It was a pass to an Argentinian player who scored then. Germany got a penalty soon after this but after review referee changed her decision (don't know why - it was a push on Zicai for me) and then Argentina has a chance for a second goal. HT 4:1
It is painfully obvious that the referees at this "tournament" are not top drawer at all. The only matches I've seen that seemed well refed were the ones where little happened. I just hope referee screwups do not impact these knockout matches too adversely or get someone hurt badly. .
And now Germany wants a penalty for another foul on ZIcai. Referee says no and then Germany miss a big chance for a fifth goal.
There has been another early goal for PRK. The goal is getting reviewed, maybe, but I saw nothing wrong as you cannot be offside if you are behind the ball. The Austrian coach is insisting on a review but it is quite clear that there is nothing wrong with the goal. The coach stupidly lost one review and was just being stupid.
The Austrian GK should have a red card. She went to play the ball and missed and clobbered the DPR player in the head without ever touching the ball. But this "ref" awarded nothing and the coach did not challenge.
PRK has found the form to win this easily. All they need to is dribble the length of the field and shoot. 4-2 PRK.
It's all over. No surprises except for exactly how really bad the referee has been. Her early red card was the main difference maker and I am not at all sure it was the correct call. It ends 5-2 and was not really that close. But DPR did try to help Austria stay in the match.
The next match for PRK is against Brazil. I wonder if they will set a record for dirty play. PRK plays very hard and that degrades into dirty play very easily while Brazil will take every chance they get to moan and complain and they retaliate strongly. The two teams, given the lack of refereeing quality, should, in unison before that match, chant to the stands: "Hail FIFA, we who are about to die salute you."
I find it amazing that France and Japan, both favorites, had problems early in their matches but they both scored the first goal of their respective matches within 2 minutes of each other. Neither team has looked particularly dangerous but the both, mostly, looked in control of their matches. Now, with the goals, both matches should open up. Japan already looks likely to score another.
Both halves end with no change. I find it kind of strange that these two matches have had almost no stoppage time, except for the one goal, The refs are not intruding, much, and the coaches seem much more intelligent and are not spending a ton of energy yelling and screaming at the refs. I wonder if the refs are that much better or if the four teams playing the early matches are just dirtier. I am enjoying these much more than the earlier ones even though the earlier matches ended with the team winning I expected. But thee main thing is that referee calls are not getting the scrutiny the earlier ones did and the players, particularly the Japanese, seem much happier to be playing
Now the ref really missed one. A Nigerian player stumbled into a Japanese player from behind and produced what looks like a concussion and maybe whiplash. She was hit HARD. The referee called nothing and there was no card. To be fair to the refs the announcers did not seem to think it was a foul either and the players on the field seemed OK with it as well. It did NOT look to me like a fair challenge at all and it seemed very late. But what do i know I haven't played for years.
Down go the French, 2-1 the Dutch win in ET. Netherlands will face Colombia, the host. Japan hangs on to beat Nigeria 2-1. Japan will play Spain, and I can't wait to watch that matchup.
These same groups or players have met at U-17 level and Spain won. Back then Japan even had Momoko Tanikawa on their side (she's now been permanently moved to the Senior Team). Frankly I must confess that I expect a Spain's win. Japan could have had a chance to compete if they had deployed all of the players from that age-class that were already advanced to the Senior Team instead (Tanikawa, Hamano, Fujino, Koga).
I'm not defending any referee decision, but just a reminder for all those complaining about the refereeing: youth tournaments are for development both of the players and the referees. Although the refereeing roster can sometimes be filled out with more established referees, both U-20 and U-17 tournaments are for the referees who are looking to make it in to a senior tournament in the next cycle. Not all of them will make it to that elite level, but they all need the development, just like the players.
match number 48 (NED-COL), originally scheduled for 14:30 local time, will now start at 16:30, and match number 45 (USA-GER), previously set for 18:00, has been pushed back to 20:00. FIFA and the Local Organising Committee of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Colombia 2024™️ have announced a change to the kick-off times for the quarter-final matches to be played on Sunday 15 September in Cali. #U20WWC ➡️ https://t.co/HB3IMcn7pf pic.twitter.com/n6km6Sh9UB— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) September 12, 2024
I was surprised to see Martincic refereeing our game as she is a senior UEFA/FIFA ref. Our football was garbage and we are going home so no complain about her, for a change lol . The FFF and the clubs screwed up our team by playing only 3 friendlies before the tournament and 4 clubs rejected the call ups for their players.