August 20th, 2023 at 6:31 AM ^
Spain slaying England early on
August 20th, 2023 at 6:57 AM ^
Spain leads 1-0 at the half.
August 20th, 2023 at 7:22 AM ^
That foul called on Hemp (Eng) was the thing everyone hates about soccer. She didn't even touch that girl, but the Spainiard went down like she was tackled hard, pumped her fist in the air when the whistle blew, then acted like her ankle was broken to sell it. Down for like 30 seconds rolling around and crying. Replays showed the players never actually touched. The stuff memes are made of...
August 20th, 2023 at 7:47 AM ^
I’m glad England’s keeper made the save.
August 20th, 2023 at 11:43 AM ^
. . .and the kind of thing that people who know and watch lots of soccer get so sick of non-fans complaining endlessly about. I had next to zero recollection of that event after watching 90-plus minutes of the beautiful game, but come to this board after the event to find this bit of tiresome kvetching. Think of it this way: Referees sometimes get it wrong? In all sports? In a game where there's one ref watching 22 players on an enormous field, where it's incredibly hard to score, period, a penalty kick can make a very big difference; hellzyes you try to make sure they see it when you're fouled. And--yes--it's sometimes funny, but it's part of the game.
BTW, getting kicked in the shins really, really hurts.
August 20th, 2023 at 7:31 AM ^
That's what you call a penalty? The absolutely inadvertent glance of the ball that barely touched a hand and had absolutely ZERO impact on the play? You call a penalty shot for that? That 'handball' should never have sniffed a penalty shot - not in any game.
It was a great save, but Eng could have lost on what amounted to a Zapruder'd instant replay.
August 20th, 2023 at 8:19 AM ^
It was a penalty...inadvertent does not matter-it changed the path of the ball. The last 30 minutes of the match got out of hand with the fake injuries/violations and the dirty play-from both sides. It was a good matchup...England was a bit stronger-controlled more minutes of the match and had more scoring opportunities-but you have to hit the back of the net.
August 20th, 2023 at 8:49 AM ^
I think it's time to amend clock rules ie. pause on reviews and injuries so it's real time. There was definitely more than 13 minutes spent on penalty review and injuries. Maybe this will deter players from fake injuries in the final minutes to run time. It's annoying as hell.
August 20th, 2023 at 11:42 AM ^
I want to +1 your comment about the penalty, but -1 your comment about England controlling more of the match. Spain had more possession, more passes, better pass completion percentage, more shots, more corners, just overall they were the better team and deserved to win.
August 20th, 2023 at 11:44 AM ^
Spain destroyed England. That's not a person who knows soccer.
August 20th, 2023 at 3:53 PM ^
Could have gone either way, honestly, but yeah, "inadvertent" isn't relevant. The smart defensive play is to tuck your hands behind your back, 'cause if you don't, you risk this.
It's like a defensive offsides that allows the offense a free shot at the end-zone. Saying, "but the offsides wasn't intentional, and it didn't affect the pash rush" isn't going to help. It's your obligation not to do it.
And the referee is not supposed to decide what would or would not have happened had the hand-ball not happened.
(But, yeah, the ref could have let it go. I would have been fine with it either way).
August 20th, 2023 at 7:42 AM ^
The Queen of Spain? I didn't even know Spain still had a Monarchy running! LOL!! She's really pretty, too!
August 20th, 2023 at 7:46 AM ^
I think Princess Grace set the standard for Royal beauty. Though - Kate, I believe, represents the British Monarchy well.
August 20th, 2023 at 9:13 AM ^
The palace in Madrid is sweet.
August 20th, 2023 at 12:40 PM ^
Franco arranged for the monarchy to be restored in Spain upon his death. Juan Carlos took the throne but, rather than continue the dictatorship, decided to become a constitutional monarch.
The monarchy is not all that popular in Spain. The royal family has been involved in some corruption scandals and Juan Carlos (who abdicated about a decade ago) is now persona non grata, living abroad.
August 20th, 2023 at 7:54 AM ^
England getting frustrated
August 20th, 2023 at 8:00 AM ^
England playing dirty now
August 20th, 2023 at 8:03 AM ^
England gets owned. All hail the queen of Spain
August 20th, 2023 at 8:03 AM ^
Congratulations, Spain - you won a good game! Well played, clearly the better team on the field today.
August 20th, 2023 at 8:09 AM ^
It's nice to see Spain get the victory.
Hopefully USA will have a better coach next time and be more competitive.
August 20th, 2023 at 8:10 AM ^
The best team won the Cup. England was just awful...out of sync all game.
Being the youngest team, Spain's gonna be very good for years to come.
August 20th, 2023 at 1:19 PM ^
Spain also won the last U20 and U17 world cups. They are potentially the new USA for years to come. Hopefully USA vs Spain can become a great rivalry.
August 20th, 2023 at 7:11 PM ^
That is if USA can get the coaching in order as well as improve their technical skills. The first one is fixable but the 2nd one would require an overhaul of the youth soccer which isn't happening anytime soon.
August 20th, 2023 at 8:14 AM ^
Spain put on a possession clinic today
August 20th, 2023 at 8:37 AM ^
So the Queen of Spain apparently doesn't carry the same air of 'better than thou' as England's Queen does (well, King now, I guess...). She's on the podium congratulating everyone and hugging all of Spain's players. No curtsey's, no pomp or circumstance, no air of superiority... I like her - may she have a long riegn!
August 21st, 2023 at 4:43 AM ^
The difference is probably that she is Queen Consort (like Camila) and not an outright queen.
August 20th, 2023 at 9:20 AM ^
Spain put on a clinic for the rest of the world. The USA is no longer the top dog, not even close. They have some serious catching up to do.
The USWNT has gotten by for years by out athlete-ing their inferior competition. It cannot be overstated how bad the competition was that the USWNT has faced until recently.
If you recall the 2002 movie "Bend it like Beckham", the plot was about a female soccer player in Great Britain - where the game was invented - having to go to the US to further her soccer career. And she was not going to some women's pro league in the US, she was just going to college at Santa Clara.
For most of its "great" run, the USWNT was facing countries that did not even have college-level players on their teams.
Those days are gone now. Other nations have embraced the women's game and are having their players go through their club-based development systems, which are superior to anything the US has. And the results are starting to show. The USWNT will need to learn to adjust and not just rely on physical athletes and good goal-keeping.
August 20th, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^
US eliminated spain 4 years ago but they knew then after beating em 1-0 that Spain was a rising power. Now Barcelona has won 2 women's champions league and many of those players for that club played in the final. They had nearly 90000 in Camp Nou for one of those games.
That said the US still has an advantage over the world due to Title IX, it's not as big as it used to be. All they need is a proper coach and they can utilize their new talent. Alex Morgan is getting old, she's 34 now and will be 35 at the olympics and 38 in our next WC, phase her out and bring our youth like Rodman up
August 20th, 2023 at 9:41 AM ^
I think the oversees women's club-based development systems now outweigh the US's high school / college Title IX advantage when it comes to international soccer. They produce better players that play better as a team.
August 20th, 2023 at 9:57 AM ^
Now, we just need a coach with the balls to field the right lineup/team without feeling obligated to include these aging players much less play them. Against Sweden, how does Vlatko pull Rodman mid second half and later sub in Rapinoe? It's criminal.
August 20th, 2023 at 10:53 AM ^
Now, we just need a coach with the balls to field the right lineup/team without feeling obligated to include these aging players much less play them.
Uh. . .
August 20th, 2023 at 11:47 AM ^
Probably an anti-woke person. :)
August 20th, 2023 at 1:16 PM ^
Since Vlatko has been castrated, how about someone w/o balls next time. I like Wiegman
August 20th, 2023 at 2:14 PM ^
And she was not going to some women's pro league in the US, she was just going to college at Santa Clara.
There wasn't a pro league yet, and Santa Clara was pretty good at women's soccer: 10 final fours in 16 yrs around the time the script was written, I'd guess.
August 20th, 2023 at 9:47 AM ^
Spain put on a clinic, England was very undisciplined at the end.
August 20th, 2023 at 12:37 PM ^
So I guess it's not coming home, eh?
Congrats to the ladies of Spain, they have dominated U17, U20 and now the World Cup.
August 20th, 2023 at 3:00 PM ^
¡Olé, olé, olé, olé, olé!