Women's Football / Soccer World Championship

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
not smart by the coach to change the starting match up from 4-4-2 just before the match IMHO.

I agree completely. It's always dangerous to allow the opposition to dictate your team's style of play - especially before the match has even started! Sweden's biggest strength was playing the breakout/counter-attack and using the speed of Shelin and…I honestly can't spell the other forward's name without butchering it … Instead, they switched to a style of play that was not only unfamiliar to the team, but it did not properly utilize the talents of the players. Very poor coaching.

As for Japan, I greatly admire the resiliency and heart that they have displayed throughout the whole tournament, but I can't stand their tactics - the slow, low-risk, ultra-conservative possession approach. There's certainly nothing unfair about this style, but it is an approach to the game that I find very boring and not entertaining. I would have much rather preferred any combination of France, U.S., Sweden, or Germany in the final because these teams all play an up-tempo, aggressive style that is far more interesting to watch. Still, I have a lot of respect for the Japanese team for their character and mental fortitude in games that no one really thought they would win. This team is definitely for real, and I think the final will most likely be a very close game.

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
In defense of the swedish players awfulness, they were shocked just before the game by one of the best players and the team captain being unable to play…

Germany had a similar problem against Japan.

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
In defense of the swedish players awfulness, they were shocked just before the game by one of the best players and the team captain being unable to play… and a late change of tactics… not smart by the coach to change the starting match up from 4-4-2 just before the match IMHO.

Isn't this the symbol of professionalisms that you're able to not shake this off from your, but sort of mentally block this out? And not let it it get to you - in a bad way, I mean. And by that I mean that you can take this info and make something positive out of it.

As for Japan, I wondered while they played against Sweden if their buddhist beliefs helped them in any way? They were so focused on the task at hand, and even when Sweden scored a goal, and they came behind, they didn't panic. They just did what they had been doing all along - keeping a clear head, focusing on one ball at a time.

And they did what we Denmarks calls 'let the ball do the work,' meaning that they let the ball flow between them when they passed the ball to each other…

Originally Posted by aries100
As for Japan, I wondered while they played against Sweden if their buddhist beliefs helped them in any way? They were so focused on the task at hand, and even when Sweden scored a goal, and they came behind, they didn't panic. They just did what they had been doing all along - keeping a clear head, focusing on one ball at a time.

That would assume that all the Japanese players are Buddhist. I tend to believe they're just a well-coached soccer team.

Congratulations to Japan for winning their first Women's World Cup.

I said earlier that I wouldn't be surprised if they won, and I'm not. They're now 1-22-3 against the US, but that "1" win is a big one.

Of course I'm disappointed that the US didn't win, but I honestly believe Japan deserved it more anyways.

That was one epic game today. By far the best World Cup Final that I've ever seen - men's or women's. I still can't believe that Japan made not one but two late comebacks in one game - I certainly can't remember watching a team pull that off with under ten minutes to play in regulation and then again with under five minutes in extra time. That was an incredible display of resiliency and heart, much like Team USA's late heroics against Brazil or France's late goal against England, except this one was on the biggest stage of the tournament.

Both teams played their hearts out, and each side made their share of great plays. Truly a game to remember as an instant classic in a tournament full of great games, and congratulations to Team Japan for the well-deserved victory.

I must admit that I wasn't interested anymore since the German team was out.
Maybe I'm a little bit too patriotic ?

But still - Gerrmany was in the end match.

As a referee.

I can't beleive it either; Japan's comeback was out of this world - And definetely one with much heart in it…

In the penalty kick competition, the USA players lost their nerves, it seemed; players from Japan kept their cool abd wits about them…

And the referee from Germany did an outstanding job, Alrik

I hate seeing a game come down to PK's as it doesn't generally do justice to the game that was played, usually just coming down to a difference of one block.

But I have to say, seeing our girls choke that bad on those PK's, they didn't deserve to win at all. No excuse for that.

Congrats to Japan.

Originally Posted by aries100
I can't beleive it either; Japan's comeback was out of this world - And definetely one with much heart in it…

There's always a lot of luck involved in a close game. Japan definitely had it. On that first goal, their player was in the exact right place at the exact right time to nail in a muffed kick by our defender. Good awareness by her to be there, but damn, if she had been just a foot either direction, no way she could have made the shot.

And the referee from Germany did an outstanding job, Alrik

It seemed to me that they were letting them play pretty rough. I noticed several points where US players were blatantly using their arms to block out and it was never called.

Never saw the whole game but extended parts.Quite impressed from the quality and the organization(never expected less from Germany). US overall was better but as always you have to finish the chances you get. Japan had the character to make the come back twice. My outmost respect for that.
A brilliant advertizement for female football.

In the end it was a lottery - in which the US girls looked as if they had a penalty coach from England.

The US had their chances. A win after 90 or 120 minutes would have been okay. But Japan fought until the end and earned their luck.

The referee was quite decent, certainly one of the better performances in the tournament. She should have protected the players a bit better though. A yellow card or two more would have been more to the point.

Steinhaus is an experienced referee in the 2nd Bundesliga (men!). There's huge competition among refs in Germany. They're always under observation, are assessed and the best / worst can go a league up / down. That she can't hold her own as the only woman among all those male referees speaks for her qualities.

So she can do even better than in the final.

Here's a slightly funny vid from a 2nd league game. A player from Berlin wanted to give her a friendly clap on the sholder … but he sort of missed. I'm sure many others would have given him a red card. (Not sure if this is already NSFW.) The live commentators from Sky are annoying though.

It is rare these days, I think, to call out, e.g. mark 'blocking with arms' as fault, both in men and women's soccer games. The same goes for defending players holding onto attacking players in the penalty box - this is almost never marked or called out as a fault. Even if it clearly is.

Not to pour salt into the German wound, here, but I do think that I saw one of the Japanese players clearly holding down a German player in the dying minutes of the normal playtime in the Japan-Germany game, clearly making it so that the German player couldn't get to the ball. However, as said, this really never get called or marked as a fault anymore.

Let's not forget that should tacklings are allowed, some players and referees seem to have forgotten this….

Originally Posted by akarthis
Never saw the whole game but extended parts.Quite impressed from the quality and the organization(never expected less from Germany).

The fucking expensive infrastructure from the WCh 2006 was still mostly intact. So I suppose not much improvisation was necessary.

Originally Posted by blatantninja
I hate seeing a game come down to PK's as it doesn't generally do justice to the game that was played, usually just coming down to a difference of one block.

But I have to say, seeing our girls choke that bad on those PK's, they didn't deserve to win at all. No excuse for that.

I'd rather see a sudden-death overtime format, but I suppose that would take too long in soccer.

And give Japan's goalie some credit, she made some fantastic saves during those penalty kicks. There was only 1 kick I saw that was a "bad kick" by a US player, and I think she injured her foot before or during that kick.

Originally Posted by JDR13
And give Japan's goalie some credit, she made some fantastic saves during those penalty kicks. There was only 1 kick I saw that was a "bad kick" by a US player, and I think she injured her foot before or during that kick.

Actually, aside from Wambach's professional kick into the back corner of the net, the other kicks were pathetic. The two that didn't sail above the bar went instead to the middle portion of the net - they left it completely to chance on which direction the goalie would go.

Additionally, the first goal by Japan was practically handed to them on a silver platter as the two US defenders bumbled their way with the ball in front of the net, failing to clear it away.

Japan deserved to win and I was honestly pulling for them. Our team looked pretty slipshod and seemed shored up by the young athleticism of Morgan and the experience of Wambach. Rapinoe had her hand/feet in many plays as well, but overall I feel it was an uneven performance for the team.

Regardless of who won, I really loved the game; there was tremendous sportsmanship going on. A great contrast between this women's final and that of the men's two years ago with all the fouls and associated theatrics.

Originally Posted by Drithius
Regardless of who won, I really loved the game; there was tremendous sportsmanship going on. A great contrast between this women's final and that of the men's two years ago with all the fouls and associated theatrics.

To be honest, I rarely watch the men's team. Until they manage to become competitive vs good teams, I have little interest in them.

The problem is that the vast majority of the athletic talent pool in the US gravitates towards other sports. If we had half as much interest in soccer as we do in football, baseball, and hockey, the US could be dominant.

Originally Posted by Gorath
The fucking expensive infrastructure from the WCh 2006 was still mostly intact. So I suppose not much improvisation was necessary.

They used some stadiums from places which had nothing to do with the former world championship.

Leverkusen, for example, its stadium had been expanded and partly new built during the last few years.

So, its stadium was perhaps chosen *because* of its partly new building, I guess.

(Oh, my grammar …)