Soccer, footie, football, futbol

[Miles]

By the way, Marta (FIFA player of the year for the last 5 years) became villain at a key moment in the second half. 15 minutes into the 2nd half, Buehller took down a Brazilian, drawing a RED card. She is gone for the next game. The USA played the rest of the game down one player. Brazil's Cristiane took the PK, and Solo blocked it. HOWEVER, 15 secs later, Brazil was given a retake, as the US had a defender cross the line too soon. NOTE: the crowd and TV crowd NEVER got an explanation until after regulation. Solo was incensed, giving her a yellow. Marta took the second PK and buried the shot.

From that moment on, Marta's aggressive style turned the crowd against the Brazilians. EVERY time she touched the ball, LOUD whistles and boos. The TV showed GERMAN fans whistling.

Brazil stopped pushing the ball. The US pushed the ball up, 1 player down through regulation.

Overtime started, and Brazil quickly pressed, earning Marta's 2nd goal. From that moment on, Brazil then played stall ball, stalling every which way possible... earning more whistles and boos. One player, Erika (?), suddenly collapsed by the goal, near the end of overtime. She was stretchered off, then as soon as she was over the goal line, GOT UP AND RAN TO THE MIDFIELD STRIPE.

With 3 minutes of stoppage time nearing close, Wambach's header did it.

All I can say is... WOW!! US plays France on Wednesday.

I think this is easily the second best, come from behind win I've ever seen.

What a whirlwind of emotions today. Great game! Go USA!!!!

[Lavabe]

Just watched another replay of the Brazil-USA game. The more I looked at Marta's play and 'tude, it reminded me more and more of one other female athlete...

IVORY LATTA.



Yep... EXACT same attitude and antics.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Just watched another replay of the Brazil-USA game. The more I looked at Marta's play and 'tude, it reminded me more and more of one other female athlete...

IVORY LATTA.



Yep... EXACT same attitude and antics.

To be fair..Marta is one of the best players in the world and has earned the right to have some tude.
Ivory just had bug eyes.

[Lavabe]

Just watched another replay of the Brazil-USA game. The more I looked at Marta's play and 'tude, it reminded me more and more of one other female athlete...

IVORY LATTA.



Yep... EXACT same attitude and antics.

To be fair..Marta is one of the best players in the world and has earned the right to have some tude.
Ivory just had bug eyes.

Normally, I'd agree with you 100%, but to me, Marta was behaving SOOOOO cheap and juvenile. Act like a 5-time champion FIFA player of the year.

Here's an ESPN link (turn off the video that starts automatically) with an opinion that sums it up:
http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_ ... er-bennett
I saw an interview with her after the game. IThat and her play just brought back all the memories of Latta. But yeah, she can at least play her game... most of the time.

[Lavabe]

USA 1-0 France
9 minutes in
O'Reilly 8 meter pass to Cheney who dinked it right from 2m in front of the center of the goal.

[Lavabe]

USA 1-0 France
9 minutes in
O'Reilly 8 meter pass to Cheney who dinked it right from 2m in front of the center of the goal.

Actually, Cheney was charging up to the left of the goal, and dinked it diagonally to the right side of the goal.

23 minutes in, USA had another chance, but they missed a header left by 2m.
Both teams have had good chances. Solo AND defense are playing well.

[Lavabe]

29th minute, France's Thine broke free, forcing a tough save from Solo.
France's Necib has also had a good shot at the USA goal.

[Lavabe]

33rd minute: France hits the USA goalpost. France is really peppering the USA defense The defense is holding up, but the USA midfield isn't possessing as much as they have to.

[Lavabe]

38-39th minute: Wambach misses twice by less than the width of a soccer ball each. The first was a header that had little chance, but was a nice try. The second was a tough play that took down a defender and the goalkeep. The US seems to be counterattacking well, and giving its defense a breather.

[Lavabe]

USA 1 - 1 France
55th minute
LONG ball drifting, missed the French attacker coming in for the header, and hits the right side of the goal. USA defense has slipped.

Morgan comes in for Rodriguez.
USA needs better midfield play. Absolutely NO offense from USA. France has better possession, and is playing a lot more confidently.

[Lavabe]

65th minute still USA 1-1 France
Rapinoe comes in for Lloyd, and Krieger is sitting out a bit with a bad ankle (?).
Solo makes a mistake, feeds the French, who blow the ball over the goalpost.
The French are dictating this game.
To give you a feel for it, France has 21 shots (7 on goal), and the USA has 6 shots (1 on goal).

[Lavabe]

USA 2 - 1 FRANCE
79th minute
WAMBACH HEADER GOAL off a corner kick.
WOW!!!
Cheney's cross is GREAT.

[Lavabe]

French are still LETHAL in their attacking. They are controlling this game and BARELY miss a beauty of a header in th 81st minute.
Rapinoe has really done a good job of getting USA .
GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!
Rapinoe to Morgan breaking away, who gets past the goalkeep.
USA 3 -1 FRANCE
82nd minute

[Lavabe]

86th minute
USA Tobin Heath comes in for O'Reilly.
Rapinoe has really been the momentum-changer. As soon as she came in, the USA began attacking better.
Morgan just missed a 1 on 1 vs. the goalkeep.
Sauerbrun was the USA starter on defense for the red-carded Buehller (sp?). She really did a good calming job today on defense, as did Krieger and Rampone.
USA looks exhausted, but is just toughing it out.
Thomis (France) gets a yellow card for a late challenge on USA's Lepeilbet.
The Wambach goal was great, but lots of credit to the corner from Cheney.

[Lavabe]

GAME OVER...
USA 3 - 1 FRANCE
USA goes to the finals against the winner of Sweden vs. Japan later today.
WOO-HOO!!

[CameronBornAndBred]

GAME OVER...
USA 3 - 1 FRANCE
USA goes to the finals against the winner of Sweden vs. Japan later today.
WOO-HOO!!

Who do you want? I'd rather not play Swedend again, they can obviously beat us. I don't know anything about Japan.

[Lavabe]

Whom do I want?

The Swedes scored a goal in the 12th minute against Japan. In the 18th minute, Japan equalizes. Here's what I want to happen:

1) A bunch of yellow and red cards in the game. Any player with two yellows will miss the finals. Any red card misses the finals.
2) What would also be nice is a 3-3 tie that lasts into a shootout. Let them be tired.

[lawgrad91]

I was VERY unhappy about a late scheduled bond hearing that caused me to have to "watch" the game on my phone via Gamecast (which means all I got to see was a kind of play-by-play. Think Lavabe without the analysis, and without any entertainment value.)

Sunday won't be a problem, provided the James family (a church family; no kin to LeBron) don't feed us too much at the family reunion luncheon.

[Lavabe]

I was VERY unhappy about a late scheduled bond hearing that caused me to have to "watch" the game on my phone via Gamecast (which means all I got to see was a kind of play-by-play. Think Lavabe without the analysis, and without any entertainment value.)

Sunday won't be a problem, provided the James family (a church family; no kin to LeBron) don't feed us too much at the family reunion luncheon.

OH NO!!!!!! Sunday is NASCAR vs. Women's World Cup? UGH!!

[Lavabe]

Looks like Japan is putting it ALL together.

In the 60-65th minutes, TWO goals off Swedish goalkeeper Lindahl brain farts. On the first one, she didn't clear the ball properly. On the second one, Lindahl came out of the goal by 10 meters or so, and the Japanese player chipped it over her and into the goal.

Japan 3 - 1 Sweden
66th minute