Australia 1-0. Magnificent through ball from Fowler & a strike of equal quality from Foord. Still a long way to go. Expect Kerr to come on in the second half no matter what the score. If we go behind we'll need her scoring power, if we are ahead she'll need the chance to have a run.
And the US goes out. Megan chokes. Sweden moves on. Rapinoe costs the US team, once again as fame and woke were far more important to her than actually being part of a winning team.
To most people in most countries at most times a player with Olympic Gold, Olympic Bronze and two World Cups would be considered a legend. Few nations can claim footballers with such achievements. Yet in the perverse universe of right wing American politics she is a villain. Ideology ahead of country strikes again.
Nah, she's not a villain. She's a has been who didn't accept it. And her antics on and off the field undermined her team. It showed. The US team are out, and headed back to the US. I find it super ironic that you don't understand that your comment about ideology over country applies to Rapinoe in every way.
I'm glad England made it though but it sickens me to read that. I absolutely hate penalty shootouts. I wish FIFA would get rid of them, at least for the World Cup....
It is indeed incomprehensible that the head coach brought Rapinoe in. She is a shadow of her former self and no longer able to play at this level, and she sank the team; couldn't even take a free kick past the defenders, did nothing right, wasted promising offensive plays, and to top it all, missed her PK. When she was brought in, I was commenting on another soccer-specific website and I said "I give up, Rapinoe is coming, we'll lose." I respect the veteran for her past accomplishments but currently she is utterly detrimental to the team. I don't say this regarding politics, but regarding the game itself. There was no tactical reason whatsoever to bring her in, and she subbed Morgan who was actually playing well and almost scoring. Stupid coach. We could have won this thing without her; someone else would have taken that penalty. Also, the coach was stupid when he sent the very young Sofia Smith to take one of the penalties. It's too much responsibility for a player this young; she got nervous and missed.
So, you agree. That's something.. On the coach, I wonder if he was betting against the team. His actions sure support that conjecture.
I honestly don't know how Rapinoe made the team. Past performance? Celebrity? As CenterField correctly pointed out back on July 22, she clearly no longer has what it takes to play at this level. The botched PK was entirely consistent with the rest of her play in this Cup, and I was mortified that a better player who was having a good game - Alex Morgan - got pulled to bring in Rapinoe against Sweden.
In men's soccer, yeah. But no one gave a **** about women's soccer until they were made woke heroes. The only reason the Americans were able to win is strictly because no one gives a **** about women's soccer.
I just saw this after my most recent post - #138 - and I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said about Rapinoe, and Morgan, for that matter. I thought Alex played well, and it was heartbreaking to watch her fight back the tears after what was probably her last WC game, but to her credit she handled it as one would expect from one of our all-time greatest players and two-time World Cup champion.
After the USWNT's worst World Cup performance in history, it's a safe bet that Vlatko Andonovski won't be keeping his job as coach when his contract expires at the end of the calendar year. The next question is what to do about the woman who hired him - GM Kate Markgraf? If Markgraf isn't fired, the big cheeses at U.S. Soccer might consider reducing her role in the women's program because it looks like they piled too much work on her plate. Either that's their fault or Markgraf's not up to the job she was handed - possibly both. .
Jamaica out so England will face the heavy marking of Columbia. I hope they come up with some solutions this time. Australia the only other survivor from the Commonwealth.
I see France woke up against Morocco 4-0. Quarterfinal matchups: Friday, Aug. 11 Spain vs. Netherlands Japan vs. Sweden Saturday, Aug. 12 Australia vs. France England vs. Colombia Sam Kerr back for the Matildas against Les Bleus...
I finally watched Japan play. I was utterly unimpressed. Sweden had a deserved victory. Spain advanced too. Now that the last team that had a title to their name has fallen, we know that this World Cup will have a champion that has never won the Cup before.
Sweden had Japan's number. They played that rather cool. I was again impressed by Spain, how they fought. That was a scrappy game from the first to last minute of OT. Every inch was contested. Despite, it was a rather clean game. The Dutch gave it all, excellent showing. They can go home head high. That puts Spain again at the front to win it all.
Last 2 non-European teams up tomorrow. Columbia are going to trouble England if they press them hard like Nigeria did. I'm not confident. I'm sticking with Sweden to win the cup.
Big game tonight. Australia vs France in front of a sold out stadium. Australia v Denmark got the highest TV ratings for any event this year and out-rated the biggest event last year - the Australian Rules Grand Final (it wins every year). The expectation is that tonight's audience will match or exceed tha tfor the 2000 Olympics, when the nation stopped to watch Cathy Freeman win gold. Record attendances, record ratings and the most popular figure in Australia is a gay, indigenous woman. This is quite a moment. Hopefully Australia can get through to the semis. Sadly I booked in to see a movie months ago, so I will miss the lot. Cheer on my behalf folks.
