A match-up that has seen some epic battles in women's world cup history. But not this time. China didn't dominate New Zealand. Norway should roll to the semifinals.
Re: Quarterfinal #1 [R] Thread title changed to protect this morning's results. I'll change it back tomorrow, but let's at least give 24 hours for people to view any taped matches. Thanks.
Re: Quarterfinal #1 [R] *sigh* I had to change the original thread titles quickly this morning while at work so that we didn't give away this morning's results. Title changed... again. And... it'll change again tomorrow with team names. Thanks.
Re: Quarterfinal #1 [R] Remember that beatdown China gave Norway back in '99? Look for the Vikingnesses to return the favor and make chicken chow mein out of the "Foil Roses"(that team is anything but Steel) If u think Brazil gave China a beating....Norway is gonna make things look ugly on Sunday!!
On contraire, China completely dominated New Zeland, they just didn't score many goals, same thing Norway did with Canada, btw, so why a different conclusion? Scandinavia has been rather forgetable this WWC, I like it that way. It would be great to have a Germany-China semifinals, keeping the host nation involved in the tournament.
No picks for me ... The only time I predicted a match this WWC, it was wrong. Way wrong. Fingers crossed Norway can A.) get their damn defense in order and B.) Find Rags in the box throughout the match.
The Chinese keep misreading their passes. It's as if they didn't expect the Norwegians to run so fast. Silly mistake by Wang, goal for Norway and I think this game is over.
One hour after that goal by Herlovsen and it's still 1-0 to Norway. The Chinese have looked very tired since the mid of the second half. European teams have even more of a physical edge in the women's game. Not a great game, Norway has done what they needed to do, the Chinese players look exhausted and just now their keeper Zhang saved them from the 2-0. Desperation is translating into a lot of pushing, too.
I enjoyed this one. Norway, as usual, was very well organized and China rarely threatened. Germany seems to be the better team heading into the semifinal but a Norway upset is definitely possible.
I expected more discussion. I needed the sleep so I'll watch this one tonight. Good for Herlovsen and Norway. Bring on Germany.
I heard what sounded like a referee's whistle right before the goal (enough so that I initially start fast-forwarding). I got the impression that the Chinese defenders (and the other Norway forward) let up a bit at that point. Shame to have something like that affect a critical result like this.
Damn it was much closer than I expected!! China's main problem was that when its players got to Norway's box they kept on passing....it was like THEY WERE AFRAID TO PULL THE TRIGGER!!! Well this was a learning lesson for them and they have the Olympics next year.....maybe instead of a foreign coach or their next coach should be either Sun Wen or Gao Hong who knows what it's like to play in big matches and give the extra motivation they so surely need!!
If China didn't make a stupid mistake and give up that first goal then it could've gone to penalties and who knows what would've happened. That was a great atmosphere at that stadium in China. There were noisy and had loud chants. What were some of those chants saying?
Morning, y'all. My take on the game: * I distinctly heard a whistle right before the goal. I even let out a huge sigh because I knew they had called offside. And then when Herlovsen scored, I was like 'huh?' Even she slowed just a bit before she fired her shot. * I <3 Bente Nordby. Seriously. I'd have her children. And did you notice that Tony D. was a little less hostile about her playing in this WWC than in the other match he called? He didn't seem quite so snotty about it. None of her saves were magnificent, but I give her mad love for making 7 saves in the first half and not letting her defense and China's attack catch her off-guard. * Norway found their offense against Ghana (but who couldn't?) and they finally showed they could defend like hell in this game. But my question is this: Can they find an equal balance of the two for Germany? * Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't China's coach (I think she coached in either the Swedish or Norwegian leagues before) somewhat new? From what Tony was saying during the game, the Chinese players have been trained to death by former coaches and were still recovering. I'm assuming with another year or two, she could get China back to where they need to be. Even with a Gao Hong or a Sun Wen, China would still be in the same boat as before. The Chinese guv-munt tends to train the ever-living hell out of all of their Olympic/professional athletes -- and not in a good way. By having a foreign coach come in, I would assume they'd have less of a stranglehold on the coaching and fitness regimens. And truth be told, the China players looked hella tired. No one showed any real emotion from their team and they did have a somewhat drone look. It's like they have no personality. (As was apparently mentioned by Gao Hong in a pre-game interview, according to Tony.) It wasn't a pretty game at all. And now I feel bad for going to bed before the Aus-Brz match. But Norway got the job done. Here's hoping they can do it twice more.
I thought the exact same thing, rewound it to make sure (flag was never up). I hope that didn't affect the play, will be interesting to see if it shows up in post-game comments.
I haven't heard a commentator say a word about it, but then when you get old one of the things that goes is hearing high frequencies. Maybe it was the Denmark coach getting his revenge.
Again, I'm there with y'all. I heard a whistle. Maybe someone in the stands? And unfortunately, I do think that's why the defender slowed when she did. And IIRC, no one said anything about it in the booth. And did they bother to interview anyone from the game during Rob Stone and Mitts little hour-long show? As soon as they mentioned they'd have college FB highlights, I went to bed. Because honestly, if they'd spend at least a little time interviewing some players (other than the U.S.) it would definately shed some light on the way the game unfolded. I realize this is being broadcast in the U.S., but would it kill them to do a couple of post-match interviews? Especially if they have an hour to kill?