i watched it live it was a good game Brazil is overrated on the womens side...not physical enough and they only have about 5 decent players, the rest of them are not confident or either just used to players like Martha carrying them all the time...I was impressed with the US Team they deserved to win...
Women's soccer in Brazil is still a mostly amateur affair. Some of the Brazilian team don't even have a club, and a good chunk only play part time (the ones that play full time play in more than one league, generally). Just so you have an idea, Brazil played in one game this year before the world cup. A friendly against Chile, which is ranked 44th in the world. It's a shame, really, as the Brazilian federation is one of the richest in the world, but they spend next to nothing on the women's team.
Meanwhile, the US played no fewer than 11 games this year in preparation for the world cup, including games against Sweden, Japan, Norway and other nations in the world cup.
My problem with the call on the penalty kick violation is that if the call was encroachment on the US player entering the box early, then why did Solo end up getting the yellow card?
I hate how the refs in soccer don't have to clearly state what the call was. If there was a mistake made, admit to it. If the ref feels like the call was legit, then explain it.
That was pretty clearly for complaining. Moving before the kick is not punishable by a yellow card.
For all the endless complaining by the announcers, which was more a reaction as fans than as observers, none of those calls in that particular situation were bad calls. It was a penalty, it deserved a red card, it was encroachment, and the cherry on top of the encroachment was that the woman who did it ended up with the rebound. A good ref is supposed to act precisely that way in that situation.
Where there were legit complaints against refereeing were as follows:
- The woman who intentionally handed the ball at midfield should have gotten a 2nd yellow and sent off.
- Brazil's second goal the woman who crossed the ball was offsides and that goal should not have counted.
All in all, the refereeing was a bit sub par, but nothing that warranted the endless bickering at espn. The US was a bit disadvantaged, but that particular offsides call is a hard one to make. Refereeing erred pro USA in 2004 and 2008, and against the US this time. Hats off for the women for keeping their composure and heart.