Roberts and Milbert looked horrible. Bad touches and poor runs. Milbert's were not as dangerous to the US as she was playing forward but our subs MUST play better even in lopsided games. Of course if MIa, Lilly, Parlow, Boxx, and others keep playing like they are it may not matter.
The U.S. isn't in the second round yet, but North Korea would have to beat the U.S. by three goals to pass the United States. Even then, Sweden would have to beat Nigeria by multiple goals to also pass the United States.
After game 1 vs. Sweden (and her comments after), I'm not sure Scurry has a lot of room for complaints.
Mighty Mia! Great job, although i was a little sad to see S. Box's streak come to an end. Game Wrap http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/soccer/specials/womens_worldcup/2003/09/25/us.sweden.ap/
Yep, THe first sub had the level of play go up but next two caused a big drop in level of play. Wagner also stunk the place up in the first half. IT is hard to believe that we could play as well, as a team, as we did and have three+ sub-par showings. I guess that bodes well for the future. Also Sobero(sp) was VERY shaky in the center back.
My Ratings for USWNT Vs Nigeria Scurry: 6 (Got lucky with the Off Side) Reddick: 6.5 Fawcett: 7.5 Sobrero: 5.5 Bivens: 6 Foudy: 6.5 Wagner: 5 (She looks lost in the WC) Boxx: 6.5 Lilly: 7 Hamm: 8 (my WOTM) Parlow: 7 ------------------------------------- The Subs: Wambach 7.5 Milbertt 4.0 Roberts 4.5 -------------------------------- Coach: April: 6.5 Milbertt is out of form, April should give MacMillian the time. --------------------------------- Attendance: 6 Hamm treated a crowd of 31,553 to yet another masterful performance --------------------------------------------- Field conditon : 6 Too Narrow and worn out for WC
Decent effort by the team, but what the hell was April thinking in keeping Mia on the field for the whole 90? That hard foul Mia took in the 76th minute? Not good. Same goes for the PK that Abby earned, though she got her "revenge" soon enough. I wanted to see Foudy rested too, but her presence in the first two games has been so non-existent that she couldn't have been working terribly hard. Definitely looking forward to the DPRK game. Should be an interesting matchup.
I didn't get to watch the match cuz of unexpected belay bitch duties and my DirecTV receiver screwed up...how "bad" was Millie tonight? Better or worse than the Sweden match? I swear to God I thought I saw someone gloating about 50,000 tix being sold for this match.....
Question about Foudy's PK... I watched her take it, saw that the goaltender flagrantly infringed, didn't think much of it but also wasn't paying attention at that point. I'm hearing the ref had Foudy retake it... why? Per LOTG, if only the goaltender infringed and the kick went in the net, it stands as a goal. Did something else happen, or did the ref screw up the call?
I think she played worse than she did against Sweden. It's time for April to play MacMillian as a sub .
Ref screwed up....... PK: no re-takes if the goalie was at fault and the goal was scored....SOCCER 101 Plus , the frist PK was BOGUS.....only Wamback foul should have been the penalty.
That has to be one of the most bent referrees i've ever seen. USA awarded a penalty, for NO REASON after two minutes. Nigeria denied a goal for NO REASON. Wambach violently elbows a player who then needs to be stretchered off and NOT EVEN A YELLOW CARD, WHEN THE REF WAS A FEW METRES AWAY and the typically bias yanky media describe it as a merely "collision". Yet if it was an American on the receiving end it would be "the typically brutal Nigerian violently elbowed *Insert Becky, Hannah or Jane* and our poor girl had to be stretchered off the pitch". Not only this, but after the incident, Wambach was then clearly shown demonstrating to her teammates (who were laughing) how she elbowed Kayode! How can FIFA describe the incident as: "The big striker caught Nigerian defender Bunmi Kayode with a sharp elbow to the face. With blood pouring from her cheek, the African had to be stretchered off after nearly a five-minute break in play. (94')" While ESPN have the nerve to merely say: "Bunmi Kayode taken off on a stretcher in the final moments, her head immobilized, after she collided with Wambach." Is ESPN owned by FOX? Every 50-50 went USA's way. Every slightly hard tackle by us was a foul, while the yanks were getting away with murder. The ref was as bent as a crowbar. Whatever the bias and bad decisions, the USA would have whooped us. But i have to say; the officiating and behaviour of the USA team was a complete and utter disgrace. The USA were gifted the match before it even kicked off.
Obviously you're bitter after the loss, and granted I'm biased, but I thought the ref did a decent job. By no means perfect. There definitely should have been more yellow cards handed out. There were plenty of opportunities for the ref punishing the persistent infringement of the laws on both sides. Wambach should have received a yellow in my opinion as should have the hack against Sobrero and the hack against Mia late in the second half. As for the offside calls, thank God for the American Football lines on the field as it was obvious that those calls, made at the moment the ball is played to an attacker in offside position, were correct. Unfortunately the ref seemed late to notice the assistant referee's flag the whole game. The late goal opportunity of Nigeria's nullified by offside was a much closer call, but I think it too was correct. You also seem awfully cynical. But the ref in my opinion called a relatively equal game indicated by the foul counts. That being said, given Nigeria's last showing in the world cup, they have earned a reputation as a pretty brutal squad. The last WWC matchup between US and Nigeria is used as prime examples in a training video of things that referees should watch for. I too was shocked that a referee would call a PK that early in the game. Took guts to do that. Most referees will never give one early or late for the fear of being accused of just what you are accusing the referee of doing, predetermining the winner. But, the defender's attempt to kick the ball was poor and misguided and then as a result of the bad attempt (high challenge with cleats exposed), decided to bring her leg/body into Parlow. That coupled with the defender behind Parlow using her body to push Parlow into the collision seemed enough to warrant the foul. But I think as a result of that early PK foul or maybe because Nigeria has improved as a squad, their game was played no more dirty than the US squad. The violent challenges from '99 were not present in last night's matchup in my opinion.
We won and that is a good thing but what on earth was April thinking with those subs?? At the half I said to myself "self, it is time to take out Lilly, whose taken some big hits, and Mia, who will take hits as the game wears on." Each time I saw the subs getting ready to come in I thought April was about to do the right thing, only she didn't. Bivins had a couple of nice plays and a couple of real bonehead ones that didn't end up costing the team a goal (but could have). She had a couple of good services. She had a couple of nice tackles. She also passed the ball directly to Nigeria in the back third and it was her mark that scored the goal that was called back in the first half (she ball chased). I thought Sobs did better tonight than vs Sweden. The ref could have been a lot worse, for both sides. Whoever posted about Nigeria getting "jobbed" by the ref wasn't paying attention. The early penalty led Nigeria to try and get numbers forward more.
we went into the match expecting (w/ good reason) a physical game, and gave as good as they got- they rightfully were not going to get pushed around. that said, wambach should have gotten a yellow for her elbow. likewise, i'm amazed that sobrero came out of that horrible late tackle w/ no broken bones. and to muddy things even more, nigeria was in their best drama-queen mode.
The offsides was, undoubtedly, a good call. I don't even see how one can contest that. The penalty kick was a foul. I'm not sure what was called. The correct call, I thought, should have been dangerous play, which would have resulted in an indirect free kick. I thought the ref was calling every touch a foul, regardless of who was doing it. I saw a stat late in the game that the fouls was US-16, NIG-17. It ended up US-17, NIG-24. S, it was pretty even for most of the game.
About the retaken PK -- Milbrett was one step early into the box on the first try. I'm guessing that's why it was retaken. I'll leave the "but Dede was so far off her line that Foudy should've lobbed her" comments for someone else.
Easier to follow the Philips MatchCast? Sports Fan Stan, Wow you did lots of typing! Wouldn't it have been easier to just follow the game online at fifaworldcup.com? They have a live MatchCast of EVERY game, extremely detailed, complete with photos, trivia, poll, halftime report. It is really cool. Check out the archive from this game: http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/03/en/t/match/14/index.html Click the "Archive" button next to "Launch Philips MatchCast:"
I agree that Wagner did not have a good half. It seems like she's just not used to the speed of play at this level -- several times, she would try to bring the ball down and try to settle it, and a Nigerian would just strip it from her as she was bringing it down. It seemed to me that she was used to playing in a league where she would not get closed down as quickly. Milbrett didn't do much, I thought. I didn't think she looked as bad as she did against Sweden, but she wasn't much of an attacking threat. Wambach was awesome, IMHO. She is a total force out there -- a great physical presence. Even though she's no taller than Parlow, she seems much bigger.
Reffing and other stuff I give mixed reviews to the ref. To call for a PK when CP didn't even have the ball was a little spurious. I also had to question her calling back the quick restart in the first half when Mia quickly kicked the ball to Lil. The US hadn't asked for distance. Maybe she thought they needed the room. Sort of short circuits any surprise restart, doesn't it? I agree there should've been more cards given out last night, but I also agree that when you, like Sobs, sit on the ball trying to be cute, you're asking to be clocked. Subs, other than Abby (and at least one starter) were dismal in their play. The only thing worse than TR's first attempt at a pass were the subsequent ones. Watching Millie and AW was like watching someone at midcourt in a tennis match with their heads going back and forth. Case in point for Millie was when Mia crossed the ball into the penalty area from the right side of the box and Millie "let" the defender and keeper beat her to the ball. Try and impose yourself physically a little! Are both AW and Millie not game-fit? They look heavy and slow - slow in runs and, more importantly, slow to react to the ball and run of play. I heard the discussion between JP and Wendy about Ape letting Millie get game fit by playing? Huh? I thought you were supposed to show up for the camp game fit! And why did Ape include injured players (like Daniel and, to some extent Shannon) in the 20? Is there no one already fit and not injured who could have replaced them? I can understand Mac being included for her spirit and team chemistry. But, will she really play (my comments later on notwithstanding), since she has been favoring the knee and really hasn't had to cut or absorb a hard hit on it yet? In this "Group of Death" we can't afford to play those who are out of shape/injured lest we not advance. And, come October 1, all games are "lose and go home," so, it becomes even more difficult to play the subs. Unless AW changes her game drastically, I would not start her. In fact, I probably wouldn't play her unless we got far ahead. Shannon Boxx has pushed her aside so very easily. AW's invisible on the pitch and gets run off too many balls (same observation I had months ago). And, if Foudy doesn't feel comfortable on the right to contribute more than she has, then I would put Mac there rather than up front. Did I miss something, or since when did we start having our defenders (and defensive midfielders) boom the balls out of the back to no one in particular? The second half of the Sweden game looked a lot like many parts of this game. There was no attempt to mount any attack through the midfield. Even Joy, whose defensive skills are tops, but whose offensive support is wanting, just whaled away at the ball. Not entertaining at all. Good win in a very unpretty game.
Re: Reffing and other stuff Heartplay, Care to show me where exactly in the Laws of the Game where is says that a player has to have the ball before the referee can call a PK?