Congrats to Japan! Your country could use this after what you've been through in this year.
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Thank you for everything CP. Good memories and thankful for everything that has been done to help me out. I will no longer take part on these boards. Take care, Go Flames Go.
Kick it into the penalty area and watch as the inept defenders can't clear it, if you are lucky you get a good bounce and score.
the game should never have gone to PK. soccer goals are hard to come by, unlike hockey sometimes. i think when US decided to play all defensive in 2OT, there defence were too tired to give it all. huge credits to Japan who stayed patient and waited for the chance.
the amount of experience this USA team has, versus Japan...and that you see the poor quality showcase in the PK shootout. i would classify it as a choke.
the game should never have gone to PK. soccer goals are hard to come by, unlike hockey sometimes. i think when US decided to play all defensive in 2OT, there defence were too tired to give it all. huge credits to Japan who stayed patient and waited for the chance.
the amount of experience this USA team has, versus Japan...and that you see the poor quality showcase in the PK shootout. i would classify it as a choke.
Having watched this tournament and with all the terrible play from all teams i think the womens game lends itself more to these types of upsets which is maybe why I am giving the US a little more credit.
the game should never have gone to PK. soccer goals are hard to come by, unlike hockey sometimes. i think when US decided to play all defensive in 2OT, there defence were too tired to give it all. huge credits to Japan who stayed patient and waited for the chance.
the amount of experience this USA team has, versus Japan...and that you see the poor quality showcase in the PK shootout. i would classify it as a choke.
I don't know if they decided to play defensive in 2OT, they were just gassed. Their strategy in the game was to run run run run and pressure the Japanese midfield giving them no time on the ball. It worked except the US couldn't score on their chances in the 1st half and they gave up that weird riccohet goal to Japan to tie it 1-1. In soccer it just takes one mistake.
And then they gave up a goal on a backflick on a corner. That's just a skillful goal, not a defensive error.
The Americans were the much more tired team after 120 because they had played 'fullcourt press' almost the entire game.
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Watching the Oilers defend is like watching fire engines frantically rushing to the wrong fire
I don't know if they decided to play defensive in 2OT, they were just gassed. Their strategy in the game was to run run run run and pressure the Japanese midfield giving them no time on the ball. It worked except the US couldn't score on their chances in the 1st half and they gave up that weird riccohet goal to Japan to tie it 1-1. In soccer it just takes one mistake.
And then they gave up a goal on a backflick on a corner. That's just a skillful goal, not a defensive error.
The Americans were the much more tired team after 120 because they had played 'fullcourt press' almost the entire game.
I found this statement interesting if not ironic. Could be due to a massive improvement by the Japanese who could not even break the group stage last WWC. And again, why they needed to play full-court press? An immensely talented team failed to calculate its stamina against the underdog.
But overall, it's always good to see new up-start teams to be competitive. It makes the sport much more entertaining to watch.
That win for Japan was fantastic. What a complete choke job by the USA in the shoot out. Personally I loved it. This might be the biggest choke in World cup history men or women.
Hope Solo (Han's daughter?) is saying if she would have faked an injury at the end, the USA could have run down the clock. The USA has to learn how to cheat like the other teams?
Hope Solo (Han's daughter?) is saying if she would have faked an injury at the end, the USA could have run down the clock. The USA has to learn how to cheat like the other teams?
Really? It was clear that the ref stopped her watch when Solo was down before the corner kick. She could have been down 10 minutes and it wouldn't have mattered. With the injury and the goal and the red card/free kick, extra time ran well into 123 minutes.
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Watching the Oilers defend is like watching fire engines frantically rushing to the wrong fire
