She can have an attitude. Got a yellow card in just a few minutes & still was arguing with the ref. AUS real problem was switching coaches just a few months ago as the new one changed to brand tactics
She is on the FFA board which sacked Stajic. She is also alleged to have sent comments to selected reporters saying if they knew the real story they wouldn't be defending Stajic (or words to that effect). She recently issued a public apology to Stajic as part of the eventual settlement. As a humble Australian football supporter I have no idea what went on in the leadup to the coaching change. I just know that we lost our first game in the last moments of injury time, and that the better side won the game. We were too vulnerable at the back, and I thought that Italy was very unlucky to have that first half goal ruled out by VAR. The team is now playing like our men's team who over recent years have been able to keep possession of the ball for long periods, but can't score from general play and make errors in the back half of the field that gift goal scoring opportunities to the opposition.
Group C is starting to look like a nightmare. I figured B was the so-called “Group of Death,” but Italy and Jamaica are tougher than I realized.
Sorry if I was too subtle. It is racist, and has historically been used that way to describe Black players and Black teams as less than White players and White teams. It is a term which has been used simplify Black runners, basketball players, soccer players, etc. as having a single trait that allowed them to get to where they are. It infers that they did not have to work hard, or they did not have to train hard, or they did not have the study the game to get where they are. It infers a whole host of things which are false. And your example of using Nigeria as being more athletic than teams like Italy is horrendous. That is precisely the point. It is standard used almost exclusively for Black players and Black teams, in the current period, often from Africa. But as for this WC, it also includes Jamaica. This is a very naive argument, and one which only comes from White people. Jamaicans or Nigerians are not more "athletic" than Italians or Germans or the Dutch or any other team. Now, if you wish to continue this discussion, you can either take it to the racism thread in Politics and Current Events, or you can DM me.
As I pointed out (on Twitter if not here), according to the FIFA ratings, this wasn't a huge upset and even less of one when you look at more recent performance ratings as I have. AUS (rating 2003) / ITA (1868) - 135 point differential corresponds to roughly a 68.5% expected win percentage for Australia. If we compare performance ratings since 1/1/2018, where Australia has shown a pronounced dip, it's even less of an upset AUS (perf rating 1916) / ITA (perf 1877) - a mere 39 point differential corresponds to roughly 56% expected win percentage for Australia, not a big edge
I am aware, and I guess Italy was probably the best 3rd-pot team for rating/performance rating (thus a nightmare for whichever 1st/2nd pot team was going to have them in their group). But... I didn't hear anyone else, here on BS, explicitly considering the possibility that Italy was going to beat Australia. Thus the bragging.
I'll post an interview with Bonansea from Italian NT YouTube channel, although I am aware that it's probably geo-blocked outside of Italy: please, confirm this to me, so I'll know if it's worth posting future videos or not. Anyway, for non-Italian speakers (basically everyone here, I'd say ), that's the summary of the relavant things she said: - she said that in 1st half Italian players felt the debut and were a little anxious and blocked; the disallowed goal and the penalty didn't help, but at HT they talked and managed to regroup; - in the action of the first goal she had the feeling Polkinghorne (it was her?) hadn't really seen her and Lydia Williams was trying to warn her and to encourage her to run with the ball: so she figured she could try to surprise her and to steal the ball from her; - despite her class, Bonansea is very humble: she claims that in the action of the first goal she wanted to place the ball near the first post, not near the second, and that in the action of the second goal she wasn't even supposed to be in that point of the box. By hearing her, you would get the feeling that she had everything wrong! - She says her personal award will be only important if the team will do well in the next matches.
Good coaching made the difference. In the half time Italy became another team. They knew they could do it, but the excitement made them insecured. Coach Milena Bertolini probably talked to them and put them in the right mindset, also fixed some tactical problems. Australia could not count on all of that, since they recently changed their manager. What a game, I've lost my voice screaming at the 95th minute
Just a brief comment on the use of the term "athletic." In the US, this has been a term critics of the USSF have used to describe the reasons for the historic success of the US -- i.e., that its players have been more athletic rather than having the technical skills of teams such as Japan and, more recently, Italy and Spain. It's also a term that's been applied here to Australia. It's hard to see that as a racist term as it's been used in those discussions. soccernutter, I can't tell where you're from, so perhaps the term is used differently in other forums I don't go to. I do understand your point, but at least in the forums I go to I haven't seen that.
talkin about bragging; Ive posted often that I consider Bonansea one o the top ten best players in the world.........and instead of confirming or backing me up, all u did is whine about one letter misspellings on her name.........& not heeding the advice of the world's winningest basketball coach...........Coach K !!! lol
Soccernutter isn’t making this up or being a snowflake or anything like that. Use of the term in this way is a common facet of language in the US reflecting implicit biases towards black athletes. It doesn’t mean that if you have used the term in this way that you’re a virulent racist, but it may mean that you have an opportunity to look a little deeper into the language, the way it’s used and it’s impact.
I think this discussion could be avoided if @soccernutter simply stated that there have been people who've either been offended or complained about the use of certain words to describe teams of color, and list those words. I'm not trying to be contentious, but I'm honestly confused as to what words are not OK to say. The way the mod note read, it came across ambiguous to me. It felt to me like something happened somewhere on this board and I missed the boat. Having said that, I do believe that most people on the women's side of this board are generally very courteous and respectful and would be happy to comply with rules of etiquette to avoid being hurtful.
I left it like I did because there is some ambiguity. As I mentioned elsewhere, some terms which are racist if alone can be not racist when put in context. If you post about a team or player and think about how you would, honestly, talk about that player regardless of race (or gender), the comment will come across as non-racist. The issue is thinking about how you would say something. Agreed. And it is why I enjoy modding the WWC every 4 years, and coming in to do some clean up from time to time as well. There have been a couple of things I let go because of how this part of bigsoccer responds and treats fellow posters. (And, for what it's worth, the comments/warnings are directed more at the casual poster, and the ones who will show up in the semis and finals.)
The Fox announcer, a few minutes ago, during the first half of Nigeria-South Korea: "Korean players are half the size of Nigerian players... their physicality could make the difference today". Would his comment be ok here?
It is borderline, I'd let it go because there is context and could lead to a discussion. Thanks for asking.