Oh, and of course, the ball that Rampone kicked away that led to the second Japan goal came from a one-on-one where a Japanese player had only Solo to beat. Unless you're saying Sawa's goal wasn't a normal opportunity, which I actually agree with since balls like that just don't go in 99% of the time. She was a magician there and created something from nothing.
In the end, it came down to special players (and defense). Alex Morgan's strike could have been launched by few other players on the field (just look at the many American strikes that missed the frame). She's a cold-blooded assassin in front of goal. Homare Sawa's piece of magic would not have been created by anyone else on either team (it was Dempsey-like). That was sublime. Those 2 cancelled each other out. Japan's defense absorbed pressure and broke once (when the ball got on frame) while the US defense had some shockers in the back. That also cancelled out. Overall, I thought 2-2 was a fair result.
English fans always say that PKs are pure luck. But if they're pure luck, why does England never win? There's skill involved. Such as why Tobin Heath comes nearly straight at the ball rather than angling off, went meant she was very likely to go left. Knew during her approach that it was going to be saved.
Pia needs to learn how to close out a game. You pull a forward and add defense... end of story. This loss was purely due to poor coaching. We had every chance to take the cup home and didnt do it. Better finishing in the first half would have sealed the deal too
Just really poor poor poor. If a WC final team can not convert with that sort of dominance, you dont even belong in the final. Also Rapinoe is hot.
1 you mentioned one long ball that was cleared by Rampone. 2 the goals they scored which were their most dangerous attacks (bc they scored them) came from what? was it a long ball NO, Japans dangerous attacks came from either Lloyd boxx giving the ball away in the middle and then a quick through ball counter attack. Japan was not able to build up against USA as they did this tournament, USA with the help of lloyd gave Japan their chances. Usa doesnt play with 2 holding mids, lloyd boxx purpose in the set up things is to hold the ball and create scoring chances while covering for each other. You say lloyd did well with running with the ball, ok what came out of her runs, how many times did she hold the ball to long. What happened once the ball left her foot??? were chances created were goals scored, were shots taken??? no no no no. Check their pass completions, anything lower than 65% is horrid. ? 3 you question my soccer IQ yet you admit llyod boxx gave away passes and then credit llyod and boxx for playing great defense. Shows how smart you are. When you lose the ball you are on defense, if you dont lose the ball you dont have to play defense. Notice Japan was flying the whole game bc they had energy and were not tired from chasing the ball. Llyod and boxx create over work load bc they lose the ball soo much. When USA attacks they really attack in Numbers which makes it even more important for them not to lose the ball esp as they move forward with so much steam. As a defensive unit USA played nearly perfect, when you cough up simple plays the defensive unit breaks down and it becomes individual battles. You think lloyd and boxx played well bc they were working hard tackling people and stopping plays ok I give you that but they were only covering their own mistakes. Ive played the game at the highest level and involved with coaching at the highest level. If you really want to know my football IQ we can sit and chat, or you can read my previous post. Being able to experience the highest level and work with people at the highest level doesnt make me smarter than anyone I do think it gives me some credibility. Esp when ive worked with many players and teams that you just watched in this worldcup.
Nothing personal, but I google "pattrick wolf" & found some English singer. No mention of a football player at the highest level or as a coach. Would you please give us a hint.
The WPS has set the standard ever since 2009 as the most competitive women's soccer league in the world. You make a good point, that many Japanese players would rather stay in Japan, but I still think only Sawa and Miyama are WPS all star caliber players whereas the USA on paper is an all star team. So in those terms, this should be considered a huge upset regardless of how technically skilled Japan is or how well they work together. Somehow in international competition there is always this aura of giving too much respect to, and thus playing down to, lesser opponents. See the England men's team at the last two world cups for details! A Premiership all star team that draws 0-0 with Algeria. If this had been a WPS regular season game between the "USA" and "Japan" then most would have probably predicted a 3-0 or 4-0 scoreline, and on most days that's probably how it would have turned out. Not taking any credit away from Japan- they took their chances and were the more deserving team on this night after 120 mins- that showed itself in the shootout. Just making it clear that this IS a huge upset. Sure the US wasn't favored to win the tournament in the beginning, but after they knocked out Brazil and Japan knocked out Germany they definitely were. They were very lucky to get past Brazil using sit-back-on-a-lead tactics and justice was served in the final. Pia understands the psychological side of the game (which is half the equation if not more in a WC) very well but tactically she has a ways to go.
Hard luck to the US. Delighted by the result as I was rooting for Japan, but the USWNT played very well and had a great tourney overall..Sloppiness in defense and lack of composure during PK shootouts cost you the game.
Okay, I'll give you that penalties aren't a complete lottery. But they are an absolutely illogical way of deciding which team should win. It's like deciding a basketball game with a free throw shooting contest or a baseball game with a home run hitting contest. It takes a small part of that sport and utilizes that to decide the winner of a game. A part of that sport that - in the case of soccer - is used very seldom throughout the game itself, as penalty kicks in the run of play happen, what, once every several games? Of course I can't think of a better answer other than my preferred method of taking what the NHL does and just keep playing until somebody scores, no matter how long it takes (i.e. unlimited golden goal), but that is not going to happen due to the mess it could cause throughout the world with TV coverage, etc. Also, just to go on record, in my opinion we did play the penalty kicks all wrong. There is no way I would have had Boxx shoot first. Not after she missed that first one against Brazil. Even if it didn't count, she still missed it and I guarantee it was in her head. I also absolutely would not have had Heath shoot. Those were two players I cringed when I saw them walking up to the spot. Of course hindsight is 20-20, but I hated those two moves before I even saw what they were going to do with their kicks. Lloyd on the other hand I had a really good feeling about, and she just missed. I could tell on her face she was going to drive it - the opposite of choking, by the way; lack of focus maybe, but not choking - and unfortunately she obviously put way too much power into it. Solo obviously did a great job, saving one and coming within inches of saving another. With that said, however, it is easy to be supercritical of a team in a World Cup final and act like the world is ending, that the team didn't win when it "counted most" and so on. It's that whole issue of the team doing everything right when they win and everything wrong if they lose even though, like Pia said, the margin between winning and losing a final can be miniscule. Winning a World Cup is obviously very difficult, and I am grateful that is starting to become the case more and more on the women's side, and making a final is something to be celebrated. Maybe not right now when fans and players are gutted, but overall it was a very good tournament. Especially considering the team had serious trouble even qualifying for the event in the first place.
Regardless of your perceived "soccer IQ", maybe your experience was so long ago that Altzheimer's is setting in. The two goals you reference as proof of Boxx and Lloyd's incompetence started from the following plays: 1) The first goal began with Christie Rampone with possession out on the left side, and with absolutey NO pressure on her, she passed the ball DIRECTLY to a Japan player. A ball was then played into the box, and both Buehler and Kreiger made of mess of their attempted clearances. Neither Box nor Lloyd were to blame for that goal IN ANY WAY. 2) The second goal began with Tobin Heath being played a nice ball out on the left wing by Lloyd. She was wide open and could have dribbled it into the corner as a time waster. Instead she turned it inside and dribbled it RIGHT INTO three Japan players. After a few passes across the back line, Japan played a LONG BALL (remember the thing you said didn't happen?) behind our defense, bypassing our midfield. This led to the Rampone clearance off the line for the corner which they converted. Once again, absolutely no blame goes to Boxx or Lloyd. Please review the video before you go shooting your mouth off about things that NEVER HAPPENED.
blaming lloyd and boxx for the lost, I did not. I think they played horrid, blaming the loss on 2 players is a bit brash and uncalled for. I felt the same when they won agianst Brazil when they won against france, i felt the same in qualifying games i felt the same since the very start of their selection. Pia wants a possesion game, I continuely point out that llyod and boxx do not fit that discription.
Ah lovely. Recriminations early in the morning. Few people (but there are a couple) seem to notice that the team played better possession (which is what many wanted) in this game than the other WWC games. In fact, it is that possession style that took some of the wind out of the team's attacking sails. Both teams had chances that were missed. The USA had a number of chances in the 1st 15 minutes that they needed to convert if they wanted to ensure a victory. And jcrocker, you may have missed Darke & Foudy say (at the start of the 2nd half) that Cheney was injured but you can't blame them for that. You also missed the multiple shots of large bags of ice on her ankle/foot & her limping to the podium to receive her 2nd place medal? The team still made if farther in the tournament than many (including me) thought they would. They played with heart, determination, and yes skill. Unfortunately, the USWNT met The Team Of Destiny in the final. And even that was a good, if disappointing, game.
yes you are correct, your only catching part of the argument thou. My statement about the goals was referencing to the claim that japan was playing long ball. The reference to llyod and boxx I shouldnt have put in the same paragraph. I see where i led to llyod boxx being the direct link to the goals against USA. The goals statement was a claim against japan only threats were long ball, lloyd boxx statement was directed at their continuous ability to cough up the ball. Mybad
agree. i think it's a little to easy to underestimate the accomplishments of this team based simply on that last game, even as well played as it was. that japan team was riding some serious mojo that was _not_ going to be de-railed... wow.
No one can ever 'blame' a single person for a win or loss. There is no "I" in team. That being said, Pia put Tobin Heath, a player with minimal world cup minutes, in a World Cup Final, in the final minutes for Rapinoe who had demonstrated rhythm with the team. Heath had turnover after turnover (with fresh legs), one leading to the Japanese goal. Then she missed her PK. That is just not world class coaching to put that player in that position at the end of a World Cup final. Why wouldn't you trust your best player in that position to finish the game? Anyone know if she was injured?
That being said you & others will. The PK order is set and can't be changed once other players miss. I'm guessing Rapinoe (if that's who you mean by "best player") was set to be kicker #5. Abby made her kick.
My only question on the PK's was why did we move up Heath in the order. If I remember correctly, Abby kicked third against Brazil and then Rapinoe went fourth. If we were going to go in the same order and kickers versus Brazil (except Rapinoe who was not playing) then we needed to do it. I think Abby going third and making her kick might have really taken some of the pressure off Heath. Heath was in a tough spot after seeing our first two miss.
I did not mean best player over all. I meant that Rapinoe had earned that left midfield slot and had performed well there the past few games. She made her PK against Brazil. She was "clicking" with the team. To put in a sub for her in the final few minutes does seem a little odd unless she was injured. It was not a seamless change. How could it be no matter who goes in at that point.
My guess is that Rapinoe was too fatigued to continue. Remember that she wasn't used to playing that many minutes. Compounding the problem was that Cheney was out with an injury. I think we might have brought Morgan on for Rapinoe and moved Cheney into midfield, but her injury prevented that. Consequently, Pia didn't have many good options at that point.
Yep- penalties are no different than having a free throw shooting or home run contest. The only difference is that playing 120 minutes of soccer is much more physically exhausting than baseball, basketball or hockey where players can be subbed in and out much more frequently and there are many more stoppages even in overtime periods. All of those sports have unlimited overtimes if necessary because it's within the physical boundaries of the athletes. Soccer doesn't have that luxury. What it comes down to is that making it a game of substitutes or reducing each team to fewer players after 120 minutes would be just as much of a "lottery," if not more so, than PKs. Keeping exhausted players on the field or bringing in subs would end up producing an outcome that has no connection whatsoever to the 120 mins. At least with PKs, it happens right after the fact so the more composed team, physically and mentally, after 120 mins usually wins and therefore the outcome has some connection with what happened in the game. For anyone interested here is a website dedicated to research on penalty shootouts... http://www.penaltyshootouts.co.uk/research.html
Thank you, JACKIESDAD, you saved me a lot of typing. And Patrick there were other long balls that created quite a bit of trouble to our defense especially in extra time but I'm not going thru the tape. I was certainly more worried watching those than when they tried to work the ball thru midfield, where Boxx and Lloyd kept stuffing them pretty well.