Spoiler alert- USA vs. Canada soccer

[CTGirl15]

NBCSN is replaying the overtime periods right now, for anyone who missed it.

 

[cardfan]

grant tweeted this:

@GrantWahl: Canada forward Christine Sinclair: "The ref decided the result before the game started."

Well now I'm not feeling much love for them!

 

[Vowelguy]

NBCSN is replaying the overtime periods right now, for anyone who missed it.

omg
I watched the Internet feed, which has no announcers.
Now watchign the NBC coverage: WHY IS BRANDI CHASTAIN YELLING THE WHOLE TIME?

Wow, that's annoying.

 

[Vowelguy]

grant tweeted this:

@GrantWahl: Canada forward Christine Sinclair: "The ref decided the result before the game started."

Nice to be a good sport. That's the Olympic spirit.

 

[UConnCat]

grant tweeted this:

@GrantWahl: Canada forward Christine Sinclair: "The ref decided the result before the game started."

Well now I'm not feeling much love for them!

Before the game? She's not thinking clearly.

 

[UConn990411]

Their a**clown of a coach was complaining about the officiating in the pre-game press conference, so this is really no surprise.

Maybe next time Canada could try not blowing three separate leads?

 

[meyers7]

Good thing the gold medal game is on Thurs. The team will need the extra day to recover.

It's the same. They have been playing every 3 days. 7/25, 7/28, 7/31, 8/3, 8/6, 8/9. No extra day of rest. Actually a few hours less than Japan.

The men get an extra day for the Gold medal match, not the women though.

 

[meyers7]

Props to Sundhage for smart decisions re. the subs and switching the formation. The first sub was a no-brainer as she needed a goal, then she subbed for the defender Buehler with a defender who was better suited to play in a three back formation. And then with Canada clearly exhausted, the move to O'Reilly really paid off.

Well she subbed her because Buehler was cramping. I don't think it was a tactical change.

 

[Vowelguy]

Watching it again -- wow -- how many times did Rapinoe take the ball away from Canada on the sideline? She controlled the game late.

 

[Vowelguy]

And Brandi Chastain was really really bad.

"The US snatches victory from the jaws of a tie and penalty kicks." Poetic.
"Is this a Roger Bannister moment?" Uh? I get the reference, but a huge stretch.

 

[meyers7]

And Brandi Chastain was really really bad.

"The US snatches victory from the jaws of a tie and penalty kicks." Poetic.
"Is this a Roger Bannister moment?" Uh? I get the reference, but a huge stretch.

A gigantic stretch. Something that had never been done before (history of sports) vs something that had not been done in awhile. Oh Brandi.

 

[UConnCat]

Watching it again -- wow -- how many times did Rapinoe take the ball away from Canada on the sideline? She controlled the game late.

I ♥ Megan Rapinoe.

 

[flatcoatmom]

This was an incredible game - only about the 2d soccer game I've ever watched. I read a quote before the game from someone on the Can team accusing the US of cheating or playing dirty - the announcers joked about it but never really explained it. What were they talking about?

 

[Icebear]

Brandi Chastain has, actually, found a way to diminish herself and the coverage a great USA soccer match at the same time.

 

[speedoo]

omg
I watched the Internet feed, which has no announcers.
Now watchign the NBC coverage: WHY IS BRANDI CHASTAIN YELLING THE WHOLE TIME?

Wow, that's annoying.

Chastain was horrible. Again.

 

[cardfan]

I ♥ Megan Rapinoe.

agree. Imho, she gets game ball.

 

[cardfan]

NY Times story, includes more quotes from Canadian players who thought they were cheated.

LINK

 

[Vowelguy]

NY Times story, includes more quotes from Canadian players who thought they were cheated.

LINK

These comments don't bother me so much, as they just refer to that one call. If I had an 'unusual' call go against me, I'd be pretty bitter about it too.

 

[UConn990411]

In fairness, that is such a terrible call by the official if there was indeed no warning.

But what a bunch of ****ing crybaby clowns (although pretty much what you'd expect from Canadians). I hope they get stomped by France in the bronze medal game.

 

[UcMiami]

When is a warning not a real warning?

 

[meyers7]

I can feel for McLoed. I've never seen it called in any competition I've ever witnessed. Don't think I've ever called it in all the years I've reffed.

 

[cardfan]

I can feel for McLoed. I've never seen it called in any competition I've ever witnessed. Don't think I've ever called it in all the years I've reffed.

She was warned and it was a violation (10 sec). Even if is not called more often, it doesn't change the fact the rule was broken. Kind of like fouls being called with seconds left, still a foul.

 

[Lynx23]

FWIW, according to Wikipedia.....

"The official laws of the game stipulate that once the goalkeeper has picked up the ball, he must redistribute it within six seconds; however, referees often use their discretion as long as the keeper is not obviously attempting to waste time."

Bottom line is that the enforcement of the 6-second rule is a judgement call. The fact is, the 6-second rule exists and the ref has every right to call it if he or she feels it's appropriate to do so. I don't believe a warning is necessary, either. Goalkeepers should be familar with the rule. The fact that it is rarely called doesn't mean it wasn't appropriate to do so in this case. Why have rules if they are not going to be enforced? And the "in the spirit of the games" argument really has no validity. Would I like it if it was called against the USA team? Of course not, but that doesn't mean it might not be appropriate to do so.

By the way, the Canadian goalee kicked the ball to a place where there was no player, before the rule violation was called. That would be appear to be a deliberate attempt to take time off the clock as the Canadians were ahead late in the game, although the ball probably wasn't supposed to go out of bounds. So it might be the case that there was an intent to waste time and that holding the ball longer than allowed was part of the plan. Wasting time to run out the clock is common practice among soccer players when ahead late in the game. The Canadians may not like that they were on the receiving end of the call, and I certainly don't blame them, but the ref was not at fault. The game was becoming pretty chippy by this point (if not sooner) so maybe it was a way of restoring some control. Whatever, it is what it is and I'm very happy with the win, fair and square. Those who seek to diminish this victory have their own agenda and are obviously unhappy that the USA pulled out the win.

 

[stamfordhusky]

She was warned and it was a violation (10 sec). Even if is not called more often, it doesn't change the fact the rule was broken. Kind of like fouls being called with seconds left, still a foul.

This is NEVER called - ever - by any competent referee. The rule is only in the book so that the ref can yell at a player to release the ball. In extreme cases of time-wasting, a ref sometimes starts play and cards the player, but never will you see an indirect kick awarded. I doubt this ref will ever be assigned to another high-level game. FIFA must be appalled.

 

[stamfordhusky]

FWIW, according to Wikipedia.....

"The official laws of the game stipulate that once the goalkeeper has picked up the ball, he must redistribute it within six seconds; however, referees often use their discretion as long as the keeper is not obviously attempting to waste time."

Bottom line is that the enforcement of the 6-second rule is a judgement call. The fact is, the 6-second rule exists and the ref has every right to call it if he or she feels it's appropriate to do so. I don't believe a warning is necessary, either. Goalkeepers should be familar with the rule. The fact that it is rarely called doesn't mean it wasn't appropriate to do so in this case. Why have rules if they are not going to be enforced? And the "in the spirit of the games" argument really has no validity. Would I like it if it was called against the USA team? Of course not, but that doesn't mean it might not be appropriate to do so.

By the way, the Canadian goalee kicked the ball to a place where there was no player, before the rule violation was called. That would be appear to be a deliberate attempt to take time off the clock as the Canadians were ahead late in the game, although the ball probably wasn't supposed to go out of bounds. So it might be the case that there was an intent to waste time and that holding the ball longer than allowed was part of the plan. Wasting time to run out the clock is common practice among soccer players when ahead late in the game. The Canadians may not like that they were on the receiving end of the call, and I certainly don't blame them, but the ref was not at fault. The game was becoming pretty chippy by this point (if not sooner) so maybe it was a way of restoring some control. Whatever, it is what it is and I'm very happy with the win, fair and square. Those who seek to diminish this victory have their own agenda and are obviously unhappy that the USA pulled out the win.

Holding the ball longer than six seconds happens in every soccer game but it is NEVER called. Forget what wikipedia incorrectly says. Even if there is extreme time-wasting, it is not called. In those cases, stop play and card the goalie. Then it stops. BTW, the ref can add as much time as she wants to a game to account for time-wasting. In fact, if a player wastes 10 seconds she can add on 20 seconds. Tell the player that you are adding extra time and it will also stop. But don't make an idiotic call like that one.

BTW, I am one of the biggest U.S. women fans on the planet and certainly have no anti-U.S. agenda - but that was an atrocious call.