WWC19 | Final: USA v Netherlands

Men are on average 5 inches taller than women, so a 6 foot 1 woman is equivalent to a 6 foot 6 man.
 
The penalty retake still seems very harsh but it may be because she looked behind the line then in front when keepers are supposed to wait on their line.
 
So now France are on course to a meeting with the USA later ... correct?

If the USA win their group they will expect to meet France in the QF. The runners up in group F will be in the Germany side of the draw.

For England - winning the group would put them on the France side of the draw, and a meeting in the SF.
 
18th June - Group C last games
Tuesday - Group C final games:
Jamaica vs Australia 20:00 - BBC red button
Italy vs Brazil 20:00 - BBC Four

Ok, I admit it, I like Italy and I think they've been good to watch, not just because they inspired this cartoon:
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...unnatural-positions-football?CMP=share_btn_tw
So I'm hoping they'll top that group. One point would guarantee it, and would guarantee Brazil a best third place.

I'm also hoping that Jamaica get a goal. Unfortunately, if Australia want to win the group they don't just have to beat Jamaica (and hope Italy lose) they have to try and boost their goal difference, which worries me.
 
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Tuesday - Group C final games:
Jamaica vs Australia 20:00 - BBC red button
Italy vs Brazil 20:00 - BBC Four

Ok, I admit it, I like Italy and I think they've been good to watch, not just because of:
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...unnatural-positions-football?CMP=share_btn_tw
So I'm hoping they'll top that group. One point would guarantee it, and would guarantee Brazil a best third place.

I'm also hoping that Jamaica get a goal. Unfortunately, if Australia want to win the group they don't just have to beat Jamaica (and hope Italy lose) they have to try and boost their goal difference, which worries me.

Haha, Australia’s defensive line etc is brilliant, and ‘literally rammed down their throat’ ...
 
Second pen shouldve been retaken too. France player was inthe box.
Yeah from the angle I saw, a French player (with number 6) is clearly inside the box before the second penalty is taken. Not sure why more people aren't talking about that, it's a massive inconsistency in how VAR is applied and a gross injustice.

Edit: I also think it's not right that a player is allowed to stutter in the run-up and at the same time punish the goalkeeper for coming off of her line slightly too soon. I mean, that slight stutter can be enough to fool a goalkeeper to move a little early, is it really fair that the kicker should be rewarded for this? The whole thing stinks.
 
I genuinely can't remember the last time I saw a goalkeeper abide by the law of staying on their line for a penalty.

Although the penalty was missed rather than saved, I fully support the decision to have it retaken as it's the only way goalkeepers will learn and stop leaving their line.

I've heard mini-boxes in front of the goal line suggested (6 inches?) which possibly the referees could mark using their spray but over time the goalkeepers will start abusing this too.

In terms of players encroaching in to the penalty area, this is much more difficult to police as there are so many more players to watch. The only way to guarantee stopping this is to make the other players stand on the halfway line as if it was a penalty shootout but obviously this will never happen because rebounds from penalties are part of the game.
 
The (lack of) Tv coverage for this is annoying. We don't have BBC4 in Ireland, so the only channel showing it is in our Irish language broadcaster. Which is grand but my Irish is rusty as hell! Seems weird that none of the bigger tv channels were interested.
 
The (lack of) Tv coverage for this is annoying. We don't have BBC4 in Ireland, so the only channel showing it is in our Irish language broadcaster. Which is grand but my Irish is rusty as hell! Seems weird that none of the bigger tv channels were interested.

RTE own the rights (along with TG4) so it's up to them which games they air I guess. RTE2 seem to be airing games this week though - do they not offer an English commentary?
 
Wiki says she's 1m87 is that 6.1? :p

It's just over 6'1 plus 6/10ths of an inch. She'd be in her right to call herself 6'2 in my opinion, not that she would being French and having the metric system.

But then maybe she's already rounding up by claiming 1.87m and is actually 1866mm in which case she'd be nearer 6'1.

Yeah, this is way too nerdy.
 
I genuinely can't remember the last time I saw a goalkeeper abide by the law of staying on their line for a penalty.

Although the penalty was missed rather than saved, I fully support the decision to have it retaken as it's the only way goalkeepers will learn and stop leaving their line.

I've heard mini-boxes in front of the goal line suggested (6 inches?) which possibly the referees could mark using their spray but over time the goalkeepers will start abusing this too.

In terms of players encroaching in to the penalty area, this is much more difficult to police as there are so many more players to watch. The only way to guarantee stopping this is to make the other players stand on the halfway line as if it was a penalty shootout but obviously this will never happen because rebounds from penalties are part of the game.
If they use VAR to make a decision about the goalkeeper coming off of her line early, then why wouldn't they use VAR for encroachment? Both phases were equally marginal, one is punished using VAR and the other is ignored. Clearly that's even worse than punishing neither of them.
 
RTE own the rights (along with TG4) so it's up to them which games they air I guess. RTE2 seem to be airing games this week though - do they not offer an English commentary?

Yeah, RTE do show some games (with English commentary) but TG4 seem to be covering more of them. It’s the lack of coverage on British channels that I find most bemusing.
 
If they use VAR to make a decision about the goalkeeper coming off of her line early, then why wouldn't they use VAR for encroachment? Both phases were equally marginal, one is punished using VAR and the other is ignored. Clearly that's even worse than punishing neither of them.

They have to be careful how far they take it, would you like to see every throw-in reviewed by VAR?

I think if the penalty is scored then it should stand no matter what. If the 'keeper saves it and every such event is reviewed then it will slow the game down even further, but at least will ensure the laws are followed.

The encroachment one is interesting because say for example the penalty comes back off the post - the 'keeper was on the line so no problem there - and bounces out to a defender who clears the ball for a throw-in. Are we then to review to see if that defender was inside the box when the kick was taken, and if so is the penalty taken again?

To cut a long story short I disagree wholeheartedly with VAR in general, I think it's made football a lot less fun to watch and I'm glad I follow non-league!
 
there is a lot of enthusiastic support for VAR on these forums

the 'fors' say that the stuff they look at is nearly always interpreted correctly, we don't get terrible mistakes anymore & it favours attackers which they like - why should defenders get away with stuff?

I'm still not sure it's worth all the faffing about for the gains involved, decisions are still subjective - some stuff is looked at forensically & some stuff they don't bother with
 
I'm still not sure it's worth all the faffing about for the gains involved, decisions are still subjective - some stuff is looked at forensically & some stuff they don't bother with

I think the most disturbing thing at the tournament is that it feels like VAR is being used selectively, in favour the big teams.

Rather than reducing the feeling that referees are being swayed by the crowd or the names, it's increasing it. It's felt like the big teams are now getting two bites at a 50:50 call.

Maybe that's just been a run of coincidences, but it certainly hasn't removed the subjective element, or the nagging doubts about favouritism. It's also felt far more intrusive than it was in Russia for the men's Works Cup last year.
 
I think the most disturbing thing at the tournament is that it feels like VAR is being used selectively, in favour the big teams.

Rather than reducing the feeling that referees are being swayed by the crowd or the names, it's increasing it. It's felt like the big teams are now getting two bites at a 50:50 call.

Maybe that's just been a run of coincidences, but it certainly hasn't removed the subjective element, or the nagging doubts about favouritism. It's also felt far more intrusive than it was in Russia for the men's Works Cup last year.
The penalty do-over yesterday was a painful case of that. The fact that she gets a second chance is, according to the rules, correct. The fact that she doesn't have to take it a 3rd time, because a French player set foot in the box before it was taken is bizarre. Not in the least, because I can imagine that you look for these things extra closely after already deciding to have it retaken.
 
They have to be careful how far they take it, would you like to see every throw-in reviewed by VAR?

I think if the penalty is scored then it should stand no matter what. If the 'keeper saves it and every such event is reviewed then it will slow the game down even further, but at least will ensure the laws are followed.

The encroachment one is interesting because say for example the penalty comes back off the post - the 'keeper was on the line so no problem there - and bounces out to a defender who clears the ball for a throw-in. Are we then to review to see if that defender was inside the box when the kick was taken, and if so is the penalty taken again?

To cut a long story short I disagree wholeheartedly with VAR in general, I think it's made football a lot less fun to watch and I'm glad I follow non-league!
I would say that it shouldn't have been used in the first place, because the keeper coming off her line was a marginal situation and the player missed. If it isn't obvious enough for the ref to spot in real-time, how much can it affect the kick? But if you use VAR to correct this, then it should also be used for encroachment. Either both or not at all, but certainly nothing in between.
 
Couldn’t they use the “linesmen” to prevent encroachment?
Felt bad for NIG yesterday. It was a clear peno imo but Renard bottled it and kicked it wide.
Rules are rules - though I doubt if the situation was reversed that NIG would get a retake.
 
I think the most disturbing thing at the tournament is that it feels like VAR is being used selectively, in favour the big teams.

Rather than reducing the feeling that referees are being swayed by the crowd or the names, it's increasing it. It's felt like the big teams are now getting two bites at a 50:50 call.

Maybe that's just been a run of coincidences, but it certainly hasn't removed the subjective element, or the nagging doubts about favouritism. It's also felt far more intrusive than it was in Russia for the men's Works Cup last year.

I think it's impossible to argue it hasn't been used in favour of big sides. One of the big reasons for this is inexperienced refs imo. With all due respect, a lot of these referees are massively out of their depth and have never experienced anything like the crowds/atmospheres here. Most of the VAR decisions that have been controversial, I'd be very surprised if they were called the same if the roles were reversed. Would Nigeria have gotten a retake yesterday? Or would Norway have got the pen that France did? I'm fairly confident they would not.
 
I think it's impossible to argue it hasn't been used in favour of big sides. One of the big reasons for this is inexperienced refs imo. With all due respect, a lot of these referees are massively out of their depth and have never experienced anything like the crowds/atmospheres here. Most of the VAR decisions that have been controversial, I'd be very surprised if they were called the same if the roles were reversed. Would Nigeria have gotten a retake yesterday? Or would Norway have got the pen that France did? I'm fairly confident they would not.

I agree, some of the refs are out of their depth, and they're leaning on the VAR decision to protect themselves. We're also looking at inexperience in general though. The penalty rules have been updated/clarified for next season, so has offside, so has handball - and the first full implementation of those rule changes is at this tournament. Some decisions that refs call "instinctively" are now wrong according to the new rules/guidelines - again a reason why a ref if challenged will think "all of them can't be wrong" about the VAR team and how the rule is supposed to work.

I reckon all the ref training programmes are busily accumulating the clips from this tournament for this year's pre-season seminars.

The question of bias and favouritism is something else though. Refs in general tend to be more generous to the big names (perhaps guessing that the team with 60% of the ball, or doing most of the attacking, must be worth a goal sooner or later) but VAR seems to be amplifying that, rather than correcting it.
 
Henderson off his line for England u21s. No pen retaken though. No idea why it is being so harshly applied in this (only to the smaller nations so far). I'm aware the rule is changed but it just won't be applied elsewhere.
 
Henderson off his line for England u21s. No pen retaken though. No idea why it is being so harshly applied in this (only to the smaller nations so far). I'm aware the rule is changed but it just won't be applied elsewhere.

I know the UEFA Euro group stage matches etc were all played under 18/19 rules, maybe it's the same for the U21 tournament. The 19/20 rules start to apply in the UEFA men's game with the CL/EL qualifiers. I don't know what the Copa America are doing - I'd guess they'll use 18/19 rules this time.
 
Why have Brazil women's team got 5 stars on their shirt?
 
0-0 at halftime, not quite sure why. It's not as though the teams look like they're playing for a goalless draw - even though that would be an ok result for them.
 
Serious question though Jojojo. If Brazil win this, would the mens football team place 6 on their shirt?

Serious answer Summit. Odd numbers of stars always look better, so if that happened, I think they'd be better off waiting for the men to win, or the women to do it again, and then surprise people by going direct to 7 stars.
 
Serious answer Summit. Odd numbers of stars always look better, so if that happened, I think they'd be better off waiting for the men to win, or the women to do it again, and then surprise people by going direct to 7 stars.
Rightio jojojo. Was just wondering that's all, cause I find it weird.