2011 Women's World Cup of Soccer

Halftime...

USA 1 France Nil

Mike's favorite had a great first half. The rain is really affecting the game.

Should have been 2-0, but we'll forgive Wambach this time...considering her contribution on Sunday.

1-1 in the 2nd half.

Neophyte said:

I know there are Side Judges but those guys have limited responsibility and can't call fouls. I have been told that the head ref can ask them what they saw in foul situations but in a year of watching top international soccer now I have never seen the head official do that. Sorry, I just can't count the Side Judges in my figuring.

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This is where you are wrong Neo. The side judge has every right to call a foul and the referee, if they are a good one, will let the side judge make those calls. They are not there to simply call boundary calls like out of bounds or offsides.

Neophyte said:

It works for the NFL. It works for the NBA. I don't see why it can't work in soccer. You have a hierarchy and put teams officials together so they always work as a crew. Saying "it just won't work at this level" is not an answer if it has never even been tried.

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This is not the NFL or the NBA. This is FIFA. It may not be enough of an argument for you, but it is for me. I am not saying I know better than you, I am just saying I don't think more than one referee on the soccer field is necessary if there are qualified refs out there with the proper support.

Neophyte said:

The best ref in the world can't call what they can't see and the only way to fix that is more eyes on the action.

And if women are physically capable enough to be players, they are physically capable enough to be refs. That was a pretty sexist statement, brother.

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I am not saying there should be no women referees, just at this level it would be wise to have men since they are physically more capable of covering the field. Men are faster and can keep up with the action in a woman's game much easier than women can. It is not sexist, it is true. We are not talking about equality issues here, not a single woman on any of the top World Cup teams could play for one of the men's WC teams. Simple physics Neo.

Probably an agree to disagree issue.

There she is again!!!! Great corner and great goal by Abby!

2-1 USA leads. Abby with a goal. About 12 minutes to go.

3-1 USA. Another goal!

What a great shift in momentum by the Americans. The French were putting great pressure on and scored a goal early in the 2nd half. The USA hung in there and did not give up a goal to end up pushing forward and taking it to the French. These ladies are gritty/tough as hell!

See you on Sunday!

Elephant said:

This is where you are wrong Neo. The side judge has every right to call a foul and the referee, if they are a good one, will let the side judge make those calls. They are not there to simply call boundary calls like out of bounds or offsides.

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The fact that I didn't know this, owing to the fact that I have never seen a Side Judge call anything but boundary calls, should tell you all you need to know about it's effectiveness, El.

Elephant said:

This is not the NFL or the NBA. This is FIFA. It may not be enough of an argument for you, but it is for me. I am not saying I know better than you, I am just saying I don't think more than one referee on the soccer field is necessary if there are qualified refs out there with the proper support.

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See, I think this mindset is part of the issue. The "FIFA way" has been a failure way too often for this to be a defense. I consider FIFA to be the height of sports arrogance and this is a great example of why. I'm not calling you arrogant but you are parroting the "party line" here. What I hear when I read this is "we are FIFA and we just know better than you, you should just trust us".

*shrug*

I consider it a travesty and the main reason more Americans don't get into soccer. Of course, I don't think FIFA really wants more Americans in soccer either.

Elephant said:

I am not saying there should be no women referees, just at this level it would be wise to have men since they are physically more capable of covering the field. Men are faster and can keep up with the action in a woman's game much easier than women can. It is not sexist, it is true. We are not talking about equality issues here, not a single woman on any of the top World Cup teams could play for one of the men's WC teams. Simple physics Neo.

Probably an agree to disagree issue.

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Sounded pretty sexist to me, sir. If the women can be players, they can be refs. We aren't asking them to ref men's games.

And yeah, we are going to have to because FIFA is too hidebound to try anything in the way of fixing the officiating injustices so we will never know if I might have an idea or not.

Please don't take my tone as frustration with you, either. I might feel differently had I played soccer past the 6th grade (although I am considering getting back into it, which might be stupid at my age). I am just frustrated with the status quo and how bad officiating is ruining what is obviously a great game to both play and watch. I would like it to be a bigger deal in the US, for the USMNT to be a threat to win the WC and for MLS to be considered a top tier league in the world. I just don't see that happening with a couple of the current issues, officiating being the biggest one, and I don't see FIFA doing a damn thing to address them.

Neophyte said:

The fact that I didn't know this, owing to the fact that I have never seen a Side Judge call anything but boundary calls, should tell you all you need to know about it's effectiveness, El.

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You don't see side judges making the calls because they have been outfitted with radios to communicate. When I was a side-judge, if we saw a foul that the ref did not see, we would simply raise our flag and shake it slightly, then drop it. Given the advantage rule, the ref has the option to call or not. The referee is then required to make a motion to allow play to continue so that the call had been recognized.

The radio communication allows the refs to discuss in real time without having the possible confusion with the aforementioned policy. I have noticed that when High School games, which I used to ref, get to the championship levels, they are implementing radio communication in some states.

Neophyte said:

See, I think this mindset is part of the issue. The "FIFA way" has been a failure way too often for this to be a defense. I consider FIFA to be the height of sports arrogance and this is a great example of why. I'm not calling you arrogant but you are parroting the "party line" here. What I hear when I read this is "we are FIFA and we just know better than you, you should just trust us".

*shrug*

I consider it a travesty and the main reason more Americans don't get into soccer. Of course, I don't think FIFA really wants more Americans in soccer either..

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I agree there needs to be something done, but soccer is never going to be a widespread sport in the US no matter what FIFA does to attempt to attract American viewership.

The problem lies in the attraction to the sport at a young age. Soccer has always been and will remain a ghetto sport. Look at the greatest player to ever play the game, he started playing soccer barefoot with a bunch of wadded up newspaper. It is something anyone can play regardless of socioeconomic standing. Kids in the barrios around the world play soccer everyday. What sport does that remind you of here in the US? The riches American kids see in sports are from Basketball, Baseball and Football. They see these sports as their ticket out. In America soccer is a middle class sport. Kids here don't see soccer as a ticket out of anything. Therefore the best talents play those other sports. Could you imagine if athletes like Ocho Cinco, Clinton Portis or Devin Hester had been more interested in becoming stars in the soccer? If there was a payoff, they might have been interested. Can you imagine someone as big and fast as CP in his prime running the mid-field of the US national team?

Neophyte said:

Sounded pretty sexist to me, sir. If the women can be players, they can be refs. We aren't asking them to ref men's games..

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But a man is more physically capable than a woman of keeping up with the action. Sexist or not, it is the truth and I am surprised there are not men officiating at this level of the Women's game.

Neophyte said:

And yeah, we are going to have to because FIFA is too hidebound to try anything in the way of fixing the officiating injustices so we will never know if I might have an idea or not.

Please don't take my tone as frustration with you, either. I might feel differently had I played soccer past the 6th grade (although I am considering getting back into it, which might be stupid at my age). I am just frustrated with the status quo and how bad officiating is ruining what is obviously a great game to both play and watch. I would like it to be a bigger deal in the US, for the USMNT to be a threat to win the WC and for MLS to be considered a top tier league in the world. I just don't see that happening with a couple of the current issues, officiating being the biggest one, and I don't see FIFA doing a damn thing to address them.

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I am not taking it personally, I believe I know better. I just have a differing opinion in some respects. FIFA is flawed but I am not sure there is a bigger "good ole boys" system in the world.

As for playing again, it's fun to play but get in shape first. There is a lot of running.

Japan 1 Sweden 1 - at the half.

Japan 3 Sweden 1.

USA vs. Japan on Sunday.

I may even hit a sports bar to watch Sunday's final ... just watched the replay of today's match. It was like flipping a light switch...as soon as France tied the game, we bring in Rapinoe (I think I'm falling in love with her) and suddenly we're dominating the action after running for our lives most of the game. We just imposed our will on the french team - plain and simple. Can't wait for Sunday

Yeah, I don't understand why Rapinoe doesn't start...maybe her conditioning isn't as good? Coming off an injury? I don't know...but she should play 90 minutes for sure.

Her passing was way off until that perfect pass to Wambach in the 122nd minute!

MikeSr619 said:

her passing was way off in the game against brazil. maybe they wanted her to focus more. but i get why she didnt start. she will start against japan though i bet.

beat them like godzilla beats tokyo!!

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She was definitely the key to the turn-around in this one. As soon as she got in there, the offensive aggressiveness went up several notches. It was like a totally different team. I don't want her to start - I think she's perfect coming in mid-game to spark things.

I understand wanting a spark off the bench and all that, and maybe she's just a bullpen type player; at her best coming off the pine after halftime - but I still think she should start. They're going to need her creativity & passing skills against Japan.

I haven't heard her get much credit for it, but her pass to Alex Morgan that set up her goal was also perfect.

Boone said:

She was definitely the key to the turn-around in this one. As soon as she got in there, the offensive aggressiveness went up several notches. It was like a totally different team. I don't want her to start - I think she's perfect coming in mid-game to spark things.

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She was certainly a big part of it but I think of equal value was moving Cheney into the middle from the left wing spot as well. Lloyd just wasn't providing the creativity and holding ability that Cheney brought with her. When coupled with Rapinoe, they are a formidable team.

I give them props for it though, Mike. The only way it will ever get any bigger in the US is if it gets talked about on the sports channels and local evening news just like football, baseball, basketball and hockey.

I can tell you that locally I am pretty disgusted with the soccer coverage. FC Dallas was a Top 4 team last year in the MLS and played for the Cup after defeating the Galaxy with Donovan and Becks. This year, all they are doing is playing great, even after the loss of last years league MVP, David Ferreira, to a severe knee injury that will keep him out most, if not all, of the season. Yet they are 10-5-4 on the year.

Even with all that it is rare that the local news covers them or will cover them until the playoffs come around. If they could just get highlights and player interviews on the news once or twice a week, every week, I think it would make a big difference in soccer interest here in North Texas.

Sadly, I see DC United treated the same way when I am home visiting my folks and the San Jose Earthquakes ignored by the local news when I am in CA at the corp office.

So kudos to ESPN. I hope they keep it up.