That was a tough loss for Germany. I was very impressed by the Columbian team. Never had them on my horizon. They are rather good and very physical. Germany has to beat South Korea to advance.
Big game for England. We can still go out if we lose to China and Denmark beat Haiti. Then 3 teams are on 6 pts and we go out on goal difference. Kick off in a couple of hours.
Oh boy. The USWNT was one inch from boarding a plane back home, when the ball hit the woodwork, denying Portugal a deserved victory. FT 0-0 which does book our trip to the last 16, but boy, was that underwhelming! We are not looking like the champs, right now. The title defense is looking beyond pale, and if we face Sweden next, I think that a trip back home will be in the horizon. Like @Talon said, we're playing not to lose instead of to win, and that's not enough to win the World Cup.
Next, England v China. While England are favored to advance, they are also paradoxically close to elimination. Given tie-breaking criteria, if China were to beat England 1-0 and Denmark were to beat Haiti 2-0, England would be out. I think that England will advance, but this is to show how close some of these groups have been. International women's soccer is more competitive now than ever.
LOL, so much for China eliminating England by winning 1-0 and Denmark beating Haiti 2-0. Well, Denmark did beat Haiti 2-0 and China did score the goal they needed... there was just a "small" detail that spoiled China's chances: they conceded 6 goals! LOL Congrats to England; they did convince a lot more than the discombobulated Americans. We're both on the round of 16 but while England may continue to advance, I fear we'll be bumped out by Sweden.
I'm glad I missed it. Being that the USWNT is in transition I honestly did not expect them to win the Cup this year but I thought that they'd be playing better than they are. I'm not liking our chances against Sweden, either, and even if they got past the Swedes they'll have to face a Japanese team that looks mighty impressive. Japan has scored 11 goals, shutout all their opponents and made a good Spanish team look awful. Japan literally ran away with that game, and once couldn't help but notice that when they had a golden opportunity to score they put the ball in the back of the net. That team is firing on all cylinders, and they're the last team I would want to face right now.
My Italy is in a wicked fight for survival against a spirited South African team. 2-2 at 80 minutes which will allow us to advance, but these last 10 minutes + stoppage time are feeling very long, right now. Both teams have produced woodwork hits, one for each. ------- Jesus! 11 minutes of stoppage time. We missed a sitter before the end of regulation. --------- And there you go. South Africa 3-2. Damn!
@Talon We're both unhappy with our team's performances, but I just read an article highlighting how good we've been when defending the ball. True. It is hard to score against us. Maybe this will compensate for our atrocious finishing.
The defense has been stout and when your offense is struggling that's a nice thing to fall back on. Hopefully, the front line will get it together against Sweden, and I think moving Julie Ertz back up into the midfield would help. She couldn't possibly play any worse than the midfielders who played in the first half against the Netherlands and Rose Lavelle is out against Sweden. We need a playmaker and someone who can shut down attacks in the midfield at center half, and Julie has been that for us. Her leadership, experience and warrior spirit will also be a boost in that position. If I'm manager, I'm being aggressive, making the lineup change and playing to win.
WOW Our CONCACAF homies in Jamaica have become the first Caribbean team to make it to the knockout round, and they did it with defense, tying both France and Brazil 0-0.
Not your day was it? I've lost Ireland, Canada and NZ in the group stages. Just Australia, USA and Jamaica left from the Empire.
Speaking of the Empire, I wonder how the Chinese nationalists took their beating from England - déjà vu? LOL ~ Perhaps, King Charles should demand the return of Hong Kong for this chastisement?
Wow quite the soccer fan in here. I cant get into it. But I would bet money the US loses. Not good money, but money. I don’t think they’re heads in right place with all the political crap they got into.
We didn't even get them addicted to opium before we beat them this time. Ah Nigeria is England's next match. I forgot about them. They were another one of ours.
