had a stomach bug or something. Rapinoe came on and was easily the best player — that’s how crappy they were. Smith was awful. The midfield was absent. Seriously: Horan and Lavalle were just going through the motions. The back four are way too slow. At least Casey looked ok. Good thing Haiti bunkered and didn’t counter with numbers for large stretches. Ooof.