# Womens' WC 2019



## electrichead72 (Jun 7, 2019)

Starts today, we'll see the US can hang onto the title.

The other teams are looking good this year.


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## younothat (Jun 7, 2019)

GO USA!  Lots of experience on this squad for the USWNT  

So who are the favorites to win the 2019 FIFA Women's Cup?
USA 7-4
France 7-2
Germany 11-2
England 7-1

What other teams have a good chance?

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP CELEBRATION presented by adidas & LAFC
http://www.adidaswwc.com/la/

108 Women’s World Cup Players on Their Jobs, Money and Sacrificing Everything
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/07/sports/soccer/world-cup-survey.html


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## espola (Jun 7, 2019)

younothat said:


> GO USA!  Lots of experience on this squad for the USWNT
> 
> So who are the favorites to win the 2019 FIFA Women's Cup?
> USA 7-4
> ...


What is the source for those numbers?


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## younothat (Jun 7, 2019)

espola said:


> What is the source for those numbers?


https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/world-cup/news/womens-world-cup-odds-2019-predictions-picks-top-teams-to-target-from-proven-projection-model/


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## espola (Jun 8, 2019)

Ball to hand?  (RSA - ESP)

I can see a recruiting search for armless defenders.


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## espola (Jun 12, 2019)

France gave Norway a goal, and the referee gave it back.


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## MakeAPlay (Jun 12, 2019)

Netherlands is going to be in the final....


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## electrichead72 (Jun 12, 2019)

That seemed pretty slight, and anywhere else on the pitch it probably would've been ignored.

Bummer for Norway, they were keeping the French at bay.


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## oh canada (Jun 12, 2019)

I prefer to look at odds this way:

Chance of beating USA:

France - 50%
Netherlands - 20%
Australia - 20%
Germany - 15%
Canada - 10%
England - 10%
Sweden - 10%
Norway - 8%
Brazil - 3%
All other teams (including Spain) - 0%


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## espola (Jun 12, 2019)

electrichead72 said:


> That seemed pretty slight, and anywhere else on the pitch it probably would've been ignored.
> 
> Bummer for Norway, they were keeping the French at bay.


Bullshit call.  Both players went full out for the ball.    There was a collision.  Shit happens.


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## espola (Jun 13, 2019)

Iffy VAR handball call rescues referee from having to make easy PK call (Aus-Bra).


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## espola (Jun 13, 2019)

Ref having a tough day.


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## MakeAPlay (Jun 13, 2019)

Australia is having a rough run of form.   If they lose this game they will have to beat Jamaica to get to the knockout round and they will most likely face France.  Maybe not this year.


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## MakeAPlay (Jun 13, 2019)

What a comeback by the Matildas!


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## Just A Dad (Jun 13, 2019)

listening to Alexi Lalas is a constant reminder whats wrong with the mens national team


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## espola (Jun 13, 2019)

Just A Dad said:


> listening to Alexi Lalas is a constant reminder whats wrong with the mens national team


That we should go back 20 years to the programs that produced our most successful run in international play?


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## Just A Dad (Jun 13, 2019)

espola said:


> That we should go back 20 years to the programs that produced our most successful run in international play?


He's completely out classed by the people on the same stage as him


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## Grace T. (Jun 13, 2019)

SA goalkeeper was pretty amazing today.  Shame the offense couldn't convert.  Along with the Jamaican GK's performance, some really great goalkeeping performances (yeah a lot of mediocre or outright bad too...ahem...Brazil and Thailand).


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## Supermodel56 (Jun 13, 2019)

Grace T. said:


> SA goalkeeper was pretty amazing today.  Shame the offense couldn't convert.  Along with the Jamaican GK's performance, some really great goalkeeping performances (yeah a lot of mediocre or outright bad too...ahem...Brazil and Thailand).


SA keeper did well but it was more China’s lack of ability to finish... They need a dominant finisher - aside from that, China played very good soccer, controlling possession most of the game, giving themselves a chance after chance.

SA did better in the second half, but the only thing they could get going were through balls to that fwd. If China had a finisher, this could’ve easily looked like US vs Thailand...


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## espola (Jun 14, 2019)

I think we have found another referee who won't be working the knockout rounds.


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## espola (Jun 14, 2019)

espola said:


> I think we have found another referee who won't be working the knockout rounds.


...and again.


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## MakeAPlay (Jun 14, 2019)

Italy is working Jamaica right now.


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## Just A Dad (Jun 14, 2019)

I love the toughness of women players


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## espola (Jun 14, 2019)

MakeAPlay said:


> Italy is working Jamaica right now.


Jamaica is lower ranked lowed by FIFA than Thailand, so at what point should Italy stop celebrating their goals?


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## espola (Jun 14, 2019)

The wikipedia page on WWC is better than FIFA's.  The only disadvantage is that you have to refresh the view after every game.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_FIFA_Women's_World_Cup

An example - I gave up trying to find the FIFA tiebreaker rules on the FIFA site.  Wiki has them right up front.


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## Goforgoal (Jun 14, 2019)

What a wonderful goal by England on the break out of the back just now. That was fantastic.


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## espola (Jun 14, 2019)

I was going to ask but got distracted by the rest of the game - was that the first time VAR called a keeper off the line on a PK?

And now - listening to JP Dellacamera speak English is hard enough.  His French is much worse.


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## espola (Jun 14, 2019)

Goforgoal said:


> What a wonderful goal by England on the break out of the back just now. That was fantastic.


I was afraid this might turn out to be the heartbreak group with too many ties and was prepared sarcastic remarks about no points for possession and looking up the Fair-Play standings in case the tiebreakers came down to that.


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## Grace T. (Jun 14, 2019)

espola said:


> I was going to ask but got distracted by the rest of the game - was that the first time VAR called a keeper off the line on a PK?
> 
> And now - listening to JP Dellacamera speak English is hard enough.  His French is much worse.



Yeah that was lame....if they are going to call the technical foul then call also the violation of the box by the Italians rushing in....

A great performance by the Argentine keeper...


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## espola (Jun 14, 2019)

Grace T. said:


> Yeah that was lame....if they are going to call the technical foul then call also the violation of the box by the Italians rushing in....
> 
> A great performance by the Argentine keeper...


Aren't you a referee?  What is the restart if both sides violate on a PK?  Isn't it still a do-over?


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## espola (Jun 14, 2019)

espola said:


> I was afraid this might turn out to be the heartbreak group with too many ties and was prepared sarcastic remarks about no points for possession and looking up the Fair-Play standings in case the tiebreakers came down to that.


Someone must be listening to me - the Wikipedia page now shows Fair-Play points as footnotes where relevant (as in Group E at the moment).  Personally, I would have just added a FP column for all teams.


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## Grace T. (Jun 14, 2019)

espola said:


> Aren't you a referee?  What is the restart if both sides violate on a PK?  Isn't it still a do-over?



I'm only a level 8 and this one falls under the double offense committed at the same time rule which I've never been able to fully get (so Jamaica'd be better off letting the ball go in and resulting in an IDFK?).  I think it is doover but doesn't it require a double caution?  And then since it arguably happened again on the second shot, wouldn't it mean that it would need to be reviewed if they are going to call it that tightly?  And where is the keeper infringement listed as one of the things the VAR ref should call down the CR (seriously asking....don't know)?


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## espola (Jun 14, 2019)

Grace T. said:


> I'm only a level 8 and this one falls under the double offense committed at the same time rule which I've never been able to fully get (so Jamaica'd be better off letting the ball go in and resulting in an IDFK?).  I think it is doover but doesn't it require a double caution?  And then since it arguably happened again on the second shot, wouldn't it mean that it would need to be reviewed if they are going to call it that tightly?  And where is the keeper infringement listed as one of the things the VAR ref should call down the CR (seriously asking....don't know)?


Good questions.


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## espola (Jun 14, 2019)

I think they should stop the clock during VAR and referee interactions.  It's not advanced technology.  We can measure whether a ball in flight has completely crossed the line, but we don't know how long the half is going to last? 

"...Electrically they keep the baseball score..."  That beat's been going on since 1967.  Surely FIFA can catch up, at least in professional venues like this.


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## MakeAPlay (Jun 14, 2019)

Every group but group F looks like it will be won by a European team.  Once those European federations get serious about their soccer it becomes just a matter of time before they dominate.  This could seriously be an all European final 4.


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## MakeAPlay (Jun 14, 2019)

espola said:


> Jamaica is lower ranked lowed by FIFA than Thailand, so at what point should Italy stop celebrating their goals?


All of the celebrations I saw were hugging teammates.  I didn’t see anyone running and sliding around or ticking off meaningless goals. Alex Morgan might win the golden boot yet be done in the quarterfinals.  I would take one goal against France for 12 against Thailand.


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## espola (Jun 15, 2019)

Eavesdropping on professional referees' comments  here --

http://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/2019-wwc-referee-discussion-rs.2090742/page-21


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## Grace T. (Jun 15, 2019)

MakeAPlay said:


> Every group but group F looks like it will be won by a European team.  Once those European federations get serious about their soccer it becomes just a matter of time before they dominate.  This could seriously be an all European final 4.


The Europeans (with the exception of the UK) have made vast attitude and training changes in women's sports in the last 20 or so years...their player pools are not as big as ours but are based on their tracking and academy systems.  The Latin Americans and Asians haven't as much (with the exception of China) where in Latin America at least it's still considered gross and unladylike for girls to play.

It's also going to be a question of goalkeeping and what we can do post-Solo...we just don't know yet since it hasn't been seriously tested for any of the top teams yet


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## espola (Jun 15, 2019)

The Netherlands women look tactically brilliant but physically slow.


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## espola (Jun 15, 2019)

Canada-New Zealand will be shown at noon on Fox Sports 2 channel, which is 401 on my local Spectrum San Diego lineup.


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## espola (Jun 15, 2019)

espola said:


> Canada-New Zealand will be shown at noon on Fox Sports 2 channel, which is 401 on my local Spectrum San Diego lineup.


Canada win or Canada-NZ tie guarantees Canada a spot in the knockout rounds, 1-1 or higher puts NZ as 4th 3rd-place team for the moment.  NZ win exceeds my desire to analyze right now.


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## espola (Jun 15, 2019)

How many medics does it take to make a handball not intentional?


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## espola (Jun 15, 2019)

Time for the "no points for possession" sarcasm although I think it might be pointless in this match (CAN-NZL) since Canada has not had to play the ball out of the back much anyway.


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## espola (Jun 16, 2019)

Sweden is on pace (extrapolating after the first goal) to get 15 against Thailand.


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## espola (Jun 16, 2019)

espola said:


> Sweden is on pace (extrapolating after the first goal) to get 15 against Thailand.


Projection down to 10 now.


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## espola (Jun 16, 2019)

espola said:


> Projection down to 10 now.


Someone on the Thai bench is texting on her phone.


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## espola (Jun 16, 2019)

I guess a dropped ball is live when it hits the ground so 2 touches is ok?


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## espola (Jun 16, 2019)

The Thai women cast a late vote for direct play.


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## espola (Jun 16, 2019)

2 chances so far where a soft shot would have scored and a hard shot didn't.


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## espola (Jun 16, 2019)

I wonder if VAR will lead creative coaches and defenders to play tricky offside trap moves on free kicks.  Without VAR, you have to depend on the AR being aware and competent, but with VAR you can get sub-second half-inch measurements.


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## Surfref (Jun 16, 2019)

espola said:


> I guess a dropped ball is live when it hits the ground so 2 touches is ok?


As soon as it hits the ground it is in play


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## espola (Jun 16, 2019)

Surfref said:


> As soon as it hits the ground it is in play


On a different forum, it was claimed that even though the ball is live and the first player to touch it may continue with it, a goal either way would not count unless touched by at least one other player on either team.


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## Grace T. (Jun 17, 2019)

Another VAR call on the GK line during the penalty? (and again on the second shot, there was a line violation by players)...this one was a closer call since under the new rules she's allowed to take the step forward but it seems her back heel stuttered forward too.  Tough as well since that one decided the match.

Also another exceptional performance by a goalkeeper (this one the Chinese keeper....and though granted all Spain's shots were saveable and most didn't carry very much force, it was still a flawless performance).


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## electrichead72 (Jun 17, 2019)

If Spain could work out a finisher, they could get dangerous.

They play a nice game, just can't get it in the net.

The Chinese keeper did save the few real chances they had.


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## espola (Jun 22, 2019)

AUS-NOR best game of the tournament so far.


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## espola (Jun 23, 2019)

Back when FIFA/IFAB changed the rule about passing back to the keeper sometime in the 90's, I was only following indoor soccer (Sockers!) and ignorant of the impact for years.  When my boys got old enough to play on an organized outdoor team, their coach told me about it.  I laughed.  How are they going to call THAT?  A little research will show that the transition was not smooth, with IFAB having to issue emergency amendments  ("...obvious trickery...", lots of debate over the overlapping meanings of "deliberate" and "intentional", etc) when players started taking advantage of the loopholes in the change.

England just scored over Cameroun from an indirect kick as a result of that rule change.


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## Zdrone (Jun 23, 2019)

espola said:


> England just scored over Cameroun from an indirect kick as a result of that rule change.


First time I’ve seen it actually happen. *edit: seen the indirect from inside the box

Crazy game.  I had it on mute and was trying to figure out the huddle at the end of the first half.  I thought Cameroon played strong the second half (or England’s defense isn’t that good).
Gotta find a replay of the Cameroon denied goal.  Sure looked onside live.


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## espola (Jun 23, 2019)

Zdrone said:


> First time I’ve seen it actually happen. *edit: seen the indirect from inside the box
> 
> Crazy game.  I had it on mute and was trying to figure out the huddle at the end of the first half.  I thought Cameroon played strong the second half (or England’s defense isn’t that good).
> Gotta find a replay of the Cameroon denied goal.  Sure looked onside live.


The Cameroun attempt was offside - easy to see it with VAR.  Before halftime, the Cameroun players were pissed because VAR overruled an offside call that resulted in a goal counting for England.


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## Surfref (Jun 23, 2019)

Is there anyone besides the Brazilian fans and the referee that thought the Brazilian keeper had possession of the ball.  Should have been a France goal.  Too many fouls in this game and no flow.


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## watfly (Jun 23, 2019)

Surfref said:


> Is there anyone besides the Brazilian fans and the referee that thought the Brazilian keeper had possession of the ball.  Should have been a France goal.  Too many fouls in this game and no flow.


Was possession the call?  I had to run out after that.  Didnt know if the call was possession, handball or charge.  None of which were remotely possible, particularly possession.

Is clear and obvious for VAR not being used in WWC?  Sure seems like it.


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## Real Deal (Jun 23, 2019)

Does anyone think the use of VAR, as it is being used here, will ever fly on the men's side?


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## espola (Jun 23, 2019)

Real Deal said:


> Does anyone think the use of VAR, as it is being used here, will ever fly on the men's side?


Yes.  If anything, they are working out the kinks, and as a result it will become more acceptable in general.


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## Surfref (Jun 23, 2019)

espola said:


> Yes.  If anything, they are working out the kinks, and as a result it will become more acceptable in general.


FIFA needs to figure out a way to speed up the VAR decisions. It takes far too long and interrupts the flow of the game.


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## espola (Jun 23, 2019)

Surfref said:


> FIFA needs to figure out a way to speed up the VAR decisions. It takes far too long and interrupts the flow of the game.


Referees in hotly contested games at the youth and school level will have to get used to a lot of VAR finger-signals on close calls.


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## watfly (Jun 23, 2019)

Real Deal said:


> Does anyone think the use of VAR, as it is being used here, will ever fly on the men's side?


In defense of VAR, it work well at the Men's World Cup, particularly great in group play.  Not exactly sure what's happening at WWC but I think its a combination of factors.  As I understand it, VAR wasn't supposed to be used to "re-referee" the game, but that appears to be in fact what's happening.  VAR was supposed to be used for "clear and obvious" situations and now it seems it is being used to make  "obsure and random" decisions.  Unfortunately, the VAR/reffing is the story of the the tournament and not the competition, teams or players.


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## Jose has returned (Jun 23, 2019)

Cameroon was embarrassing today.  They certainly aren't ready for the big stage. They looked like a badly behaved middle school team.


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## foreveryoung (Jun 23, 2019)

Surfref said:


> FIFA needs to figure out a way to speed up the VAR decisions. It takes far too long and interrupts the flow of the game.


Its completely affecting the spirit of the game.   So many interruptions and you can’t celebrate any goals  because you know the VAR is coming.   It’s almost like what’s the point of having professional referees.  We could just VAR the whole game and have a whistle blower with a headset who is told when to stop the game.  I’m definitely not a fan of the extent to which it’s being used in this World Cup.  I’d rather have incorrect calls than all the interruptions.


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## baldref (Jun 24, 2019)

Surfref said:


> FIFA needs to figure out a way to speed up the VAR decisions. It takes far too long and interrupts the flow of the game.


VAR and poor officiating is tainting this tournament and turning it into a joke. GLT is great. VAR is an abomination in this form.


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## electrichead72 (Jun 24, 2019)

It really seems to be hindering the game.

Keeping the flag down until a goal is scored and VAR agrees is not helping matters.

Between that and checking every single call in the area is just dragging this down and the 7 min added stoppage time isn't making it any better.

I don't see them stopping like this after almost every play when VAR has been used in other tournaments.


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## Grace T. (Jun 24, 2019)

electrichead72 said:


> I don't see them stopping like this after almost every play when VAR has been used in other tournaments.


Partially it's a function of the instruction given to the ARs to keep the flag down which is different than some of the other tournaments (why then do we need ARs on the field?....you could just move them to the video booth if that's the way you want to run the offside calls).

Partially it's also a function of the news rules (particularly the handball and goalkeeper rules) which are also new.


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## espola (Jun 25, 2019)

Chinese keeper got away with a red-card tackle because Italy scored on the play.


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## espola (Jun 25, 2019)

espola said:


> Chinese keeper got away with a red-card tackle because Italy scored on the play.


https://streamable.com/wtnl7


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## Grace T. (Jun 25, 2019)

espola said:


> https://streamable.com/wtnl7


It's interesting how the keepers in the WWC this year can be mostly grouped into 2 categories: those in command of their box and those with large gaps in their technique.  That ball should have been smothered with her hands (at least that's my preference...the other technique is to hold low and block).  Never feet first (at least not if in the box)....that's the kind of thing first year keepers get yelled for at their entire first year.  Given the enormous pressure being placed on keepers now (such as the recent goings on with De Gea, Karius, Lloris, Neuer), 5 years from now you won't be seeing a lot of this sort of thing.


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## espola (Jun 29, 2019)

The Netherlands header was not very skillful, but it changed the ball direction just enough to get it away from the Italy keeper.


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## ToonArmy (Jun 29, 2019)

espola said:


> The Netherlands header was not very skillful, but it changed the ball direction just enough to get it away from the Italy keeper.


The next one was. Those goals were coming


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## espola (Jun 29, 2019)

Germany - Sweden - pretty goals both ways.


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## espola (Jun 29, 2019)

The broadcast audio has so much crowd noise factored in that I almost can't hear JP - which is a big improvement.


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## espola (Jun 29, 2019)

It looks like the Swedish keeper got away with planting an elbow in the German player's ear because she (or someone German) was offside.


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