Tokyo Olympics SF: USWNT vs Canada, August 2, pre/pbp/post

Could be a number of reasons for your sentiment. All hashed out on this forum for a month leading up.

 

The Canadian threw herself into the path of the ball and Tierne's leg swing. I'd call that a foul on the Canadian.

 

Damn I feel bad for Lloyd. She is retiring on a loss. But she’ll always be remembered for her overall performance over the years.

 

Who's excited for a repeat of the Australia-USA group stage match?

 

The Canadian player initiating the contact makes it hard to say that there was a clear and obvious error in the initial lack of a call.

It seems like every time I see a referee go over to the VAR screen, they overturn their initial call. For offsides, this makes some sense, but for pks more often than not, I think the initial decision to not call a pk is the right one.

 

I saw Davidson get contact from behind before she contacted the Canadian. Oh well. Little offense, disjointed all tournament, things were not clicking.

I was hugely disappointed the decision-making by the team all tournament. Bad decision after bad decision all over the field.

 

My hope is that the US can have some fun and just let it go in the bronze medal match. And then I do think is is time to figure some stuff out. I am not as down on the coach as some here. But I did have some concerns about player management in terms of playing time and subs. Was the possibility of developing attacking chemistry hampered?

 

I wonder what Coach John Herdman thinks about this victory...I do not think Team Canada ever defeated Team USA when he was in charge. Now Herdman is in charge of the Canadian Men's National Team...

I remember when Coach Pia was in charge of the US team...Mexico beat US in a World Cup qualification game in November 2010...I was surprised...

I am surprised by the outcome of this game...Totally unexpected...I was actually thinking that US team should think about how to defeat Swedish team in the gold medal game...I am guilty of not taking the Canadian team very seriously...

I am sure that US will earn the bronze medal by defeating Australia...I do not think that Australia will beat Sweden...I expect US to score several goals in that game...

 

It was a foul by Canada. But the Canadian showed the commitment that you would have expected from the Americans. She goes into an infight with the American and she won because she got a penalty. No rist no fun. For me, Americans try to play too much football. High balls towards the goalkeeper. And then some dirty goal. Not enough fighting spirit. And Canada fought. They didn't play well, but they fought. And they presented themselves as a team.

And the USA would have become Olympic champion in football. Then she would have deserved it too. In 2019 it was easy. The team was well adjusted. Everything went well. When things go well, you also have self-confidence. Not much came together at this tournament. But if you fight your way out of such a difficult situation, then in the end you deserve to win. But the US failed.

 

Even from this angle you can tell the Canadian attacker is running through Davidson to get at the ball (or to draw the foul). But there's more VAR angles which show the impact and Davidson's body being shoved off-balance even more clearly. I'll find it in a minute.
Of course, the US was playing badly enough all tournament that they were vulnerable to one (super-)lousy break. But this is characteristic of the problems I have with VAR

 

It’s okay guys and gals, we won the bigger tournament. We change reigns for 2023 and we stay competitive. The good news is we have a great pool of talent. If Vlatko stays, he’s going to have to change his strategy since he did so many. Switches

 

The loss was more due to the inability to create any scoring opportunities than VAR.

 

I'll quote you later in the FIRE VLATKO NOW!?!? thread

 

Ah okay, so he isn’t going to get evaluated after this trash of a tournament? None of it is his fault cause he’s a guy. K…

 

Hip check? She initiates contact from the rear... even put her forearm on Davidson's back jersey number.

 

I’m repping this for an certain Alexandria Popp!

 

This is what the refs were looking at:

 

Canada didn't so much win that game as the U.S. lost it. What a lifeless match! The U.S. didn't look good this whole Olympics.

Under current rules, I think the penalty call against Davidson was okay -- but I think the rules should be changed to make penalty calls rarer and only called if the offensive player is in a position to shoot the ball at the time of the penalty. I think Davidson is now a starter -- either as Center Back or Fullback instead of O'Hara. (Notice that the VAR, which I despise, has not stilled controversy.)

Criticisms of Vlatko. Sam Mewis should have started and Lavelle should have been on the bench and used as a sub. Mewis has the strength and speed to power through challenges. Before the Olympics I would have said the U.S. had far and away the best midfield in the world. Afterwards? I'm not so sure.

Rapinoe was still the go-to player in the last extremity of the U.S. And she did well. She, Lloyd, and Williams were the most reviled selections for the national team -- and Rapinoe and Williams both demonstrated that they belonged on the field. Lloyd couldn't take advantage of a few chances that she had. Morgan was the worst of the forwards.

 

She was always a big-time player.
Always played best when the lights were brightest.

 

Beautiful angle of a forearm to the numbers on the back of the Jersey. For a start. Not enough for VAR to overturn the field call. Counter argument the Canadian player beat her to the spot, but her leading leg made no contact with the ball, she put it out there ... for?