Pickford save was important, after that it was all England. Wasn't very happy to see Rashford left out of the starting 11 but in the end, Southgate knew what he was doing. Well done England, bring on France!
I can't say much positive for the behavior of the Senegal team, and the referee was slow to call fouls. We were lucky to play England when we did; an England with Harry Kane hitting on all cylinders may be impossible to beat.
The USMNT threads are going crazy wanting to fire Berhalter. The names they are throwing out are as follows: Pirlo Scaloni Paulo Bento SolskjaerBielsa Cherundolo Marsch Pochettino Friedel Tab Ramos Jose Mourinho Pep Guardiola
Hubby read that someone is recommending Jim Curtin. I haven’t paid any detailed attention to what Curtin has been doing in PHI other than winning. I also haven’t seen much written about him. But it occurred to me, as a coach, how is he different from Gregg Berhalter at the Crew? Anyone know?
I'm not sure I want to wander into the nats forum toxic waste. I understand why people are disappointed, but the team made it into the WC and out of the group stage. Berhalter may not be sliced bread of coaches, but he's one of the best in recent times. I doubt any of the coaches on that list have an unblemished record -- I'd guess that most (all?) have been fired at some point because they had a bad season or lost a big game.
Ok, I looked anyway. Not everyone in the Fire Berhalter thread is completely irrational. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/fire-berhalter.2106882/page-89#post-41019439 We are not a top 8 team. Having an elite coach will not change that reality, not matter how much we want to identify as an elite team. The results we got in this tournament don't reflect a team that underperformed or overachieved. What speaks to our quality as a top 16 team is ending up as the runner up from the toughest group in the tournament. We belong in that club. Where we don't belong at the moment is in the elite 8 club and our defeat to a team from that club in a match that mattered is proof. Having an elite coach would not have changed this reality. . . . Few gave us a chance to emerge from Group B. That shows well for us. Holland punished our mistakes. That shows the work we have left to do. We're not an elite 8 team...but we can be, and more. We have not reached our ceiling.
Elfath is doing his 3rd game today! JPN vs CRO. Has any American ref gotten that many CR assignments in one WC?
Unfortunately, in the first 13 mins, Elfath has let the Croatians get away with 4-5 small fouls that have made JPN lose possession in both defensive and attacking positions. Pushes from behind and hip checks…
Elfath has been the darling of the WC ref board throughout the games, so no surprise he got this assignment. But even the ref board is a little subdued about today's performance.
Just found out that Elfath is the 2nd American to get 3 CR assignments at a WC. Mark Geiger was the first to do that, at WC2018. Funny that I didn’t remember that at all…
WC 2018 seemed like such an exciting tournament when I watched it, but now I don’t remember why I felt that way. WC 2022 is exciting mainly because the minnows have had some exciting upsets. Other than England and France yesterday, there haven’t been a lot of examples of excellence. Or maybe I’m just overly saturated right now
I pretty much tuned out of WC 2018 once both Russia and Brazil were finally eliminated, though I did end up watching the France-Croatia final and the medals & trophy presentation afterward. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! GO USA!!! VAI BRASIL!!! -G
Croatia's Livakovic was just so calm and collected. He made it look so easy to make those saves! Every goalkeeper knows it is never as easy as it looks. He tied the most saved penalties in a World Cup game. Quite an achievement!
Croatia did not look like the team that made it to the finals last time, but could be? I was rooting for Japan (and now, Korea), but I expect we'll see the usual suspects in the next round. On a different topics...not naming names, but does FIFA do drug-testing? I have never heard about it.
Brazil playing the beautiful game while Pele hopefully gets to watch from the hospital. I'm hoping for Brazil v Argentina. Ultimately I think Brazil will win the Cup.