A Full Plate

Combination of too much football and not enough time leaves me with the tried and true approach of making random observations.

Key moment in Australia vs Brazil - and a frequent scene
in this edition of the Women's World Cup

My vote for best match of WWC so far goes to Australia - Brazil.  The Aussies were trying to recover from an "upset" loss to Italy but fell behind 0-2 and looked in big trouble. A goal in first half stoppage time gave them a lifeline.  They leveled things in the 58th minute.  The match then turned on one of the most complex/controversial calls I can remember.  A Brazilian defender headed the ball into her own net but the call on the field was offside.  But that was overturned by VAR.  The video is here.  There is no doubt the Aussie is in an offside position at the time the ball was struck.  But she never actually touches the ball.  So the call hinges on whether you think she affected/was involved in active play when the Brazilian headed the ball.  I'm torn but probably would have ruled no offside.  I know it's hard to think the position of the attacker didn't affect the defender's decision but from the guidance I've heard and seen, it seems like that intentional playing of the ball means it's not offside.  For example, when a defender makes contact with a ball by deliberately sticking a leg out to block a pass to a player in an offside position, we are told that there is no offside.   A cursory scan of the internet didn't turn up any "informed" opinions; I really wish that the governing boards would tell us what they think so we know what we're supposed to do.  In any case, that was the deciding goal and Australia got a 3-2 win and three critical points.

In the other marquee matches, Germany dispatched, though not with ease, Spain 1-0 on a rebound goal.  France squeaked out a 2-1 result against Norway. Although the Norwegians had the majority of possession, they managed just one shot on goal and their lone tally was an own goal off French defender Renard.  

We saw a couple of nice saves on penalty kicks but only one stood.  Early in the Jamaica - Italy match, the Jamaican keeper made a stop but was adjudged to have come off her line too early.  VAR confirmed that.  The retake was good and Italy was off to a 5-0 rout.  At 0-0 midway through the first half, Argentina were called for a foul in the box but Correa stonewalled Parris (wait, England have a player named Parris?).  The kick was well-taken but the save was even better; video is here.  Very possible that Argentina encroached on the play but was glad to see no call.  A trendy pre-tournament pick to win the whole thing, England have not exactly wowed anybody yet and could only manage a 1-0 win here.  Argentina are probably better than we realized.

The US only managed a field goal against Chile but were never pressed in the match.  Ellis went with the squad rotation approach, making plenty of changes; by the end of the match, every player had an appearance except the back-up keepers.  Two good goals from Carli Lloyd but she did miss a PK.  

VAR continues to have a weighty presence.  The critics' arguments for me always lose credibility when they admit that it has resulted in referees getting the calls right.  I'll concede it's still taking too long but when the value of a single goal is so huge, you gotta get it right.  

Matchday Three  

With six third place teams advancing to the knockout stage, I can't find a third game in group play that doesn't have consequences one way or the other.  Things at stake could include first or second in the group (which affects who you play in the knockout round), second or third in the group (which affects whether you advance automatically) or third or fourth in the group (which affects whether you have a chance to advance or go home).  Many are already guaranteed a spot - France, Germany, Italy, England, Netherlands, Canada, Sweden and US.  I'd be inclined to check out China - Spain Monday at noon; both have three points right now.  Italy - Brazil could be interesting given that the South Americans haven't clinched a spot yet; that's Tuesday at 3 pm.  Wednesday's choice is Japan - England.  Thursday we'll go with Sweden - US though Netherlands - Canada looks good too.

Two other matches possibly worthy of consideration are Cameroon - New Zealand Thursday at noon (two teams with gritty performances but no points so far) and Scotland - Argentina on Wednesday at 3 pm (only one has a chance of advancing).   Given concurrent kick-off times for each group, you won't be able to watch each match without knowing the score of some of them.

No US Open Cup for U

You might have missed it but the Union lost to DC United in US Open Cup 1-2 on late PK from Wayne Rooney.  Frankly, while the Union's history of deep runs in this competition has been fun, they have largely distracted us from how poorly the team was doing in MLS play.  So I'll take the reversal in fortune - good position in the Eastern Conference table for an early exit in the Open Cup.

Gold Cup

Don't forget US - Guyana on Tuesday night at 10 pm.  The USMNT performance in friendlies against Jamaica and Venezuela do not exactly inspire confidence but we'll see.  Several of us have tickets to the two quarterfinal matches at Lincoln Financial on 6/30.  Hoping the US will be there too.

Copa America

The South American championships are going on as well.  BFS just doesn't have the bandwidth to cover this.  You can follow along at the CONMEBOL website here.

A side note - this is 300th post from Booked For Simulation.  Thanks for reading and commenting and we expect to continue indefinitely.