2 Cents about match Should we be concerned that the team is not scoring in the run of play? As long as we score enough to win games I don't care how goals are made; but what if the set-pieces run dry? Overall a very good game played by the U.S. If they meet Germany, they cannot play at the level they did tonight. I can't put my finger on what was missing tonight other than some errant passes and failing to take shots quickly. My thoughts: - Parlow deserved a card. - Depending on the Ref's view of the play, the PK could also *not* have been called. - Was impressed with Parlow roaming the field, Bivens trying to hold on to the midfield, and our whole backline. - Was our midfield that strong or was Norway's not that strong? - Disappointed in Milbrett's play (read, "slump"). - Wambach was everywhere. Was it her tired legs that have let the ball go over the touch line the past couple games? Hamm did fine. - Riise should've been in earlier. You could see the spark she created for the short time she was in there.
Am I missing something? Is the WWC only used for UEFA Olympic qualifying? From the CONCACAF site: "CONCACAF announced today that the 2004 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualification Final Round has been relocated from Mexico to Costa Rica, and it will now take place from 25 February – 7 March.... ...The five preliminary qualifiers (winners from the home-and-home and three-team competitions) will join Canada, Costa Rica and USA in the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Final Round for two berths to the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece."
Re: Re: Re: Today's Ref The ref let a lot of stuff go in the first half. Boxx went in studs up on several hard tackles... I think the key was the midfield for the US. I don't think the US backline is really that strong. No team can really penetrate through the midfield and the defense has not been tested in the tournament thus far.
Re: Re: Re: Today's Ref If it was worthy of a foul, it was worthy of a PK. I don't think that the standard should change one bit once you're in the box, but obviously reasonable minds can disagree on this point.
But we digress. The TopOfTheCircle.com ratings: Scurry 7.5 -- Not much to do (one shot!) but you could hear her organize out there Pearce 8 -- So quick to get back on defense and chase down counterattacks Fawcett 9 -- Organized, fluid, a rock Sobrero 9.5 -- Bonus points for the tackle that sent an already-hurting Ronning to the bench Reddick 8.5 -- Almost scored again! Boxx 9 -- Will be in the side for years to come Lilly 9.5 -- If she would have scored on that late blast, the house would have been brought down Foudy 6 -- If she had completed a couple of those midfield passes instead of throwing lollipops, it could have been 3-0 Parlow 7.5 -- A presence in the box Hamm 7.5 -- Poorly-struck PK, but not in a shootout (thankfully), and hustled back on defense Wambach 9 -- In reality, took a dive on PK call, but she was able to fight through holding, grabbing, and double-teaming Milbrett 6 -- Waiting for that Peppermint Patty confidence to come back Bivens 7 -- That needed extra bit of juice on the defensive end of the pitch ________________________ Heinrichs 8 -- Went against Norway's height with even mightier height and was fortunate to get a header in off the left hand of Nordby. Amazing courage to pull Foudy off the field; sometimes the substitution of a captain can be disastrious (exhibit A, France-South Korea). Team has not exhibited a whit of 1999-style of technical football. May not need it if the next two opponents are UEFA teams or Canada. Petignat 6 -- Bogus PK call, gave out four Norway yellows and no US yellows (meaning that the United States will, if it gets to the final, have every uninjured player on the roster available if no red cards or second-yellows are issued in the semifinal match). Missed numerous holding calls, but did not whistle much of the "ticky-tack" stuff.
Good to get the win. Although, there were a large number of bad passes in our midfield but Norway didn't really connect well, either. My question about Parlow's high kick isn't whether she should have gotten a card, but how in the world did she get her leg that high? Also, what was the deal with Nordby's collar? It looked to me like she was wearing a priest's collar but that couldn't have been it.
Probably a turtleneck with an unapproved logo (unapproved by either FIFA or the Norwegian federation) and was taped over. You'll notice that there are no "FULL 90" logos on the headgear that Fawcett and others are wearing.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Today's Ref Contact isn't always worthy of a foul. I think the key here, for me, was posession. Both players went for a 50-50 ball, neither had the intent of foulding. Wambach got there first, booted the ball towards goal and missed, and tripped over Nordby as she tried to jump and avoid her. If she had tried to dribble Nordby, therefore maintaining possession, and been tripped, it would have been a foul despite the lack of intention.
The U.S. way beats Norway Americans play foe's defense perfectly to advance to semifinals, by Mark Zeigler "We stole a page from their playbook," Heinrichs said, then allowed herself a wry smile. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/thu/sports/news_1s2wwcup.html
Foudy had a good game, I thought -- her best of the tournie. I actually thought Hamm's game was a bit off -- yes, she ran like hell, and took quite a beating, but she never really seemed to create any dangerous chances for the US. She also seemed to get dispossessed quite a bit when she'd try to take players on. And of course there's the botched PK. She did a fine job getting back on defense, though, and made many nice tackles. Wambach again had an awesome game. I think she's the MVP of the tournament so far -- every game, she does the same thing, completely destroying the opponent's backline. I also thought Boxx had a great game -- what a nice surprise she's been!
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Today's Ref Again, aside from the lack of dangerous intent, I don't see how what Nordby did on this play was terribly different from Scurry-Ljungberg in the first match. Nordby certainly didn't deserve a yellow, but I think calling the foul was a reasonable decision. BTW, I kept thinking too that Nordby looked like a priest with that white band on her collar.
You've got to be kidding. Abby Wambach was far and away the dominant player on the pitch last night. She scored the only goal. She gave the Norway defense fits; they could only stop her by double-teaming her, holding her and yanking her jersey, and even then she overcome them repeatedly. She helped out on defense. She got open for passes on both sides of the field. She controlled passes to her, distributed to teammates, and beat defenders. Last night's game ranked with some of Akers' more inspirational performances. The other three top players last night for the USA: Reddick, Fawcett and Boxx. Reddick played both ways and was so mature on the field. Fawcett played her best defensive game of the tournament and ran the back line like the field general that Overbeck used to be. Boxx won challenge after challenge and showed she could control contested balls and turn them into passes. Scurry was steady, giving a presence that was settling. Sobrero did an excellent job of keeping the Norway attack under wraps. Pearce showed the consistency that vindicates Heinrichs' decision to make a starter out of her. But, let's face it. The biggest reason Norway's attack did not get going was because the USA held the ball in Norway's end most of the time. That was because Boxx and Reddick kept winning contested balls and doing the safe and smart thing: getting the ball up the pitch to the Wombat. It totally took Norway's midfield out of the play. Parlow played one of the best games of her WNT tenure. She hustled and helped take some of the pressure off Wambach on the services from Boxx, Reddick and the rest of the back line. Frankly, I was disappointed in the midfield play. The crisp passing that so characterized Hamm's and Lilly's play in the first two games wasn't there tonight. In fact, in the second half, only Foudy among the three vets in the midfield was consistently turning defensive stops into crisp attacks. My biggest tactical question: Why is Joy Fawcett not taking penalties for the USA? I'll start a separate thread on that. To put the game in perspective, I watched with a close friend who is an avid Man U fan. Every time Wambach played the ball with skill (i.e., most of the match), he said in awe with a low voice, "Van Nistelrooy." That's how good Wambach was last night. A well-deserved USA win.
93rd minute. Ball popped into the US penalty area between Gulbrandsen and Mellgren. How many people here had flashbacks to Auslympics'00? Naw. RVN could teach her a lot about diving.
Well, I guess I wasn't impressed with Wambach's dribbling and on-the-ground game as much as you were. As far as winning headers and getting in the open space, she was great... You say Toe-mato, I say Tah-mahto... I think I'll stick with my first impression, WOTM=Reddick. Totally agree on Fawcett stepping right into Overbeck's shoes with no change in quality.
Re: Re: Re: Today's Ref Yes,there was some missed calls but compared to the level of officiating throughout the Tournament so far this Ref has been the best official.Admitedly this does not say a lot for the standards of officiating which has not been at a high level considerating the fact that this is The Major Tournament. Does bring out though how poor the WUSA officiating was.
Dribbling? When she’s dribbling, the defenders simply could not get her off the ball, even when they were fouling. Moreover, she has that spin move she used last night at least twice to completely shake a defender. She is fast, exceedingly strong and skilled in dribbling. Then, she is most dominant in the air, and she can draw penalty kicks (highly questionable call last night though). In short, she’s by far the most dominant player on the pitch. She reminds me of Shaq, except she can do more with a soccer ball than Shaq can do with a basketball. I wish we could have a player on USMNT who can play like her.
Her play this tournament reminds me of Conor Casey's during the 2000 Olympics. He had a really great game against the Czech Republic, and did many of the things Wambach has been doing all tournament -- using his size to his advantage, making good runs, holding the ball, using his speed, etc. I haven't seen Casey play since then, but I'm hoping he'll develop into a Wambach-like forward for the men.
Scott French's report on Soccer America: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/soccer/specials/womens_worldcup/2003/10/02/us.norway.sa/ A "spineless" spot kick? WOW.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Today's Ref I think she's into/studying religion in which was the reason why she retired earlier. But decided to coming back to the national team. I'm not sure about it, but maybe nordby1 can help me out on this one.
"RVN could teach her a lot about diving" Yes, him and Robbie Savage. Africa is also in the middle of Qualification too. Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe v Angola and South Africa have a home and away series later this month and in November 1 team will be left when it's done in March of 2004.
i been watching most of the games and i can belive the calls that the U.S.A team gets...how many PK are they going to give the U.S.A. is really pathetic. The U.S.A. team gets every call in there favor and still don't impress anyone with the soccer they play.
Re: 2 Cents about match I wonder about this too, although remember the Hamm-to-Wambach goal that was mysteriously converted to a PK. That should have counted and it came from the run of play, IIRC.
Re: Re: 2 Cents about match I believe that was Bivens to the Wombat. The phantom, sort of, call prevented Bivens from getting her first WWC point.