I used to be almost as big a hockey fan as I am a soccer fan. But hockey is different, very different, and the level of contact is much higher. But a lot of the things added/changed to "protect" players, like the no touch icing, have actually hurt the game and made watching it almost painful. Hockey has "safetied" itself almost out of the enjoyment sphere. I no longer watch hockey. In this match the US seems out its depth but Rapinoe is now out, I think, so the teams are now even personnel wise.
England is in the "protect the lead" mode. I think it is too early for that but it looks like the US is not able to maintain possession so that will make the "protect the lead" mode work.
Agree to disagree about no touch icing. As for “safety-ing” itself out of enjoyment, I sort of agree, as hitting isn’t what it used to be. A good, clean, open ice hit can absolutely make an impact (for example, give a trailing team a shot of energy) but isn’t as common now. Still, some of the skills of the players these days like Zegras or Matthews sort of makes up for the “safety-ing”.
Again I "could" be remembering incorrectly but is it not in the laws that the goalkeeper's uniform must be clearly different that either team and clearly different than the other keeper. It looks like both the US and English goalkeepers are wearing the same color. The US is gifted a PK by the ref. but VAR will overrule the call. Unless the left cheek of the butt is called a hand.
No penalty after VAR. That was weird for the ref to even that that was a hand. I'd contest the drop ball. Dunn has been in Sauerbrunn for Girma Thompson for Rapinoe Sanchez for Rodman
Rapinoe is now out. The US's chances are going up. But the rest of the team seem quie willing to make bad plays and touches to make up for Rapinoe's absence. I wonder how she feels about be replaced by a 17 year old.
In that case my old eyes are seeing wrong. It is not the first time that has happened and it will not be the last.
England is now in complete control. They are pretty much playing exactly as they want and the US has no answer at all.
Nope there are many way a drop ball can be contested. But usually they are not now days. England successfully defends their lead. Only once or twice in the second half did the US look dangerous. Final 2-1 England wins.
Good game. Really good game. England is really good. Did I say that England is good? Fearless, confident play. I didn't see any standouts on the U.S. side. Girma and Huerta were good on defense. I would have liked to see Rodman on the ball more. Sullivan looked good in the first half. Cook, not so good. Rapinoe? Not so good. Smith. Smooth and slick as usual, but needs a lot of chances to score. Lavelle and Girma were the best players on the U.S. side.
Uh, no. The Laws were amended so that all DB are to a single player with all other players 4 meters away. When the ball was in or last touched in the PA, the DB is to the GK. So, no, there was absolutely no way to contest the DB to the keeper.
England had two good chances early in the 2nd half and both Kelly and Bronze missed the net. The U.S. has a lot of talent, especially up front.
Just last week I saw in a Premier league match a referee make a mistake when the ball was not close to any player. He stopped play and consulted with his assistant and then awarded a contested drop ball. So either the referee was wrong (a real possibility) or there are situations where a drop ball can be contested. Maybe the "amendment" excluded situations where the ball was not clearly in anybody's possession.
possession is 69% vs 31% and passes is 618 vs 264. I didn’t realize we have such a low possession. I wonder how it will go on for Spain game.
Well that was disappointing. England is probably on cloud 9 after beating the group we ran out there. I wont call that our "A" team but it was a B - B+ team. My hope is that Vlat finally sees that Rapino cannot play that many minutes and is a liability on defense. Id say she is finished but with his bench, he didnt have a lot of choices. I cant think of anyone that had a real good night. Finally, its a bad game when VAR gives the other team a goal then takes one away. Way too much involvement for my money. The ref did not call either situation but the game was stopped to "Review" the non calls. Sucks!!!!!