Third and Final Final

 Between the quarters and the semis, I'd say we've already seen two final matches.  Germany-France was a marvelous contest; I thought the French outplayed the Germans, showing perhaps the most attractive soccer seen in this World Cup.  They were undone by an unfortunate handling call; even I probably would have called it because the arm was in such an unnatural position but it really was ball to arm.  The resulting PK tied the match.   Added extra time added no goals so they went to the dreaded kicks from the spot.  Germany made 'em all, France missed the last one and the Germans advanced...

...to face the US (comfortable - well as comfortable as a 1-0 game can be - winners over China) in the second final semi-final.  Another quality match.  The US built on the work they started in the quarter finals and outplayed the Germans for most of the match.  They got lucky when Sausage Sasic missed the PK and maybe lucky again they were awarded the PK for the foul on Morgan (more on that below) but luck had little to do with the clinching goal from O'Hara set up by Klingenberg and Lloyd. 



Japan beat England 2-1 in a strange match that featured two PKs and a truly unfortunate own goal by an English defender in stoppage time.  That sets up the final final on Sunday at 7 pm on Fox.


Referee Under Fire

Wow, imagine that.

I'll start with the second of the calls that drew attention.  This one revolved around whether Krahn fouled Morgan in the penalty area.  Watch this video first and see what you think.  If you're sure the foul wasn't in the box, well full credit to you.  I wasn't convinced until I looked at this still (right) created from that video.  Yeah, it was outside the box.  And if you want to criticize the ref (and the AR), go right ahead.  But, you can't say she was out of position; she was right where she was supposed to be.  You can't expect too much help from the AR, who's primary responsibilities in that situation are 1) to watch for offside, 2) to watch for offside, and 3) to watch for offside; plus there were four bodies between her and the play and it was on the far side of the field.  But, like I said, feel free to rail about the call; I hope your referee experiences don't involve any close calls like that.


The first call is a bit harder to understand.  It sure looked like Julie Johnston pulled Popp down in the box and was fully deserving of a red card.  Here's the video (the play starts at :37).  In slow motion, the whole thing isn't quite as obvious.  Popp may have already been leaning back to try and reach the ball and that's why the fall looked so dramatic.  Johnston did have her hand on Popp's shoulder and our view is you get what you deserve when you do that.  But we're not discussing why the ref didn't call a foul - she did.  What I don't understand is why she didn't issue a red card for DOGSO.  Um, for all those making comments on the various websites, I'm thinking it's a strong likelihood that she knows what to look for to make a the call on DOGSO - no more than one defender, distance to the goal, distance to the ball, direction of play.  Given that she knows the rules, what element did she decide was missing? The only possibility I see is that Albon did not think Popp had a chance to continue playing the ball.  If you look really closely, it is possible that Popp wasn't going to have much of a play on the ball regardless of what Johnston did; the best she was going to do was get a wild off-balance stab at it anyway.  I'll suggest it's plausibly the correct call.  Again, if you want to say she blew the call, go ahead but I wish you well when you take the field to officiate.  Oh yeah, Germany got a PK out of the play so it's not like it Johnston's indiscretion did not go unpunished. Arguably Solo should have gotten a yellow for delaying the match but Sasic isn't supposed to get rattled by that kind of stuff.


Riding the Union Escalator

Eric Ayuk scores in the 8th minute as the Union take an early lead against Montreal at home and are playing pretty well(going up).  But the Impact get the equalizer in the 28th minute (going down).  The Union are playing well in the second half and then Patrice Bernier gets his second yellow (going up).  But down a man, Montreal scores (Jack McInerny no less) anyway to take the lead (going down, down).  Then Maurice Edu gets his first goal of the year in the 76th minute and the score is tied plus we still have a man advantage (going up).  But a minute later Ayuk gets his second yellow and the rest of the match is played ten a side (back down to the ground floor).  A draw at home against one of the division's weaker sides?  Another sign of the team's inconsistency which, unaddressed, will doom their playoff hopes.

But wait, it gets weirder.  First place DC United came to Chester for a US Open round of 16 match. After a long lightning delay, CJ Sapong got sent off with a straight red in the 24th minute.  Three minutes later DC is up 1-0.  So what happens next?  Why, of course the Union score two second half goals (Ayuk and Fabinho) while shorthanded and advance to the quarterfinals.  DC left a few starters home in light of their trip to Seattle this weekend but this is still a formidable squad. How do you explain victories over the two division leading teams in a week sandwiched around a shoddy draw to a weak Montreal side?  You don't.


Transfer News

Blah, blah, blah.  That is all you need to know.


For the Independence Day weekend my advice is the same as last year.  Watch soccer to piss off some conservative pundits.  Call it football and that will really get them going.  For the 4th you've got the Copa American final between Chile and Argentina (3:50 on BeIN Sports), the World Cup third place match between England and Germany (4 pm on Fox) and a full MLS schedule (no Union though).  Sunday of course is the WC final.