If you didn’t watch the US Women defeat Brazil in the Women’s World Cup quarterfinals today you missed one of the most exciting victorious in US Soccer history, men’s or women’s. Just a couple of quick thoughts on the game.
The heart the United States showed was incomparable. The way they kept fighting up to the last was truly inspiring. This rates right up there with the US men’s win over Algeria in the last Cup. It better get consideration for an ESPY as well.
The officiating in this game was just bad. I try not to blame results on officiating, but I can’t look at that game and not think that the officials had too much of an impact. I can see how you award the penalty that was given to Brazil, but I think a red is really harsh there. The officials truly should be embarrassed about the decision to force a retake of the kick. While you can argue they followed the letter of the law, the law is never enforced that stringently and to do so on a stage like the WWC quarters was a horrible decision. Lastly, the lady that assisted Marta on the second Brazilian goal was offside when she received the pass.
This is probably my bias showing through in a big way, but I felt like the Brazilians took part in a disappointing level of gamesmanship. It’s something I’ve come to expect from most of the Latin American teams the US plays, but it’s not something Brazil is known for. The usual diving and the like is just irritating, but Erika’s playacting was downright shameful. The one thing I think the ref got solidly right was to card her upon reentering the field. Waiting for a solid five seconds after bumping into a player to fall to the ground and claim to be injured is really awful and an insult to the game.
The US has France next and I have any idea how that game will turn out. On paper, I think we have to be one of the favorites to win it all now; Brazil is out, and one of the other favorites in Germany was eliminated by Japan yesterday. The big question will be whether the US can recover enough time to take on what will surely be a confident French side that eliminated a strong England in their quarterfinal match up.
