btw no full VAR means more errors go unnoticed - including offside calls which now depend solely on line refs eye again
She can only overturn her decision herself. The fouled Ghanaian player didn't protest otherwise the coach might have taken a review request.
Yes. Poor choice of words...what I ment instead is VAR would've forced her hand at least to reconsider her call. (26th min 25th sec - 1st half) Um... review request you say but on what ground? Referee has made no call whatsoever, not even a foul, the game wasn't stoped (which would most likely prompt the coach to use the challenge in first place after quick talk with his player). Owusuaa (no.5) was in visible distress after the fall from push by Spinn (no. 17) one could say her mind was occupied by the pain in that moment... not by protests. Game wasn't stoped so she had no chance to speak with her coach and anyways had to get back to her position. The foul was obvious, yellow card should be given the least, and there was also strong possibility for red card because of dogso. Curious enough Kyrgyz ref had no problem call it right when Austrian players were fouled... ... but made couple of errors when Ghana players were at the end of an illegal tackle or challenge. Poor officiating.
VS can be used only once the referee has taken a decision (with waving play on being considered a decision) and a team has made a subsequent request for a review. all nice and neat... on paper as it seems but not so much on the pitch. So in this situation Owusuaa would've need to disregard ongoing play, leave her position and approach the line (or shout 40-50m across the field) in order to communicate the wrong call to the coach, who in turn would've had to signal the 4th ref with challenge card demanding the game to be stopped - all while Austria was sitting in Ghana final third - and get back to action that happend before on top of Austria pk box. Yeah... My point is VAR would've had the ref called to the monitor as soon as possible from the get go. VS cumbersome protocol isnt working to well in such scenarios. Besides I have not seen ref waving the play on in this action - she didn't signal at all from what I can tell from replay (most likely because she was 20-30 meters behind the whole action). btw near the end of 1st half Austrian coach tried to conjure red card for Ghana goalie out of thin air by challenge card... which speaks voulmes about officiating in this match and VS in general. I expect lot of challnege cards to be used "in blind" from now on (especially in 1st halfs) at the slightest contact between the players in the box.
Group E JAPAN -------------- 1m ----- 3p ----- 7-0 AUSTRIA ----------- 1m ----- 3p ----- 2-1 GHANA ------------- 1m ----- 0p ----- 1-2 NEW ZEALAND -- 1m ----- 0p ----- 0-7 GHANA 1 - 2 AUSTRIA (highlights) Nyameke 90'+1 --- Fankhauser 12', Ojukwu 71'(p.) JAPAN 7 - 0 NEW ZEALAND (highlights) Hijikata 16' 38', Sasai 41' 90'+1, Oyama 45', Koyama 65', Hayama 75' Group F DPR KOREA -------- 1m ----- 3p ----- 6-2 NETHERLANDS---- 1m ----- 3p ----- 2-0 COSTA RICA -------- 1m ----- 0p ----- 0-2 ARGENTINA --------- 1m ----- 0p ----- 2-6 DPR KOREA 6 - 2 ARGENTINA (highlights) Pak MR 6', Jon RJ 10', Weiss 45+2(og.), Hyang S 47', Choe IS 75', Choe KR 90'+2 --- Nunez 45'+5 82' COSTA RICA 0 - 2 NETHERLANDS (skrót) Buurman 24', Oude Elberink 76',
Watching Sunday's games and seeing highlights of those played subsequently it seems a high quality tournament so far. The UEFA teams have started very well.
While i am quite impressed by most of the teams in this, there are a few that are playing like a bunch of average rec players. This is because most, maybe all, soccer feds do not treat these youth tournaments as having any real importance as, even at U20, they are not sending the best of that age group. While countries like the USA do have a number of "pros" on their roster there are many top players that are missing. But this unimportant tournament is fun to watch. I do not understand the expanded field as almost all the added teams are somewhere between bad and pathetic. But, again, it is fun. I did enjoy, in spite of the lopsided score, seeing Japan. They seem to be having, by far, the most fun in the tournament. It seems, and my experience supports, that the Japanese do not take themselves too seriously. I hope the draw works out to produce a Japan vs Brazil match at some point. I think Japan will win that but it could be a lot of fun to watch. The USA looks like they "could" be competitive but their loss to Spain is concerning. I do not know what has caused it but my dog only watches the TV when Mexico is playing. He does not speak Spanish but whenever, almost without exception, a Mexican team is playing (Any Mexican team it seems) he parks himself in front of the TV and watches intently. This does not happen for any other team even if the commentary in in Spanish. All in all this has been, so far, a fun tournament I hope that continues. BTW: I do not like, at all, the fact that third place teams advance. It kind of reduces the drama of the groups. Btw2: The implementation of VAR that is being used is, in a word, pathetic. The fact that nobody really looks to correct bad calls and it is up to the center ref and coaches what gets reviewed simply makes the "review" of questionable calls not effective and if they are trying to reduce delays it ain't working. This "compromise" is worse that regular VAR and it does not do what is intended and VAR is inherently flawed. I wish there were no VAR reviews at all. It adds NOTHING to the matches and, in all forms it is too disruptive. Rather that trying to fix the flawed VAR idea it needs to be eliminated. VAR is obsean it that it has no redeeming social value.
The current match, Brazil vs France, shows inside the first ten minutes, just how poor the refereeing is and how VAR in any for currently used, can fix NOTHING. France was attacking and they attempted to get the ball deep. There was a challenge near the end line and Brazil was awarded a goal kick. That was an refereeing error but it is not reviewable. The resulting goal kick allowed Brazil to mount an attack that resulted in a goal. The goal came from a HUGE error that no form of VAR can address. (The French also behaved stupidly by challenging base on offside so but there was no chance of offside as the players were always behind the ball as so cannot be offside) So poor refereeing (While VAR cannot reverse "last touched" decisions the refereeing would, I think, have been better if they did not have VAR as a crutch.) I think the on field refereeing has suffered dramatically because of the "help" VAR provides. I know that VAR, in any current form, could not have corrected the gift that was presented to Brazil it is useless if it cannot correct obvious errors. This match is tainted by refereeing giving Brazil a goal. But I also cannot support the French in that the coach behaved stupidly by making a worthless challenge and losing one of her two challenges and the players defending very lazily after the poor decision. Brazil is now up 2-0 and they look to score more so the outcome is not really effected but the refereeing is so bad that the winner is chosen by the refereeing not by the teams. Referee is allowing VERY bad fouls without card or calls. This ref should never referee a match above U10 again. She is awful. Brazil is leading 2-0. I wonder if the referee will make some more bad calls and gift either team goals the do not earn.
Group A COLOMBIA ------- 2m ----- 6p ----- 3-0 MEXICO ----------- 2m ----- 4p ----- 4-2 CAMEROON ----- 2m ----- 1p ----- 2-3 AUSTRALIA ------ 2m ----- 0p ----- 0-4 MEXICO 2 - 0 AUSTRALIA (highlights) Servin 57', Lomeli 90'+1 COLOMBIA 1 - 0 CAMEROON (highlights) Munoz 68' Group B BRAZIL ---------- 2m ----- 6p ----- 12-0 CANADA -------- 2m ----- 4p ----- 12-3 FRANCE -------- 2m ----- 1p ----- 3-6 FIJI --------------- 2m ----- 0p ----- 0-18 FRANCE 0 - 3 BRAZIL (highlights) Vendito 7' 19', Priscila 75' FIJI 0 - 9 CANADA (highlights) Smith 7' 28', Chukwu 24' 34' 41', Briggs 32' 35', Ottey 54', McBride 67'
Spain looks like they will win against Paraguay but I have noticed one thing that should concern Spanish fans and the team itself. Right now virtually all particularly good touches by Spain are away from goal. They are very good at crossing and even pretty good at shooting but their constant aggressive touches away from goal only maintains possession and takes the player away from the attack. They are leading 1-0 and do not really look in danger of really aggressively scoring a bunch of goals. This will be no better than 3-0 and maybe only 2-0 or, like against the USA, 1-0. I am forced to wonder if they give up a goal or two can they actually mount a comeback. I though going in and even after the first match that they might be the best in this tournament but now i think there are at least three teams better: Brazil, Canada and the third best could be any of a number of teams but I "think" Japan looks stronger. In fact if they,(Spain) for any reason, cannot dominate possession then they have no other way to play but, in this tournament, they may not need a backup plan until the knockouts. There are a LOT (At least 4) of really bad teams in this tournament. It really should NOT have been expanded, yet. Maybe in another decade or so there will be enough good teams to justify expansion. But the decision to expand this tournament was made for the same reason the the full Men's WC is so huge, money. It has nothing to do with soccer although, judging my the sparse crownd for most matches, in is not working for this WC. But maybe it is as the gate is not the primary source for money. That is TV income in many forms. Spain is now up 2-0 at about the 40 minute mark. They are not going to be tested at all until the knockouts and that is another indication of how weak this field is.
VS protocol for challenge card is pretty much useless in some situations... clear hanball in pk box made by German player, signaled to the ref by Nigerian player, but because game wasn't stoped the coach had no chance to speak about it with his player... not sure what actually happend he didn't used the card again it looks like this challenge card best use is: "play it blind" at any contact between players in pk box... and hope for the best Germany 1-0 Nigeria at HT but it could've been 2-2 or 3-3. Good game.
So far this has NOT been a fun tournament to watch. The use, or non-use of the bastardized VAR is ruining this along with the incompetent refs.
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup - Colombia 2024 Group C SPAIN ------------- 2m ----- 6p ----- 1-2 USA ---------------- 2m ----- 3p ----- 2-1 PARAGUAY ------ 2m ----- 3p ----- 2-2 MOROCCO ------ 2m ----- 0p ----- 0-4 SPAIN 2 - 0 PARAGUAY (highlights) Amezaga 20' 37' MOROCCO 0 - 2 USA (highlights) McCormack 48', Dahlien 90'+6 Group D GERMANY --------------- 2m ----- 6p ----- 8-3 NIGERIA ------------------ 2m ----- 3p ----- 2-3 KOREA REPUBLIC ---- 2m ----- 1p ----- 1-2 VENEZUELA ------------ 2m ----- 1p ----- 3-6 GERMANY 3 - 1 NIGERIA (highlights) Sehitler 17', Zdebel 61', Ernst 90'+3 --- Okwuchukwu 50' KOREA REPUBLIC 0 - 0 VENEZUELA (highlights)
The VS protocol makes it indeed difficult. It is better to have VAR, but of course not all stadium can have that kind of equipment. The French team is poor but saved by the fact that they will probably qualify via the third placed teams method.
Did anybody catch the US v. Morocco match in full? Caught the highlights and the Moroccan GK really impressed. Am I wrong in that assessment?
No. You are not wrong but she does not have the "refinement" I would expect from a well trained GK. In fact she reminded me a lot of a GK from a team in a youth tournament several years ago. (I can't remember the name or team right now) said GK was very raw and needed training. I saw her a few years later and she was no better and it was clear that she had NOT had any good training. She needed good club training but she had not gotten it and she was, at the new age, just a good GK. The Moroccan keeper has all the things needed, at this age, to become a very good or even great GK her first step is mostly always right and she reacts very well. I question her positioning or some corners and free kicks but that can be fixed. She naturally seems to preform what i called the "drop" where right as the ball is licked she did NOT jump but rather just released her knees and could, therefore, move in any direction as needed. She needs to work hard on her distribution, she has a good throw but need to really improve her kicking accuracy. She needs to work on her in play movement as she was, sometimes, well out of position but she used quickness to correct. She seems to misjudge high floated balls but that gets usually corrected by experience. She needs to be encouraged in aggression. She let too much play come to her rather than being proactive and that makes keeping harder. But every problem i saw is fixable with training if the training is good. It think I remember the name of the goalkeeper i thought of. I think it is Bailey (In one of the many possible spellings) I think she is black and from either Central or South America. I would like to see her club play but leagues in Morocco are not the easiest to follow here in the USA. BTW: I was also impressed with the Fijian keeper. She gave up a LOT of goals but she, in spite of so much really bad play by the rest of Fiji, really showed well. At 15 years old she could be one of the best if she gets a good club soon. Her reactions are subline.
Group E JAPAN -------------- 2m ----- 6p ----- 11-1 AUSTRIA ----------- 2m ----- 6p ----- 5-2 GHANA ------------- 2m ----- 0p ----- 2-6 NEW ZEALAND -- 2m ----- 0p ----- 1-10 JAPAN 4 - 1 GHANA (highlights) Sasai 45', Matsukubo 45'+6, Hayama 50', Matsunaga 90' --- Nyamakye 83'(p.) AUSTRIA 3 - 1 NEW ZEALAND (highlights) Gutmann 10' 15', Maedl 67' --- Clegg 90' Group F KOREA DPR -------- 2m ----- 6p ----- 15-2 NETHERLANDS --- 2m ----- 4p ----- 5-3 ARGENTINA -------- 2m ----- 1p ----- 5-8 COSTA RICA -------- 2m ----- 0p ----- 0-11 KOREA DPR 9 - 0 COSTA RICA (highlights) Benavides 6'(og.), UJ Chae 8' , IS Choe 28' 34', MR Pak 43', SG Kim 49' 55', K Jong 69', KR Choe 85' NETHERLANDS 3 - 3 ARGENTINA (highlights) Buurman 16', van Egmnond 38', Lacroix 45'+2 --- Dominguez 43', Rodriguez 48' 71'
at ten minutes in the Mexico vs Colombia match has all the excitement of a bunch of cows grazing. It seems neither team is eally interested in taking chances. Mexico has had a small bit of play in the box but, even with good crosses the receivers look like they are mostly uninterested. I think it will not take much, like a goal, for the match to open up but neither team is really being aggressive or even intense. This match is being played like it is totally meaningless to both teams. Thee is a good amount of skill on the field but both teams are more interested in not losing than they are in winning, at this time. If this continues for much longer I will switch to watching Australia vs. Cameroon as i believe that both teams in that match might actually put some effort in winning. Mexico does look the more likely to score, on purpose, but they are committing very little forward even on corners or free kicks. In fact we are now 20 minutes in and NOTHING that really looks like a potential goal. I am goin to switch now but i might switch back.
unbelievable, the referee in the AUS v CMR match even after watching the challenge on the monitor did not award a red card for an obvious foul of the broken leg kind (~12 minute of the match), by the way she did not award any card for that. ... to risk the health of the players because one can't admit the mistake she made, what a f****** ego...
And you expect decent refereeing in this tournament, why? There has been a couple of matches where the refereeing was not horrible but only a couple. The refereeing standards have dropped a LOT since VAR was introduced but you would think they could have found a few that would not ruin matches with incompetence. I mistyped and incompetence was almost posted as incontinence but even that typo would not have been wrong.
it's youth tourney, lots of inexperienced refs and dodgy calls out there... I get that, but in this situation ref was given 2nd chance with video review after she totaly missed (?) obvious dangerous play.. and she chose to be infallible instead
Australia looks quite poor today. it is almost like they are a bunch of fairly skilled kids but look like they have been over coached into conservative mold and all creativity has been coached out of them. They are only down by a goal but any chance at a comeback in the 2nd halve will depend on getting some of that conservativism out of their system. They need to take chances.