She did not get subbed, because of the red card against Japan, the US was only allowed to have 10 potential PK takers on the field.... Edit: Craig P beat me to it...
A few observations about the overall strategy and play of USA in the 2nd half yesterday: USA had a very large number of poor passes, even when the passing player was not under pressure. These led to numerous losses of possession and to many of the opportunities for Japan. Some of bad passes were simply due to trying to play the ball forward too quickly and picking the wrong target. The target was typically a player in an advanced position but who was covered by 2-3 Japanese players even though there were other US players open in lateral or defensive positions. This USA team is certainly technical enough to play the ball back and switch sides multiple times to look for a break-down in opposition's defense. Many of the bad passes were straight, purposeless long balls to a well covered US player. There were many of these even after US scored the second goal. IMHO, in cases where it is not an obvious counterattack opportunity, or a forward is in a good position with poor defensive coverage, USWNT has to be more patient, especially when they have a lead late in the game.
I was wondering what happpened in that situation. I was thinking it would be a fair punishment for ejection that if the PKs go to the 11th player, and you haven't got an 11th player, you lose if the other team's 11th makes their kick.
I agree. Sundhage talked before the game about keeping possession, and I doubted at that moment that this team could manage to do that. It hasn't been their style. It's usually all about keeping the foot on the accelerator. Not only did they continue to do that vs Japan, they did not look composed on the ball as the game wore on. They gave it away far too often and too easily. I mentioned Rampone's errors. I wanted to make sure I was being fair to her, so I went to espn3.com and looked at the replay. After we were up a goal, and with the game winding down, she gave the ball away twice in our end within a 30-second span (at 79:15 and 79:45). The second one at 79:45 was the killer. It's going to sound harsh, but a defender with her experience, in that situation... unforgivable.
You're right. When she played that ball I said uh-oh - and then look what happened, but our entire defense played horrible balls out of the back. Part their fault, part the midfield not opening up into easy passing lanes.
I kept checking the stats on ESPN as the game progressed. At the end of the half, with the starting lineup in, the USA had a positive possession number of 10 or 12 percent, which startled me a bit. Japan is, after all, known as a possession team. When Cheney didn't appear on the pitch for the second half, the percentage started dropping slowly. When Rapinoe was substituted the percentage was almost even (51-49 USA) By the end of the extra time, Japan had the positive possession number by quite a bit, which started me again. I didn't think there was enough time to effect that sort of swing. Perhaps the reporting lagged behind, but in any case, I don't think that was Coincidental. Keep in mind that Cheney was on the FIFA all star list, and her performance was good throughout the tournament. Not sure where Rapinoe would be if she had played all the games, but in this game at least, she scored highly in the player rankings I saw and was credited with holding possession and making plays. She was gassed when she came out. She had that hollow eyed look several minutes before she was substituted. If you expect positive possession, you need players on the pitch that are comfortable in that style. I don't think either substitute provided the possession in the midfield those other players did. The two subs were Morgan and Heath. Morgan had a great game, she is a future star, but I don't think she helped maintain possession. It wasnt her role, and she went up top anyway. The other players still on the field were expected to hold the midfield. I am skeptical that Heath helped with those figures. As to the defense, it might be a great argument that possession IS great defense. There we no real problems in the first half, but when Japan began to dominate the midfield, the defense suffered greatly.
I do think the one thing possession number don't show is where they had the ball. Japan didn't keep it that well in the U.S. half and the U.S. didn't need to knock it around much as they were able to be pretty successful playing direct after a few short passes in their own half. The space was just there. Sure, I wish we would have hit a few square balls and dribbled to the corner flag a few times. I was preplexed more than a few times during the Cup by US players ingoring square balls in acres of space to try a 50/50 through ball.
Good point. Articles I have seen on statistics in soccer say that possession in the final third is a huge stat, but to get it, you have to pay. I'm inclined to muddle through and guess
"It was a tournament that far surpassed the 2010 South African World Cup in quality of competition, inspiring some to suggest that, henceforth, the Women's World Cup should simply be referred to as the "World Cup" and the one with the gents that will be played in Brazil in 2014 should now be called "the Men's World Cup." " http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/ne...ld-cup-seven-memories-world-cup-roger-bennett
acceptance... i guess that's the stage I'm on now. I've watched, rewatched, hashed it...got disappointed and bitter. You know what, i can't be any prouder of our girls than yesterday. They played their hearts out, and the result is an injustice to dwell on compared to the show of football they put out. Corny as Ian darke put it, football WAS the winner yesterday...on to the next game...
And between them, Sweden wins the seed Still not sure we get past Brasil with a healthy Daniela. Sad to see all 3 of them exeunt too soon That's Irony for You Dept.: Daniela's teammate Hope Solo calling out Abby Wambach for the reckless challenge.
How about Abby posing with Sawa after the game with their awards?...Sawa being Abby's former teammate at Washington Freedom...
I'm not sure the Bazilians are ones to complain about Abby and reckless challenges. Think of it as Karma for The Olympic run- up.
Our girls crumbled like a house of cardS. Pia really screwed the pooch with taking off Rapione. That was mindblowing! And what can be said about our pk prowess that we haven't already said here. Hats off to the Pink Samurai however. They earned it. Yes of course, cuz the women's game has produced such memorable players like Pele. A such idolized footballer that when his team tours an African nation...that nation's freakin civil war takes a hiatus! Come on ESPN.
... to Brasil's MNT No, per FIFA's bylaws, they used to bring the captains to midfield, and flip a coin. For real. Israel lost that coin flip (to Bulgaria) in the 1968 Olympics QFs. FIFA recommended, and IFAB adopted, the kicks from the penalty mark in 1970 to end the arbitrary practice of flipping a coin "The ball wouldn't go in and wouldn't go in" -- Batigol (Gabriel Batistuta), 2002 WC (Argentina 3-and-out)
What happens when vanBommel tours? He and Nigel deJong are the players I remember from the last cup. Pele didn't get many minutes. The last I remember Pele at a game he was dodging Martas shots in the Olympics....kept ducking behind the skybox seat. I keep checking the rosters... Who is Rapione?
yeah, that was pretty nuts. 0 for 4 in a pk shootout from the brazilian men in a major tournament. when does that happen?
This is nuts. Abby was the one who came in recklessly late in the Olympic warmup match. Grow up already.
Actually, Brasil is exactly the caliber of team I could see doing that. They're all stone-cold confident enough in their own skills to think they can bomb the upper 90s. So that's what they practice, and that's what they rely on. The degree of difficulty is more than a badge of honor, it's almost a proof of manhood. The one time Brasil kept it on the grass, it was saved -- so the next guy had even more reason to aim high. Even Carlos Tevez's saved PK (for Argentina vs Uruguay) was hard, low, and within 1 diameter of the left post. But that's still not enough to beat a GK at that level who guesses correctly.
Off the top of my head: I'll give you Wambach's rocket off the crossbar, which would have been a wonderstrike if it had dipped a few inches lower, but in Alex Morgan's toe poke, Kaihori had the near post covered; there was no space between her hands and the post for the ball to sneak through, so that wouldn't have resulted in a goal even if it had been on frame. Another shot was also nearpost from an acute angle where Kaihori had the post covered. Just because a ball goes off a post doesn't mean it was a good scoring opportunity.
That WPS All-Star team barely qualified for the World Cup and was the last team in after a tense two-legged affair with that renown women's soccer power Italy. Persist in thinking that the USWNT is head and shoulders above the rest of the world in talent if you want, but it's not '99 any more, and followers of the women's game would tell you that.